Lady Precious Stream is a spoken drama adaptation of a Chinese opera (Wang Baochuan), which was translated into English by Shih. I. Hsiung, a translator, graduate of Beijing University, and close personal friend of the famous Chinese theatre actor Mei Lanfang.
The first British Chinese play?
Lady Precious Stream opened at the Little Theatre on the Strand on the 27 November 1934 and ran for an incredible 733 performances in its opening season, even being witnessed by the Queen. It transferred to Broadway and was subsequently translated into numerous languages and performed around the world.
Hsiung had arrived in the UK in the early 1930s. Although Chinese plays had been translated into English in the nineteenth century, Lady Precious Stream was the first performance of a "Chinese Opera" in Britain (it was not until 1955 that a troupe from China performed in the UK).
Lady Precious Stream is a rags-to-riches story of love in the face of adversity. Precious Stream is the daughter of a Prime Minister who marries the Palace Gardener against the wishes of her family. Expelled from the palace and disowned by her father, Precious Stream is forced to live as a pauper in a cave with her new husband, Hsieh Ping Kuei. After only one month of marriage, Hsieh is summoned to fight in Mongolia, leaving Precious Stream alone in the cave.
Precious Stream hears that her husband has been killed in action but, in fact, Hsieh has become a King in Mongolia. On the day of his marriage to a Mongolian Princess, he decides to return home to find his first wife. Pursued by the Mongolian Princess, he returns to China. The play ends with Hsieh reconciling his two wives and their families.
The production was revived at Reading University on 8, 9, 10 December 2011 as part of a research project looking into the performance of Chinese opera in the UK.