Save the Date!
Hakka Theater Gruppe aus Taiwan kommt nach Wien
♦ Zeit : 25.07 2025 , 19:00
♦ Ort: Urania in Wien, 1010 Wien
♦ Freier Eintritt ♦
Eight Immortals Go Across the Sea
The Immortal Peach Party is a famous traditional play that all immortals meet together to celebrate Golden Mother’s birthday at the Fairy Pond. This performance of celebration and congratulation is an important ceremony in traditional folk festival.
The Hakka opera – Eight Immortals Go Across the Sea begins with the Immortal Peach Party. The eight immortals meet in the East Sea, and go to the immortal peach party together. At the Fairy Pond, everyone expresses their congratulations to the Golden Mother who prepares a birthday feast with nectar, peaches and wine.
After the party on their way home, the eight drunken immortals demonstrate their magic power at the seashore of the East Sea. Their magic power boils the sea, and disturbs the guard of the East Sea -- a fairy carp who has practiced Taoist rules for thousands of years and become an immortal.
With her soldier shrimps and general crabs, the fairy carp tours to inspect her territory, and is offended by the eight immortals’ impolite manners and words. Thus a fierce fighting ensues. The animated and cheerful fighting demonstrates the witty and humorous characteristics of Hakka opera that will always catch the audiences’ eyes from all walks of life.
The content of this play is so famous and popular that everybody knows. Through the simple scenario, it displays the energetic and lively features of the traditional Hakka three-character tea-picking opera. Today’s performance employs more actors, actresses and musicians with modern theaters and stage design. We sincerely hope that this will bring you a new vision of traditional performing art.
The Rom Shing Hakka Opera Troupe
After studying Hakka performing arts for many years, Cheng Rom-shing, the grandson of Cheng Mei-mei, a famous Hakka tea-picking actress, re-organized his grandmother’s troupe in 1986.
The audience responded with such enthusiasm that Cheng rom-shing decided to register the group as “The Rom Shing Hakka Opera Troupe”.
Since its establishment, the Rom Shing Hakka Opera Troupe has actively participated in all kinds of performing activities around Taiwan to keep and promote the traditional Hakka opera art. In 1992, the Ministry of Education honored the Rom Shing Hakka Opera Troupe with the nation’s prestigious Living Heritage Award.
Since 1997, the troupe has set up a Hakka Opera Training Academy in Miaoli to raise young performers sponsored by the Council for Cultural Affairs. After her succeeding to the director’s office in 1998, Cheng Yueh-Ching has tries her best not only to keep this traditional arts but also to produce new plays. Based on the “nine styles and eighteen modes” in Hakka opera, she hopes to present the variety of the colorful and beautiful performing arts in Hakka opera.
The troupe now consists of three generations of performers including seniors, youths and apprentices. Under the director’s vigorous management and by the public and government supports, the Rom Shing Hakka Opera Troupe has gradually remolded from the local troupe into an international one. Its performances have moved from the outside stages into the inside theaters. The traditional Hakka tea-picking performing art has further developed into a refined form of fine arts.
