PREVIEW: Chunxiang’s Schoolroom Prank – Brighton Fringe
Chunxiang’s Schoolroom Prank is a traditional Kunqu comedy from The Peony Pavilion by Tang Xianzu. Drawing on one of the oldest surviving performance versions, Jingkun Chinese Arts company reintroduces this lively scene with its quick wit, playful reversals and finely drawn characters. As a comic interlude within the larger epic of The Peony Pavilion, the piece is light-hearted, mischievous. Full of theatrical vitality it reveals the playful, mischievous side of Kunqu, a form more often associated with elegance than comedy.
Performed in a traditional Chinese operatic vocal style with Chinese and English surtitles, the work is presented with clarity and respect for its historical roots. offers an inviting introduction to the Kunqu form. And an accessible entry point into a genre that can easily be both comic and full of grace, humour and expressive physicality.
Rooted in one of the earliest surviving versions of this beloved episode, the production revives the rhythm, and poetic wit of the original while shaping it into a lively and immediate theatrical experience.
Cheeky and quick-witted, clever and sharp-tongued maid Chunxiang, turns a rigid schoolroom upside down with lyrical banter, irreverent humour, sharp timing, and controlled chaos. Through finely detailed movement, musical phrasing, and expressive performance, the piece showcases a rarely seen comic tradition within Chinese opera.
Performed in Chinese with Chinese and English surtitles, it offers an inviting and accessible entry point into Kunqu — vibrant, rhythmic, and unexpectedly playful.
This joyful reimagining provides a colourful, accessible and delightfully mischievous window into one of the world’s oldest operatic traditions.
The performance offers something seldom found on UK stages; Chinese opera not as a distant heritage form, but as a living physical, and immediate theatrical experience
Jinkun are also presenting Brighton Fringe with gentle and engaging hands on participation workshops, to enlighten us in Kunqu – one of the world’s oldest performance traditions. (Same venue, same Thursdays – see Brighton Fringe workshop listings.) A rare chance to experience the art form and living tradition integral to a Brighton Fringe Show.
Details
Chunxiang’s Schoolroom Prank – Brighton Fringe
Dates: Thur 7 May 6.30pm, Sat 9th May 3.30pm, Thur 14 May 6.30pm, Sat 16 May 3.30pm (Show lasts 60 mins).
Venue: The Rotunda Theatre: Bubble, Regency Square, Brighton BN1 2FG
Tickets: £12 / £10 (concs). The first two dates have a Brighton Fringe 241 offer.
Accessible: Assistance Dogs Welcome. Wheelchair Accessible. Accessible Toilet.
Age suitability: 0+ (Guideline)
Babes in Arms policy: Under 2’s are allowed in for free on the lap of a guardian.
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