The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Jockey Club｜Classic Huangmei Opera 《Female Princess Consort》

Description

It tells the story of a commoner girl, Feng Suzhen, who braves death to save her husband, undergoes twists and turns, and eventually achieves a happy marriage. The play portrays an image of a kind, brave and intelligent ancient maiden through a series of dramatic and nearly bizarre yet reasonable plotlines, including a girl disguised as a boy taking an imperial examination in someone else's stead, accidentally winning the top rank and mistakenly being chosen as the princess's groom, and using her wit to turn peril into safety on the wedding night.

Originally, 《Double Rescue》 was collected by Zuo Sihe. In 1958, Wang Zhaogan discovered it and the Anqing Special Agency Huangmei Opera Troupe (predecessor of the Zaifen Huangmei Art Theatre) premiered it. Ma Cailou played Feng Suzhen, Wu Xiulan and Tian Yulian played the princesses, and Wang Luming and Ding Zichen played Liu Wenju. The following year, it was selected and performed in Hefei, causing a sensation. Subsequently, the Shanghai Sea Swallow Film Studio and the Anhui Film Studio jointly filmed it into a movie, directed by Liu Qiong and starring Yan Fengying and Wang Shaofang, becoming a sister chapter to 《The Fairy Couple》 and a gift for the 10th anniversary of the founding of New China.

After the reform and opening up, the new generation leader of Huangmei Opera, Han Zaifen, organically integrated performance elements from other sister arts such as drama and film, making this classic play even more dazzling.