Gotcha at the opera

A Beijing theater company is proving that attracting the young to an old form - those more prone to watch reality TV or read comics - is not a lost cause. It brings together art forms including singing, dancing, martial arts and acrobatics, and its resurgence in small theaters is notable in that Peking Opera is usually performed in large theaters and includes grand scenes such as battlefields and royal courts. Star Theater is one of the small theaters in Beijing in which many of the smaller Peking Opera shows are being staged. With three theaters, each with a capacity of about 200 seats, Star Theater will stage five Peking Opera productions from March 22 to 31. One of the shows, Yan Xijiao, is a 70-minute production that premiered in 2013 and was the directorial debut work of the Peking Opera scriptwriter and director Li Zhuoqun.