20:00, Tue 16th – Sat 20th November 2004 at Christ's New Court Theatre
Michaelmas Week 6

When Kublai Khan’s armies invaded China from the north in 1280, the arts enjoyed a newly found freedom. Released from the Confucian formalism of the Song Dynasty, the Chinese theatre of the time began to investigate, with increasing degrees of experimentation, the circumstances of its new world.

Autumn in Han Palace is an early Yuan work, overtly political in its focus with romantic meditations.

The Soul of Chi’en Nu is a Taoist whodunit investigating identity, love and duty.

Both plays are part of a distinctly Chinese tradition that forms the heritage of contemporary Beijing Opera.