Tan Dun’s Opera “Tea” will be staged

Synopsis

Tea-- The Heart's Mirror tell us such a story: in the Tang Dynasty of ancient China, Japanese Prince Seikyo fell in love with Chinese princess Lan during his study of Tea Ceremony in China and expressed his wish to marry her. The Chinese emperor asked Seikyo to recite a tea poem and Seikyo's excellent performance led the emperor to approve their marriage, which made the Crown Prince, elder brother of Lan, disgruntled.

Amidst a tea festival, a Persian prince offered a thousand horses in exchange for one book: Book of Tea . The Crown Prince reluctantly took out his Book of Tea for the exchange, however, Seikyo expressed doubt that this wasn't the true book shown him by its author, his teacher the Tea Sage Luyu.. Angry and jealous, the Crown Prince challenged Seikyo and vowed to sacrifice his own life if Seikyo could show him the "real" Book of Tea. Seikyo promised to end his life if proven wrong.

Then Seikyo and Lan began their journey to seek for the authentic Book of Tea. In a tea festival, they met Lu, daughter of Lu Yu. Lu announced Luyu's death and consented to give Seikyo and Lan the Book of Tea on the condition that they vowed to spread its wisdom throughout the world. As they read it, the Crown Prince burst in and grabbed the book. A fight erupted between Seikyo and the Crown Prince. Attempting to stop the duel, Lan was mortally wounded. The crown prince was so regretful and gave his sword to Seikyo so that he could pay for her sister's death with his own life. However, Seikyo sliced off his own hair with the sword and became a monk preaching Tea Ceremony in Japan thereafter…

Cast

Composer: Tan Dun

Writer/Lyrics: Tan Dun, Xu Ying

Director/Choreographer: Jiang Qing

Stage Design: Jiang Qing

Costume Design and Dressing: Patrizia Von Brandstein (Germany)

Lighting Design: Tommy Wang (Singapore)

Colored Glaze Design: Yang Hui-Shang (Taiwan, China)

Property Design: Thomas Lundgvist (Sweden)

Researsal Conductor: Erik Ochsner (USA)

Percussion Director: Haruka Fujii (Japan)

Background Painter: Ding Xiongquan

Multimedia Animation: Wang Qiang

Editor: Feng Hui