Pan Yu Lin

About the show

Chinese Culture Festival 2026: Musical "Pan Yu Lin" by Actors' Family — China's first female Western-style painter, Pan Yu-lin (潘玉良), whose life itself is a breathtaking painting. From the brothel to the studio, from Shanghai to Paris, she tore apart the shackles of fate with her paintbrush. This legend spanning East and West will be brought to life through a stage language that blends theatre, music, dance, visual arts, and multimedia, depicting how Pan Yu-lin studied under Hong Ye (洪野), enrolled at the Shanghai Fine Arts College, furthered her studies in France, returned to China to teach, and ultimately left for Paris to serve as President of the Chinese Art Association in France — burning her entire life for art, yet never forgetting where she came from. This is not only a heartfelt tribute to a legendary painter, but also a practice of stage aesthetics that "merges Chinese and Western into one furnace." Produced by Actors' Family (演戲家族), the creative team includes playwright Hui Chun-pong (許晉邦), composer and music director Wong Chi-wing (黃旨穎), lyricist Tania Ka-yan (唐家穎), and director Yiu Yun-man (姚潤敏). Choreography is co-designed by Yang Yuntao (楊雲濤, with special permission from the Hong Kong Dance Company) and Tse Yan (謝茵), using movement and melody to present the colours and power within Pan Yu-lin's paintings. From a Parisian café to a Shanghai studio, from the controversy of nude models to the applause of the international art world — this is a musical that lets you see how a painter's soul breaks free from its cocoon.

Synopsis translated by KinoHK — the performance itself is not in English unless stated above.