Can love, grief, horror and hope - the full range of life's experiences - all be expressed in a single dream? Jiangsu Kunqu Opera House's current sensation, Floating Dreams, comes close to achieving such staggering scope.

The opera interprets six dreams, each adapted from classic literary masterpieces, in the form of 600-year-old Kunqu Opera.

One of the highlights of the show is Awaken the Dreams (Jingmeng), from The Peony Pavilion, which tells the mysterious love story of Du Liniang and Liu Mengmei. Du fell asleep when she left her studies to take a walk in the garden. She dreamt of Liu, whom she had never met in real life. Later she awoke to the touch of falling flower petals. Unable to recover from the enchantment of her dream, she pines away and dies.

Another highlight is Passing Dreams (Hongloumeng Tuomeng), adapted from the famous novel A Dream of the Red Mansions.

Lin Qi

Address: Gongwangfu, Liuyin Jie, Shichahai 什剎海柳蔭街恭王府

Time: 7:30 pm, Aug 17-23

Tel: 6406-8888, 400-818-3333

(China Daily 08/17/2008 page14)