麒麟書苑專欄Tony Wang's Peking Opera
（Update：1999.10.22)
Peking Opera English PageProvided by Tony Wang
A Survey on Chinese Theater--Decay and Health by David ROlston
Date: Mon, 18 Oct 1999 11:31:24 -0400 (EDT)
From: David Rolston
X-Sender: drolston@galaxian.gpcc.itd.umich.edu
To: asiantheatre@usfca.edu
Subject: ATHE panel proposal: traditional drama in the contemporary world
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Is there anyone interested in doing a panel on the fate of traditional
theatrical traditions in the modern world? A very nice book was produced
from a conference on this subject on noh and kyogen about a decade ago and
Susan Jain and Elizabeth Wickmann did a rather informal panel on such a
topic, restricted to Chinese theatre, several years ago.
I think it would be most interesting to have people working on different
national traditions (or different traditions within one culture, such as
noh and kyogen). There are a lot of similarities but also interesting
differences in the challenges faced and the solutions attempted.
If you are wondering who I am, I teach traditional Chinese fiction and
drama in the Department of Asian
Languages and Cultures at the University of Michigan. I have published two
books on premodern Chinese fiction commentary and a monograph in Chinoperl
Papers on borrowings of drama and oral performing literature in
traditional Chinese fiction. I am a long term member of Chinoperl but was
only became aware of AAP several years ago. I am presently doing a long
term project on the repertory of Jingju (Peking opera) that asks exactly
what kind of world was imagined on its stage.
To hopefully generate interest in the topic of what happens to traditional
theatres under the pressure of the kind of extreme and rapid social change
happening recently in China and other places, I append a list of "signs of
health and decay" that I found during a month long survey of traditional
theatre activities in Beijing this past summer. The list is not arranged
in order of importance (or even seriousness).
A Month (Almost) of Jingju (Peking Opera) (7/27-8/23/1999)
Signs of Health, Signs of Decay
Not enough good plays to go to one every night Decay
Other traditional opera in Beijing also in decline Decay
Same few plays repeated over and over Decay
Too many military plays Decay
Other elements stripped from the military plays Decay
Monkey King too prominent Decay
Too many traditional plays, very very few new ones Decay
New plays do not make their way into the repertory Decay
Not enough plays deal with modern content and themes Decay
Too little change in the repertory since 1949 Decay
Plays not advertised enough Decay
No plays performed over more than one day (liantai ben) Decay
Proscribed plays (because of sex, ghosts, gruesome detail,
or politically incorrect) back in repertory Decay Health
Government subsidization cut greatly Decay Health
Some subsidization continues Decay Health
Has friends in high places Health
Institutes and troupes are being reorganized Health
Troupes are disbanding Decay
Businesses and entrepreneurs are investing in troupes Decay Health
Stars often paid same as extras each time they perform Decay
Losing to competition from new media and entertainment options
(TV, video,VCDs, dance halls, etc.) Decay
Troupes often lose more money the more they perform Decay
Tickets can be quite expensive Decay
"Tourist" opera dominates the offerings Decay
Programs/playbills poorly done or not at all Decay
There is a market for related souvenirs and geegaws Health
Performances have become very short Decay
Programs can be changed at the last minute Decay
"Teahouse" model drives up ticket prices and restricts
audience size Decay
Audiences often full of uncomprehending, untrained,
and unresponsive spectators Decay
Films such as "Farewell My Concubine" have increased
exposure and interest in the West Health
Art of female impersonation dying out Decay
Actors more interesting in TV, film, and performing abroad
than at home (rewards much greater) Decay
Troupes, institutes, and theatres are running subsidiary
enterprises Decay Health
Some activity on the Web Decay Health
Chinese subtitles no longer done as well as in past Decay
Chinese subtitles for arias sometimes not done at all Decay
Chinese subtitles for dialog sometimes provided, mostly not Decay
English subtitles, when available, are of pretty poor quality Decay
English materials, when available, are of pretty poor quality Decay
There are materials/subtitles in English at some performances Health
Different types of Chinese opera not always distinguished for
foreign spectators Decay
Too many in audience did not buy tickets Decay
Audiences can be fewer than ten for some performances Decay
Too dependent on tour organizers and tourist seasons Decay
Actors dislike new noisy audiences Decay
Actors unable to make noisy audiences pay attention Decay
Beepers beep and telephone conversations take place in the
theatres Decay
Performances sometimes abandon pseudo-realism Health
Prop men are sometimes used again Health
The flexibility of the open and bare stage sometimes made
better use of again Health
Much fooling around with cumbersome and ugly scenery,
lighting, special effects, etc. Decay
Big is better mentality sometimes reigns (imitate "Cats"
or Las Vegas) Decay
Some Westerners are interested in Peking opera Health
Too much is made of Western interest Decay
Inferior plays are offered to Westerners Decay
Collaboration with Western theatre people Decay Health
Adaptations of Western stories and plays and techniques Decay Health
Performances are put on for special occassions (e.g., 50th
anniversary of the PRC) Health
Performances are not part of ritual or social cycles/activities Decay
Money has been spent refurbishing and restoring theaters Health
There is a musuem of traditional Chinese opera in Beijing now Health
Only five theatres in Beijing regularly show plays Decay
Poor imitations of "Las Vegas" theatrics considered acceptable Decay
Use of canned music instead of live orchestra Decay
Use of canned music instead of live orchestra happened only
once, live orchestra still used for fight scenes Health
Avoidance of higher and sharper musical registers in plays for
foreigners Decay
Inharmonious use of Western music/instruments Decay
Orchestra envy (bigger orchestras must be better, no matter
whether this destroys flexibility/tightness) Decay
Aging of core audience (many now retired, find it hard to
return home late from the theatre at night) Decay
More and more southerners live in Beijing, southern dialects
are having their impact Decay
Transportation to the theatres difficult and tiring Decay
There are some excellent young actors Health
The excellent young actors don't perform enough to refine
their art Decay
There were some good plays in this month Health
Many prefer to watch opera on TV to going to the theatre Decay
Apartments are now more comfortable and entertaining, less
crowded, less need to get out at night Decay
The young are largely alienated from the theatrics of
Peking opera and the world it tends to describe Decay
Both traditional and Communist ideology in the plays can
be offensive or laughable nowadays Decay
The saturation of the public with opera during the
Cultural Revolution burned opera into people's brains Decay Health
One TV channel features traditional opera Health
That one channel is a cable channel and not accessible to
everyone Decay
Other TV channels feel free to neglect traditional drama Decay
Peking opera thought to be part of "cultural literacy" and
shows up in quiz shows, etc. Health
Lip-synch (yin pei xiang) Peking opera considered acceptable Decay
Very little can be heard on radio, no dedicated stations or
programs Decay
Much amateur singing and acting activity Health
Amateurs do not attend performances as much as one would expect Decay
Some opera clubs poorly run, depressing Decay
Some opera clubs lively, well run Health
Many mistakes and much sloppiness in professional performances Decay
Small voices thought acceptable on stage, too great a
reliance on microphones Decay
Much attention is given to nurturing child performers Health
Actors and musicians earn extra income teaching amateurs,
helping them mount plays Health
Visiting foreign amateurs bring money into the Peking opera
economy (buy actors' and troupes' time to mount plays) Decay Health
Amateurs now rarely turn professional Decay
Amateurs can be very conservative and opposed to change Decay
Modernization is difficult, because majority of stage techniques
designed for traditional costumes and characters Decay
Bastardized notion of Western dramatic realism still very
strong Decay
Most plays set in "modern" (post 1840) times are unsatisfying Decay
Plays are almost never set in the post 1949 period, much less
within the last several decades Decay
There has been some progress in melding modern subjects
with traditional conventions Health
Political satire is extremely muted Decay
Please sent your response to David or ms@bakwa.comme.
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