Performance Workshop "Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land" Heritage Edition

Since 1986, "Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land" has been hailed as a classic in the Chinese-speaking world. For 40 consecutive years, it has toured continuously across the strait and abroad; there are even theater troupes performing it in the United States. The most poignant roles in this best-selling play—originally played by Chin Shih-chieh (金士傑) and Ting Nai-chu (丁乃竺)—are Chiang Pin-liu (江濱柳) and Yun Chih-fan (雲之凡), the star-crossed lovers in the "Secret Love" segment. They meet, fall in love, and part in Shanghai in 1948, only to reunite forty years later in a hospital room in Taipei, both now white-haired elders. This is the reason many audience members leave the theater in tears. In 2021, Stan Lai (賴聲川) created "Chiang / Yun．Chih / Chien" (江／雲．之／間), which fills in the details of their lives over those forty years through the exchange of letters—most of which were never received by the other person—moving from the thoughts of two characters into the silhouette of an era. Now, "Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land" spans nearly half a century. The Performance Workshop, seizing the moment, will launch a "Heritage Edition" with a brand-new cast. This flower hailed as a symbol of its era will continue to tell this story through the generational passing of the commemorative and heritage editions, preserving the classic forever.