RED BOAT TROUPES AND CANTONESE ... - University of Georgia

The Re-incarnation of the Red Plum
Appendix A: Synopsis
The translation is based on Dr. Chan S. Yan’s synopsis on the opera. 160 Based on the play The
Red Plum of Ming Dynasty, The Reincarnation of the Red Plum is the last play by the renowned
script-writer Tong Dik Sung. At the first night of the play’s premier in 1959, the librettist was
taken from the audience seat to the hospital with a stroke. The talented script writer died the next
day at the age of 43. The cast at the premier included Yum Kim Fai, Baak Suet Sin, Lang Chi
Pak Leung Sing Bor and Lum Ga Sing from the Sin Fung Ming Opera Troupe; it was the eighth
production of the troupe. Directed by Wong Hok Sing, the play was made into a film in 1968
with Chan Po Chu, Nam Hong and Leung Sing Bor in the cast.
Cast
Lead-male role Fai Yu, Court Institute student
Lead-female role (at first) Li Wai Leung, Ga Zi Do’s concubine
(later) Lo Ci Yung, Lo Tong’s only child who resembles Li Wai
Leung
second male role Nephew of Ga Ying Zung, head of the court education institute
second female role Ng Gong Sin, a concubine of Ga Zi Do
jester Ga Zi Do, Left Chief Minister of the State
old man role Lo Tong, a retired troop commander
160 Sau Yan, Chan, Hong Kong Yuet Kek kek mok cok tam: Yum Baak Gyun [An Investigation into Hong Kong
Yuet Kek Titles: Yum Pak Series] (Hong Kong: The Chinese University of Hong Kong Yuet Kek Research Plan,
2005), 129-133.
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