A classic through young eyes

The Peony Pavilion — The Campus Youth Version was staged in Taipei by college students from the Chinese mainland on Jan 15.

Created by renowned novelist Pai Hsien-yung, the youth version of the 16th-century romantic piece, adapted from the play of the same title by Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) playwright Tang Xianzu, premiered in 2004 and has since been staged more than 500 times.

Produced by the Suzhou Kunqu Opera Theatre of Jiangsu Province and Southeast University, the campus production brought together 50 students from 29 colleges, who underwent nine months of intensive training. It grew out of a project launched in 2024 to encourage young people to engage in the inheritance of Kunqu Opera, a 600-year-old Chinese operatic form inscribed on UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage list.

The campus production premiered in April 2025 in Jiangsu province.