CHINESE THEATER ARTS

GROUP 1
8-Darwin

PEKING OPERA/BEIJING OPERA

PEKING OPERA/BEIJING OPERA

- Very known traditional art form which combines music, vocal,
performance,
pantomime, dance and acrobatics
- Started late 18th century
- Became fully developed and recognized by 19th century (Qing
Dynasty)

PEKING OPERA TRAINING

- Pupils were often handpicked at a young age by a teacher and
trained for 7 years on contract from the pupils parents
- After 1911, training took place in more formally organized
schools
- Students woke up as early as 5 in the morning for exercises
- Daytime was spent learning the skills of acting and combat
- Seniors performed in theaters in the evening

ROLES AND CHARACTERS

SHENG main male role in
Peking opera
1. XIAOSHENG
- actors are often involved with beautiful women by virtue
of the handsome and young image they project
2. WUSHENG
- martial character for roles involving acrobat
- highly trained in acrobatics and have a natural high
voice when singing
3. LAOSHENG
- dignified older role
- have gentle and cultivated disposition, wear sensible
costumes

XIAOSHENG

WUSHENG

LAOSHENG

DAN refers to any female

role in Peking opera

1. LAODAN
- an old woman

2. WUDAN
- martial woman

3. DAOMADAN
- young female warriors

4. QINGYI
- virtuous and elite women

5. HUADAN
- vivacious and married women

JING
- painted face male role who plays either primary
or secondary roles
- forceful character (must have strong voice and ability
to exaggerate gestures)
- RED (loyalty and goodness)
- WHITE (evil)
- BLACK (integrity)

CHOU
- male clown role
- usually plays secondary roles
- means ugly
- reflects the traditional belief that the
clowns
combination of ugliness and laughter
could
drive away evil spirits

VISUAL PERFORMANCE
ELEMENTS
1. Song
2. Speech
3. Dance-acting (pure dance, pantomime, all
other types of dance)
4. Combat (both acrobatics and fighting with
all manner of weaponry)

STAGING AND COSTUMES

STAGING AND COSTUMES

STAGE
- square platforms; the action on
stage is usually visible from at least
three sides
- stages were built above the line of sight of the viewers,
but
some modern stages have been constructed with a
higher audience
seating divided into 2 parts by an embroidered curtain
(shoujiu)
COSTUME
- xingtou (more known as xifu)
- costumes can be traced back to mid-14th century
- enable the audience to distinguish a characters
gender
and status at first glance

STAGING AND COSTUMES

PROPS
- uses only a few props
- will always use a table and at least 1
chair (city wall, mountain or bed)
- whip will indicate a horse
- oar indicates a boat
MUSICIANS
- visible to the audience on the front part of the stage
VIEWERS
- seated south
PERFORMERS
- move center north upon entering stage
- always enter from east & exit from west