Gaming culture revamps Cantonese Opera

Cantonese Opera has a history going back over 300 years. But it's far from a dusty old art form.

One of the most popular new Cantonese operas is "Fighting for the Great Tang Empire", a fascinating work that combines traditional opera with the cosplay and gaming culture popular among young people in China.

"Fighting for the Great Tang Empire" stars Peng Qinhua, a distinguished actor of the Guangdong Cantonese Opera Theatre, who is also a keen gamer. [Photo/ycwb.com]

Written by a group of young artists from Guangzhou, the show has been a huge hit, playing more than 30 times to packed audiences across China over the last three years.

More than 50,000 people have seen the show live in total, and most of them are young people who had never been to Cantonese Opera performances before.

It's easy to see why the show has struck such a chord with young Cantonese. Although the work retains the classical movements, gestures, singing and rhythms of Cantonese Opera, "Fighting for the Great Tang Empire" looks and feels like popular online games like "League of Legends".

Its script is based on a popular role-playing game; its background music sounds like that of a "wuxia"-style game; the costumes were designed by professional cosplayers; and it even features fight scenes using wire work stunts.

In fact, both the playwright and the leading actor are gamers themselves.

Most of the show's performers, and audience members, are millennials. [Photo/gdyjy.com]

Actresses perform a dance routine from "Fighting for the Great Tang Empire". [Photo/gdyjy.com]