Chen Qiaoru performs on stage. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The play, adapted from German play wright Bertolt Brecht's work first staged in 1943, concerns the difficult quest to find people who will do good deeds. Chen played a prostitute, whose heart was pure, and her performance won rave reviews, Zhang said.

In 1992, Chen won her first Plum Blossom Prize with her portrayal of the white snake in the Sichuan Opera of the same name that tells the legendary love story between a snake-turned-woman and a young scholar.

Sichuan Opera fell out of favour in the 1990s as TV sets became more commonplace. Some performers left and changed jobs and friends tried to persuade Chen to do like wise but she did not want the art form, which had lasted more than300years, to disappear.

Her determination was rewarded when the opera was granted cultural her it age stat us.

As the economy developed more people became aware of the arts, said Wei Minglun, a play wright in Chengdu.