牡丹亭

Two-hour condensation of a nineteen-hour opera production in which Liniang, daughter of Governor Du, who is summoned to Huangzhou to fight off an invasion of Tartars, falls into a deep sleep and dreams of falling in love, and dies of love sickness. She is sent up from the underworld as a spirit in order to marry her destined love, a scholar from Canton, Liu Mengmei, whose name is a comination of willow and plum (which has poetic significance). Robert Powell's voiceovers keep us up to speed through the massive cuts.