The Travels of Li Bai to Chang'an, the latest production by the Yisu Art Troupe, is staged in Baoji, Shaanxi province. [Photo by Huo Yan/China Daily]

Renovation work

Yisushe has come to symbolically represent Qinqiang Opera in Xi'an and throughout Shaanxi.

In 2005, the Yisu Grand Theater and the art troupe established Yisushe Co, with 123 employees under the management of the Xi'an Performing Arts Corp, a state-owned enterprise. Hui, the theater president, was named general manager of Yisushe Co.

The theater closed for renovation last month. The work is expected to take about 10 months and will transform the courtyard housing the venue into a cultural street named after Yisushe.

"I am looking forward to seeing this place, which will have the full flavor of Yisushe," Hui said.

However, she added that the priority for the troupe is finding Qinqiang Opera librettists to recompose traditional scripts or write new ones.

Over the years, many ancient librettos for the art form have been shortened from four and a half hours to two and a half hours.

"The difficulty is that there are many good librettists who are not necessarily familiar with the culture of Shaanxi or with Qinqiang Opera. At Yisushe, there is a strong sense that we need to find those who can inherit our traditional culture and write stories based on it," Hui said.

The last words are left to Qu, the performer. When he is ready to go on stage before each show, he folds his hands in front of him.

"In this way, I feel very secure and am more confident that the performance will go well," he said.

Zhao Rui contributed to this story.