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A performance at a temple in rural Wenling City.
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The audience agog at this diva’s grease paint artistry.
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Chen
Xin (middle) in the backstage chorus line.
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Shapxing Opera originated in Zhejiang
Province during the mid-19th century. Despite stiff competition
from TV, DVDs and on-line entertainment, it still has a stalwart
audience south of the Yangtze. Private troupes that tour villages
and towns in Zhejiang and Jiangsu catered to this pool of aficionados,
occasionally hitting the Shanghai cosmopolis. One of them is the
No.2 Wenling Yueju Troupe.
A Feminine Art
As Peking University arts postgraduate Zhou Yingying from Zhejiang’s
Ningbo explains, “The distinctly feminine nuances of Yueju
are a musical evocation of southern China’s pastel landscapes,
graceful bridges and meandering rivers. Yueju is the ultimate
foil to Peking Opera’s overtly Yang emphasis on martial arts
and acrobatics.”
The feminine traits of Yueju are accentuated by the soft southern
dialect in which it is sung. In 1906 it was known as Luodi narration
and singing, and in common with other types of opera, all its
players were men. But in the decades that followed both its male
and female roles were gradually taken over by women. Today, Yueju
is the acknowledged preserve of female performers.
Trials and Tribulations of a Fledgling Private Opera Troupe
Chen Xin, formerly deputy chief of the erstwhile state-owned
Wenling Yueju Troupe, is self-appointed head of the privately
run No.2 Wenling Yueju Troupe. She has been troupe manager and
broker, as well as performer, since 1999, the year many state-sponsored
troupes faced survival under their own steam. With no experience
whatever in performance promotion, Chen initially floundered.
When the troupe eventually got its first booking it lacked the
requisite wardrobe, and performed in heavy rain under the shelter
of a hastily constructed bamboo “canvas.” After a few
false starts and hard earned lessons, however the troupe won the
gold medal at the Yingshanhong (azalea) National Folk Opera Festival
in 2003, and was later voted China’s model private troupe.
Chen’s troupe comprises 30 members. All 20 performers are
women between the ages of 18 and 50, and its 10 men are either
musicians or stagehands.
Opera on Wheels
The No.2 Wenling Yueju Troupe is constantly on the road. There
are more than 20 private Yueju troupes in Wenling City alone,
and 485 in Zhejiang Province as a whole. The troupe has little
choice but to keep moving if it is to stay ahead of the competition.
Fortunately, Zhejiang abounds in Yueju buffs that uphold the
tradition of Yueju performances at times of joyful celebration.
Village elders’ associations often club together to stage
performances that stretch over several days on the occasion of
a senior villager’s birthday, the 100th day after the birth
of a baby, a wedding or completion of a house.
The stage is generally erected in the village temple. This is
a task the male troupe members set about immediately upon arrival,
while the troupe’s actresses sort out accommodation that
generally consists of plank beds and a few makeshift dressing
rooms.
These conditions are a far cry from those in city theaters, but
troupe members accept them with equanimity. All are dedicated
to Yueju, not simply because it is their best means of making
a living but because they simply love it and the life it brings
them. Even the troupe cook and odd-jobbers are Yueju addicts who,
after completing their tasks, sit and watch each performance as
entranced as the rest of the audience.
Troupe manager and general factotum Chen Xin has developed an
instinct for the preferences of each audience. In addition to
the company’s repertoire of 30 traditional dramas, it is
also open to performances on request, sometimes after only one
rehearsal, on special occasions.
“We generally charge RMB 20,000 to 30,000 per performance,
which may sound a lot but doesn’t allow for much profit after
salaries and transportation and accommodation costs,” says
Chen Xin, continuing, “The leading actress is paid RMB 120
per day, the supporting players RMB 80, and the non-speaking parts
get RMB 60. We played for 300 days or more last year, but stay
no longer than three days at each venue. The troupe generally
arrives in the morning and performs in the afternoon. When there
are no spare rooms in the temple, we stay with local villagers.
It’s no easy life, but we survive.”
Shaoxing Opera Forever
“Shaoxing Opera performances are most enjoyed by elders
and children in rural Zhejiang Province,” says Dai Junliang,
director of the documentary film Yuejue Opera, resignedly. A native
of Taizhou, Zhejiang, Dai’s grandparents took him to the
opera whenever it was playing in the area. He and Chen Xin agree
that today’s young adults are more drawn to contemporary
music and performance, and that the majority of people going to
see opera are rarely younger than 40 years.
Chen’s troupe has made efforts to draw younger adults by
staging pre-performance cross talks and skits. But Dai Junliang
is not worried about the future of traditional opera because,
as he says, “Its target audience is not young people preoccupied
with dabbling in the latest trends and carving out their careers.
Yueju will still be around by the time they return to their cultural
roots.”
Life in the troupe is also mundane and stressful at times. More
than 500 performances annually means that 10 months of the year
are spent traveling, packing, unpacking, and doing seemingly endless
performances of a limited repertoire. It is a life inconceivable
to city-based opera troupes.
Hardest to bear is the time spent away from loved ones. Actress
Wu Yuhong has been performing Yueju since she was 18, and has
an 8-year-old son. She tried other work in order to stay close
to him, but eventually returned to the troupe. This anguish is
shared by her fellow performers, none of whom can take time off
other than during the hottest summer month. During the holidays
that are the traditional time for family reunions they are always
away performing.
A job with the troupe is nevertheless attractive, partly because
it offers relatively good pay, but mostly because it helps to
uphold one of Zhejiang’s finest cultural traditions. Performance
excellence apart, it is also fascinating as a female-dominant
phenomenon in the otherwise man-friendly world of entertainment.
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