Brighton Fringe 2026
Chunxiang’s Schoolroom Prank
Jingkun Chinese Arts
Genre: classical, Comedic, Dance and Movement Theatre, International, Live Music, Movement, Musical Theatre, Opera and Operatic Theatre, Physical Comedy, Physical Theatre
Venue: The Rotunda: bubble
Festival: Brighton Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
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 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 reveals a different facet of Kunqu—light-hearted, mischievous and full of theatrical vitality.
At the centre of the scene is Chunxiang, the clever and sharp-tongued maid whose spirited intelligence disrupts the quiet order of the schoolroom. Her banter with the scholar and her irreverent humour have made this episode a classic within the Kunqu repertoire for centuries. By returning to early materials and performance traces, this production revives not only the story but also the texture of an older stage tradition rarely seen today.
Presented with clarity and respect for its historical roots, Chunxiang’s Schoolroom Prank offers international audiences an accessible entry point into the comic world of Kunqu.
Review
Chunxiang’s Schoolroom Prank – The Rotunda – 9 May 2026
Following on from The Covetousness the previous day, but completely separate in atmosphere and content is a three hander Kunqu opera in the comic tradition – a rather old but terribly respectable tutor is to teach the demure princess a long and pious poem but her mischievous handmaiden Chunxiang (played with great verve by Wanjin Li) has other ideas.
Two of the characters are common tropes in Kunqu: the pedantic scholar, and the witty servant. The third character is the Princess, Du Liniang – a quieter but powerful presence on the stage who provides the counterpart to the more ribald comedy of the clash between the teacher and the maid, The Princess is played by Lil Soap in a male dan role, a classical cross dressing technique.
The handmaiden, Chunxiang, often speaks to us directly to bemoan her status, or complain about the risk of being beaten as a handmaiden but she is irrepressible, and entertainingly careless of her actions. It’s a great comic role played with panache and great skill – not only is there comic timing but real artistry in the operatic voice and balletic movement required.
The scholar too (Mr Chen Zuiliang, played by Songyuan He with restrained relish), while more confined in his actions, has to respond with voice and movement in the comic interplay between the two. He’s a great character, bumbling and sincere and Chunxiang runs rings around him.
The Princess meanwhile keeps an eye on what is going on, occasionally chastising Chunxiang when she goes too far, but essentially she is a quiet point that accentuates the comic action. It’s not a passive role – you see her peeping and maintaining her sang-froid but her eyes are glinting. (In my previous review of The Covetousness I mentioned the female actor talking about the importance of the eyes in Kunqu opera in her video introduction and it made me see that there was more going on in the Princess’s quiet demeanour).
The main focus is however on the handmaiden and she has a huge range of emotions and comedy to express, whether that be the resentful shuffle of the toddler child returning to her duties, or the by turns sullen and pleading teenager type behaviour, or her lyrical descriptions of the garden outside where she would like to play and take the demure princess with her. It’s great fun to watch with both some darker undertones (will she be beaten?) set against the lighter prospect of this wonderful garden that they will escape to after their studies are finished.
There is ribald humour – Chunxiang’s request to visit the toilet early on, and her taking a very long time over it, to Mr Chen Zuiliang’s consternation, gives her another solo spot on the stage to cavort and sing.
It’s all very spectacular in the Kunqu operatic tradition. Even though it’s comedy, the costumes and makeup are vivid and a pleasure to see. Chunxiang’s Schoolroom Prank manages to combine the sheer magnificence of Kunqu opera with a spritely mischievous comedy, underpinned by original music from Yuxiao Chen. The singing and dance are, as in The Covetousness the day before, hugely skilled and precise. The whole ensemble works together beautifully, it’s a lighter offering than The Covetousness but nonetheless just as virtuoso.
