Deling and Cixi

He Jiping is a consultant of the China Theatre Association; member of the China Writers Association; national committee member of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles; literary arts adviser to the Hong Kong Arts Development Council; honorary playwright of Beijing People’s Art Theatre, doctoral supervisor at Shanghai Theatre Academy; Beijing Model Worker; Hong Kong Six Arts Outstanding Female Artist; and recipient of Beijing’s “Jinghua Award”.  

Her work in theatre, film and literature has been translated into multiple languages and toured internationally. Selected pieces have been included in textbooks issued by China’s Ministry of Education and Hong Kong secondary school curricula. She has received numerous major accolades, including the Wenhua Award; the Central Academy of Drama’s Drama Literature Award; the Cao Yu Award for Outstanding Playwrigh;, Golden Horse Awards and Hong Kong Film Awards nominations for Best Screenplay; Top Ten Screenwriters of New China’s 70th Anniversary; the Huading Award; Huabiao Award; and the 2020–2021 Best Screenwriter (Hong Kong–Macau–Taiwan), among many others. 

Roy Szeto is a Hong Kong-based screenwriter, director, actor and producer.  

His directorial works have been nominated for Best Film at the 29th Tokyo International Film Festival (2016), awarded the inaugural Central Academy of Drama International Theatre “Academy Award” for Best Director, and received the Best Director Award at the 4th Chinese Theatre Awards. His productions have frequently been listed among the Top Ten Most Popular Productions at the Hong Kong Drama Awards, and he has been nominated seven times for Best Director.  

Selected stage directing credits include Dear, Wu Xueyan; All Because of the Dragon Robe; Deling and Cixi; Sanshirō; Journey to the West; and The First Floor Under Heaven, among others.  

Selected screenplay credits include A Chinese Ghost Story III, Swordsman II: The East Is Red, The Phantom Lover, and Old Master Q 2001.

Li Ren is a first-class actor and director at the National Theatre of China; founder of the Shan Hou Lian Bian Studio; and guest director at Xiantong Theatre. A graduate of the Beijing Film Academy (Acting and Directing), he is a new-generation artist proficient in writing, directing and performing.  

His works have received major governmental honours, including Outstanding Stage Production Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Founding of the Communist Party of China, and have been twice selected for the Beijing Cultural Excellence Project. He has also received awards at the Chinese Theatre Awards, One Drama Awards and others.  

Directing credits include the plays The Magic Moment; Battle of Shangganling; Frankenstein; Deling and Cixi; The Grand Mansion Gate; and the acrobatic drama Calling 4921.

Jiang Shan is a prominent actress from Mainland China. She rose to fame with her breakout role Du Mei in Addicted, and subsequently starred in numerous acclaimed television, film and stage works including Never Give Up; The Grand Mansion Gate; Conquest; At Forty; ER Doctors; Staying Up; and Deling and Cixi.  

She is the recipient of the 22nd Flying Apsaras Award for Outstanding Actress; the 8th Huading Award for Best Actress (Urban Drama); the 7th Beijing College Student Film Festival Best Actress Award; the 15th Shanghai International Film Festival Media Award for Best Supporting Actress; the 2021 One Drama Award for Best Actress; and the Best Actress Award at the 4th Chinese Theatre Awards.

Lang Ling is a young actress from the National Theatre of China. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree (Musical Theatre) from the Shanghai Theatre Academy. Her major roles include Deling in Deling and Cixi; Sixth Concubine in The Stage; Tong Peiyun in Dream of Dreams; Chen Nana in Zhong Kui Marries His Sister; Jasmine in Their Secrets; La Mei in Walk Up, Walk Down; Zhang Xiuzhi in The Balcony; Dian Dian in This Is the Final Struggle; Ma Holland in Astonishing Dinner; Chorus in The Scholar Fusheng; Secretary in musical Rumour Rumour; Pageboy/Eunuch in The Long River; and Ling Ling in the film Heartbeat.

Born on 23 January 1995 in Tianshui, Gansu, Xiao Yuliang is a young Chinese actor with notable work across film, television and theatre. He made his official debut on 12 January 2016. In 2017, he appeared in the series Fighter of the Destiny. In 2018, he portrayed Zhang Qiling in Sand Sea, and reprised the role in Ultimate Note (2020), earning praise as a “dan-faced martial role” for his fight performance. He then appeared in Love Is Fate, The Trick of Life and Love, His Smile, and the stage play Will There Be a Class Reunion. In August 2024, he joined the cast of the play Deling and Cixi, portraying the conflicted and politically burdened young monarch Emperor Guangxu.