Li Liuyi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Li Liuyi (Chinese: 李六乙) is a Chinese director and playwright of Beijing People's Art Theatre. His theory "Pure Drama" and his related exploration in the field are known as "Li Liuyi Methodology", which is widely acclaimed and researched.[1] Japanese modern theater master Tadashi Suzuki (Japanese: 鈴木忠志) calls him "The most influential stage artist of Asia in the new century".[2]
Li Liuyi was born into an opera family in 1961. He did research in the Chinese National Academy of Arts for eight years. He has directed numerous genres of drama with distinguished regional characteristics, including Kunqu Opera, Peking Opera, Sichuan opera, Henan Opera, Pingju Opera, Liu Opera, Liuqin tune and Meihu Opera.[3]
Participation in international artistic events
Li Liuyi has been invited to different international art festivals and commissioned to create new productions. He was once invited by the City of Linz—the European Capital of Culture in 2009 to direct the opera The Land of Smiles in Linz State Theatre. He became the first Chinese director to set foot in the world of mainstream European opera.[4] Li directed and put the "Heroine" trilogy on stage for the opening ceremony of Holland Festival and was received by the Queen of the Netherlands.[5][6]
He cooperated with the National Ballet of China, adapted and directed the ballet The Peony Pavilion.[7] The ballet was one of the opening performances in the Edinburgh International Festival, which marked an important breakthrough for China's performing arts scene, as it meant Chinese performances were now being staged in major European art festivals.[8]
Representative works of drama as a director
- Thunderstorm (2025)[9]
- The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (in collaboration with the Royal Shakespeare Company, 2018-2020)|[10]
- Antigone and Oedipus Rex ("Outstanding Director's Drama Series: Li Liuyi", April 2014, the National Grand Theater, Beijing)[11]
- The Savage Land (The fifth Beijing International Music Festival, October 29, 2012)[12]
- Death of a Salesman (People's Art Theatre, Beijing, April 2012)[13][14]
- The Song of the Earth (Symphony originally written by Mahler; Cooperated with the China Philharmonic Orchestra, October 2012)[15]
- The Family (Originally written by Ba Jin and adapted by Cao Yu; People's Art Theatre, Beijing, July 2011)[16]
- The Golden Cangue (Modern Peking opera, December 2010; won Outstanding Director Award and Outstanding Drama Award in the Twelfth Chinese Opera Festival)[17]
- Mei Lanfang Classics (Peking opera; Zhengyici Peking Opera Theatre (Chinese: 正乙祠戏楼), May 2010)[18]
- The Peony Pavilion (invited by The Corps de Ballet of China to direct this ballet and cooperated with Japanese costume designer Emi Wada [Japanese: ワダ・エミ or 和田恵美子])[19]
- The Story of Puppets (Kunqu Opera; cooperated with Japanese director Hideo Kanze [Japanese: 観世栄夫])[20]
- The "Heroine" Trilogy Mu Guiying, Hua Mulan, Liang Hongyu (New Peking Opera, 2003)[21]
- The Good Person of Szechwan (Originally written by Bertolt Brecht; a Chinese Sichuan opera, 1987)[22]
