Editor's picks

New look at classic performer

After nearly 300 performances, the Peking Opera show Mei Lanfang Classics comes to audiences with a new look. Having premiered in 2010, the show features excerpts of classic plays by Mei Lanfang (1894-1961), one of the traditional art form's greatest masters. The new version of Mei Lanfang Classics presents excerpts of plays that were not featured in the show before and takes love as its theme. The show consists of excerpts from A Fairy Maiden Scatters Flowers; Muke Stronghold; Drunken Beauty; Goddess of the Luo River; and Farewell, My Concubine. A special touch: the venue. Zhengyici Theater (the Temple Theater) is a wooden structure built on the site of a temple in 1688. Mei performed there, too. Tucked in a hutong in southern Beijing, Zhengyici is rare in that it has largely retained the ambience of an old Peking Opera theater.

7:30 pm, every Friday and Saturday. Zhengyici Theater, 220, Qianmen Xiheyanjie (southeast of Hepingmen subway station). 010-83151650.