Chinese Classic The Autumn of Han to visit Avebury as part of short UK tour

Mystical East meets mysterious West as the world première of The Autumn of Han, opens at Avebury – the only date in the west of England – as part of a short UK tour.

Based on a classic Chinese play, this new production, specifically adapted for European audiences, is being produced by Red Dragonfly Productions, a company that has been formed by British and British East Asian artists specifically to bring East Asian stories to the British Stage.

The tale is one of love and revenge. When the beautiful concubine ZhaoJun refuses to supply the corrupt minister MaoYanShou with his usual bribe he makes sure she’s hidden away from the Emperor, but ZhaoJun is a resourceful woman and engineers a chance meeting with the Emperor. When the Emperor sets eyes on her he immediately falls in love, and this sets off a chain of events that sees all their lives changed forever.

‘There are a wealth of wonderful stories from the East that have never been seen on a British stage,’ says Michelle Yim, one of the founders of Red Dragonfly, ‘ and we want to give the British audience a chance to experience them. This also provides a great opportunity for some of Britain’s very talented East Asian actors, who are often overlooked, to showcase their work.’

The Autumn of Han was adapted for the stage by Ross Ericson, whose critically acclaimed play ‘Casualties’ has been published by Methuen. ‘Us Europeans often find classical Chinese drama quite impenetrable,’ Ericson said, ‘so my job was to put the story into a structure and language that would be familiar to European audiences whilst retaining the authenticity and spirit of the original text.’

The tour will be visiting venues throughout England and Northern Ireland during the Autumn of this year and Spring of next. The Autumn of Han is part of an ambitious three year plan by Red Dragonfly that includes future productions of ‘DiaoChan’ and ‘Monkey; a journey to the west’.

The Autumn of Han comes to Avebury Social Centre on Thursday, October 30 at 7pm before heading off to Armagh, Belfast and Downpatrick in Northern Ireland, Salford, Derby, and Ledbury.

For more information log on to www.reddragonflyproductions.co.uk For tickets visit www.poundarts.org.uk