For the premiere of Yue opera My Grand View Garden at Hangzhou Butterfly Theatre in China, the audio team chose to invest in a DiGiCo Quantum 225, supplied by Rightway Audio Consultant (RAC), to deliver the clarity and immersive experience required.
The production is by the Zhejiang Xiaobaihua Yue Opera Theatre troupe. Founded in 1984, the troupe is dedicated to modernising, innovating and raising awareness of the Yue opera artform, which features women in all roles.
A key feature of the genre is articulation and pronunciation. The predominate dialect is the traditional Wu, rather than modern Mandarin, so the choice of audio equipment is very important.
The theatre utilises the Quantum 225 and an L-Acoustics L-ISA system to draw the audience into the lyrical story. Supporting the audio team were system engineer Wang Jianghua and project engineer Hao Fange.
“Yue Theatre has a proud heritage and a strong fanbase, so we want everything to go well,” said Jianghua. “The Quantum 225 is the perfect fit, and not just because of its compact footprint. The ability to utilise all the Quantum features, plus additional benefits like multiple DMI cards and USB Madi, make it endlessly adaptable and perfect for a busy theatre like the Hangzhou Butterfly.”
My Grand View Garden is based on Dream of the Red Chamber, an 18th century classic of Chinese literature. It portrays the story from the point of view of Jia Baoyu, played by Chen Lijun, digging into the rise and fall of a high-society family.
“This Yue opera masterpiece interprets all kinds of life stories,” said Fange. “The superior acting skills of Chen Lijun and other actors, together with the application of an impeccable audio system, make people unconsciously immersed in the plot, sharing the sorrows and joys with the characters. The Quantum 225 delivers the control required to ride the emotions of the performance, and the intuitive workflow was undoubtedly a massive bonus for the engineers.”
