With its shrill falsetto singing, ancient storylines and lengthy performances, the appeal of Peking opera can be lost on some foreign audiences. "It would be like watching a Star Wars film in a language you can't understand; you would find it noisy and incomprehensible," admitted Ghaffar Pourazar, a British performer and director who has studied Peking opera, also known as Beijing opera, for two decades.

Pourazar created Beijing Opera Demystified, the only show in the world that stages China's ancient art form in English and breaks it down for foreign audiences. Staged around the world at embassies to VIP audiences and foreign language students, Beijing Opera Demystified makes its theatrical debut on Saturday with a new integration of demonstrations, sketches and multimedia features.

Pourazar's acclaimed recreation of Peking opera is a bilingual show that intertwines performance and lectures to help non-Chinese audiences understand the traditions and spirit of the opera form that dates back more than two centuries.

"Theater is about characters with intentions, plots taken from real life and history or mythology that is then refined or exaggerated. If you do not understand who the characters are and what they are doing, then you can never understand the opera and appreciate its intricacies," explained the 50-year-old performer of Iranian descent.

"Do you know the meaning of the colors and designs in Peking opera's painted faces and costumes?" inquires Pourazar to an audience as he paints his face to mimic Chinese mythological character the Monkey King. "The performance is a traditional multimedia experience with a Broadway twist."

Movies are projected onstage in Pourazar's performance as a dozen artists, actors and musicians from the International Center for Beijing Opera, act, sing, recite poetry and perform martial arts. The main storyline is fused with informative sketches that guide the audience through Chinese traditions to help them better understand and appreciate Peking opera.

Pourazar believes some of the popular Peking operas in Beijing have been turning foreign audiences away from the performance art, instead of winning over their interest.

It's a view shared by John Cacciatore, one of the foreigners who has been swept up in Pourazar's latest foray on the Peking opera stage.

"[Pourazar] multiplied my understanding and appreciation of Peking opera by 200 times. I love it now," Cacciatore told Metro Beijing. Beijing Opera Demystified has been hailed by media around the world as being successful in promoting Chinese culture and history by making the ancient art form more accessible.

Passionate about the fusion of Chinese contemporary art forms, singer-songwriter Xiaoke, or Ke Zhaolei, famous for his love songs and for the 2008 Beijing Olympics theme song "Beijing Huanying Ni" ("Beijing Welcomes You"), invited Pourazar to stage Beijing Opera Demystified at his namesake theater at the 798 Art Zone.

"The theater scene brings music and drama together. After working on a musical, I realized there was no independent stage where performing arts can be freely developed," said Ke, who hopes to bring more music and theater to the Chaoyang district art hub.

"Beijing Opera Demystified in English not only opens up Chinese culture and its meaning to foreigners, but also offers Chinese audiences a recreation of their own culture and spirit as seen through the eyes of foreigners," Ke added.

When: 3 pm, September 29, October 5, 6

Where: Xiao Ke Theater, 798 Art Zone, 4 Jiuxianqiao Lu, Chaoyang district.

Admission: Entry by donation

Contact: 1871-0075-094 or e-mail: beijingopera@yahoo.com