The "Greater Bay Area Stage" was staged at Zhongshan Culture & Art Center on the evening of June 23. [Photo by Sun Junjun]

The first Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Culture and Arts Festival started on Monday. As the first show at the Zhongshan parallel venue, the "Greater Bay Area Stage" was staged on the evening of June 23.

Renowned Cantonese opera performers and rising stars and representative Cantonese opera troupes from Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, including Guangdong Cantonese Opera Troupe First Team, Shenzhen Cantonese Opera Troupe, Macao Cantonese Opera Troupe, Guangzhou Cantonese Opera Group and Xiangshan Cantonese Opera Troupe, were invited to share the stage. They were there to perform traditional opera shows including "Lau Kam-ting's Clash at the Gate", "Love in Bloom" and "Zhou Yu and Xiao Qiao", in addition to classic revolutionary dramas such as "Storm in Mountain Village" and "Sister Jiang".

Deng Zhiju, general producer of the show, introduced that Cantonese opera has a profound history in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao. The show fully demonstrated the cultural connection among the three regions.

"We invited five winners of the Performance Award, namely Ou Kaiming, Cui Yumei, Liang Yao'an, Chen Yunhong and Jiang Wenduan. We also invited Lin Jiabao, a National Class-A Performer, and rising Cantonese opera stars, such as Wong Seng-pan from Macao and Lee Man-chit and Luk Shui-fai from Hong Kong." Deng remarked that the performances represent the highest level of Cantonese opera in the three regions.

"A total of 190 performers and staff members are involved on and off the stage. We hope to provide a wonderful show to the audience," Deng added.