The children's stage drama Dunyue Dunzhu made its debut in Lhasa from Aug 18 to 20, according to the Tibetan Opera Troupe of the Tibet autonomous region. It is the first children's stage drama created by the Tibetan Opera Troupe.

Lang Jia Danzeng, playwright of the drama, said: "Dunyue Dunzhu, among the eight traditional Tibetan opera plays, is the only one that sets the protagonist's age between 10 and 16 years old . The play is performed by 33 young Tibetan opera actors, filling the gap of Tibetan opera in children's stage drama."

The creative team of Dunyue Dunzhu explored innovative ways to display a traditional story. In terms of stage design, costume design, and character modeling, the creative team presented a stage art with distinct characteristics of children's drama that showcases the Tibetan opera art at the same time. During rehearsals, the directing team got to understand the characteristics of children's psychology and aesthetic habits through intensive communication with young actors, and aimed to tell the ancient Tibetan opera stories from a child's perspective, making the play more relatable to audience, and bear educational significance and aesthetic value.

Tibetan opera, which combines storytelling, performance, singing, dancing, and literature, has a history of more than 600 years and is known as the "living fossil" of Tibetan culture. In 2009, Tibetan opera was included in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. Data shows that since Tibet launched a comprehensive program for the protection of intangible cultural heritage in 2005, 154 Tibetan opera performance teams have been restored and developed. The Lhasa Shoton Festival, with Tibetan opera performances as the main content, was included in the national-level representative list of intangible cultural heritage and ten Tibetan opera inheritors were awarded the title of national-level representative inheritors of intangible cultural heritage.