The opera form still remains popular in southern Fujian, Taiwan and Southeast Asia, where Fujian dialect is spoken. Gaojia Opera continues to use the Fujian dialect and traditional tunes popular in South China during the Song Dynasty (960-1279) to this day, and was recognized as part of China's national intangible cultural heritage in May 2006.

Over the course of its evolution, the folk opera form, which began as an improvised art form performed as part of religious parades, has absorbed elements from various opera forms including Anhui Opera and Peking Opera.

In recent years, its playwrights and performers have started to create dramas modeled on famous Western tales, and The Government Inspector is the most recent example of this kind of productions.

After the show's staging in Dhaka, the troupe will premiere this new production in its hometown Quanzhou at the Lantern Festival, which will fall on Feb 11.

Chu Yujiang plays a female role in the Gaojia Opera adaptation of The Government Inspector. [Photo/mnw.cn]

Another Gaojia adaptation of a Western classic, a version of Beauty and the Beast co-produced by the Quanzhou troupe and Shanghai Theater Academy, will represent China at the International Festival of University Theater of Tangier in Tangier, Morocco in March. Beauty and the Beast has been touring Asia and Europe since 2014.