The NMC's first original stage play "Joyful Songs in Flourishing Age" themed on bringing cultural relics to life is performed at the NMC Theater in the evening of May 27, 2023. It is jointly produced by the National Museum of China (NMC) and the Communication University of China (CUC). The play is inspired by one of the highlights from NMC collection, bringing a 2,000-year-old drum-beating pottery storyteller from the Eastern Han Dynasty alive on stage.
The National Museum of China (NMC) is a prominent institution in China that collects, studies, displays, and interprets tangible evidences demonstrating the best of China’s traditional culture. It is a supreme palace of history, culture, and art. In order to serve the major cultural strategy of creative transformation and innovative development of China's outstanding traditional culture, the NMC has launched a comprehensive project to revitalize cultural relics since 2020. The stage play "Joyful Songs in Flourishing Age" is not only the first attempt of the NMC to make cultural relics come alive in the form of a stage play, but also an incubation project by the CUC to serve the major cultural strategy of creative transformation and innovative development of China's outstanding traditional culture. With the Han Dynasty pottery storyteller beating a drum as its entry point, this play vividly retells the ups and downs of the lives of the paiyou (comedian) living in the lower strata of Han society through three sets of stories and four scenes.
In future, rooted in the extensive museum collection, the NMC will continue to explore the historical, cultural, technological, aesthetic and epochal value behind the cultural relics. The NMC looks forward to joining hands with more art institutions and higher education institutions, receiving continued interest and support from all parties, creating more brilliant stage plays themed on bringing cultural relics to life, forming a well-known and influential brand in making cultural relics come alive, providing quality spiritual and cultural products to the public.
Source: National Museum of China