Action Musical Terracotta Warriors August 19, 2008

Time: 2008/8/19-2008/8/23
Venue: Beijing Exhibition Theater
Price: 150/350/500/600/850
Tel: 86-10-64177845
Web: www.piao.com.cn

"Gorgeous Costumes…Lightning-fast Kung Fu…Eye-popping Visuals…Spectacular."

~ The Vancouver Sun

“Terracotta Warriors
is a feast for the eyes and ears!

~ Rocky Mountain News (Denver, Colorado)

“Ambitiousis one way to describe it. Using Chinese-trained performers, the showattempts to cross cultural boundaries and explain the history of Chinausing a hybrid style of action and music.”

~ Chris Clay, The Mississauga News

Presented by Sight, Sound & Action.

Terracotta Warriorsis an Action-Musical that explodes onto the stage with epic sets andlavish costumes. The audience will marvel at the dance, music andaction that is used to tell a story of power and lust, of betrayal andforbidden passion. The final climax of the Dance of the TerracottaWarriors is a theatrical event to be remembered! Terracotta Warriorswon 2007 International Performance Award from China Association ofPerforming Arts (CAPA).

Produced in 2004, Terracotta Warriors took North Americaby storm during its 72-performance inaugural world tour. The 2-hourlong journey through the life of one of the most well-known historicalfigures in all of China represents the most astounding presentation of Chinese performing arts in the west over the course of human history.

Since its premiere in Vancouver three years ago, Terracotta Warriors has been performed on stage over 120 times and enjoyed by over 128,000 audiences across North America.

Theincredible story of Terracotta Warriors combines extravagant dance andsongs with spectacular martial arts in an unprecedented fashion in thieAction-Musical. Adapted from historical accounts of the life of QinShiHuang, the first Emperor of China [crowned in 221 B.C.], the storyportrays the fantastic events of the Qin Dynasty, shown through theeyes of his beloved concubine and scheming eunuch. As the mostindredible Chinese historical facts are revealed on stage against abackground of epic sets and lavish costumes, the audience will marvelat the dance, music, and action used to tell a story of power and lush,betrayal and forbidden love. With a cast of over 80 outstandingdancers, martial artists, and acrobats from China, this spectacle will dazzle the audience with the kind of lavishness and scope that goes beyond traditional theatre.

Battlesand conquest, forbidden love, burning of books, live burial of scholarsand even the building of the Great Wall end with a final climax of theDance of the Terracotta Warriors. The audience will marvel at thedance, music and action used to tell a story of power and lust, ofbetrayal and forbidden passion. It's a theatrical event to beremembered!


Synopsis
The ghost of the First Emperor, Qin ShiHuang, revels amidst his legacy of warriors.

Qinarmy defeats the army of the state of Qi. The King of Qin istriumphant; he is now crowned as the First Emperor in a gloriousceremony. Zhao Gao was a childhood friend of the Emperor who wascastrated to become his assistant and confident. He new leads sixconcubines intot he imperial chambers to seduce the Emperor. Thebeautiful and favourite Meng Ying is chosen.

TheEmperor celebrates the unification of currency, language, weights andmeasure, roads, and irrigation systems. The Emperor revels in hispower. But the eunuch Zhao Gao enters to expose a conspiracy againstthe throne. The ***-starved middle-aged Queen Mother is engaged in atorrid ***ual escapade with Lu Bu Wei, the conspirator. Soldiersinterrupt the passionate affair and Lu is immediately arrested andsentenced. For his crime against the State, Lu is executed by the useof five hourses. The Emperor awakens from a dream delirious. He isobsessed by the image of Confucius and the ghostly admonishment causesthe Emperor to become even more paranoid. On palace grounds,conscripted peasants are trained into the invincible Qin army.

ZhaoGao leads Meng Ying to rendezvous with her fiancée, Yang Ming, in thecountryside. Soldiers interrupt their romantic interlude, and drag YangMing away. Artists demonstrate their skills in the town square. Qinsoldiers demand surrender of all weapons, and a battle ensues.Confiscated weapons are thrown into incinerators. From the moltenmetal, giant statues are created to celebrate the glory of the Qinrealm.

Threeseparate assassination attempts on the Emperor are depictedsequentially. The Emperor is obsessed by the fear of death. Zhao Gaopresents him a dreaded jade funeral mask. The Emperor's nerves areshattered by the reappearance of the ghost of Confucius. He consultspriestesses in the search for immortality. In the world's firstCultural Revolution, books are burned and scholars are buried alive.Laborers are hard at work building the Great Wall. Meng Ying arrives tovisit her fiancée Yang Ming, now a conscripted laborer. Qin soldiersagain interrupt their passionate encounter.

Backat the palace, Meng Ying pleads for her lover's life, in exchange forher loyalty to the Emperor forever. There are widespread uprisingsagainst the Emperor's forces all over the country. Soldiers bring inthe body of Yang Ming. Meng Ying is overwhelmed by sorrow and commitssuicide by hanging. The Emperor has a nightmare about a sea-godblocking his search for the elixir of life. He goes on an ocean rampageto kill a giant sea creature. Soon, he dies on account of a mysteriousillness. Zhao Gao takes revenge by dumping the imperial coffin full offoul-smelling dead fish. Both the Emperor's death and the symbolic andvengeful act allow Zhao Gao to be liberated and transformed. At thefuneral, some concubines will be buried alive with the Emperor.

Inthe afterlife, ghosts of terracotta warrior statues march forward. Theghosts of Emperor Qin, Yang Ming, and Meng Ying appear as equals, andthe Emperor is mocked. The lovers triumph in ghostly celebration.

Official Website: http://www.piao.com.cn/en%5Fpiao/ticket_1976.html