Xiqu Centre, West Kowloon Cultural District｜Cantonese Opera：The Peony Pavilion

Description

Toh Lai-neung, a sixteen-year-old maiden, dreams of scholar Lau Mung-mui while napping in the Peony Pavilion during a garden outing with her maid. After waking up, Lai-neung falls gravely ill. Before her death, she paints a self-portrait. Her father Prefect Toh Po enshrines the portrait at Plum Blossom Nunnery.

Three years later, Mung-mui discovers the portrait while lodging at the nunnery en route to the imperial exams. He feels an inexplicable familiarity that blossoms into affection. Lai-neung's specter appears to recount their ethereal romance, stopping Mung-mui's attempted suicide and instructing him to open her coffin to resurrect her. 

After marriage, they relocate to Hangzhou. Lau Mung-mui then travels to Huaiyang to inform Toh Po of Lai-neung’s revival, hoping to reunite her with her family. Unexpectedly, Toh Po dismisses his claim. Finally, the family is reunited through the Emperor’s intervention.