| The theatrical stage inside the residence of Prince Gong of Qing Dynasty built in 1777. Now, performances are staged almost every evening on the stage. |
| Theatre Performance
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| A scene of Love between the Living and Dead (ren gui qing), Peking Opera made into a movie. | The earliest commercial performances took place in a teahouse. A spectator paid for admission primarily to drink tea but had to give a tip to a waiter for finding him a seat. Such a teahouse with a stage later evolved into an old-style theater called xiyuanzi.
City-based theatrical companies signed a contract with a theater, establishing a system in which the companies put up performances in turn. Performance usually began at noon and continued until dusk. No performance was staged in the evening. The earliest theatrical program was a poster put up before the stage prior to performance.
Many Peking Opera shows were staged in guildhalls that used to line the street south of the Qianmen Gate Tower in Beijing. The more tastefully furnished guildhalls had a stage.
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| A temple fair drawn by Sheng Xishan. |
Temple Fairs as Stage
At an even earlier date, Peking Opera and its predecessors chose temple fairs to stage their performances. A fair was a true occasion of pleasure for common Pekingers.
In the last couple of centuries, temple fairs have had ups and downs in Beijing. Of the two
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| Theatrical program for Mei Lanfang's first performance in Shanghai in 1913. | biggest fairs in Beijing, one was in east Beijing, at Long Fu Temple, and the other was in west Beijing, at Hu Guo Temple. In the 1950s, the White Dagoba Temple joined the two in offering fair space. Theatrical companies erected tents with cloth curtains at temple fair grounds to put up their shows. Before Peking Opera entered the old-style theater, theatrical companies made a living at temple fairs. Keeping them company were small traders and poor loafers. At a fair, operettas reflecting the life of ordinary people were quite popular. Plays reflecting palace intrigues could also have great appeal if they were revised to suit audiences' taste.
In rural areas, performances were put up at marketplaces and country fairs. It is from marketplaces, temple fairs and old-style theaters that Peking Opera as a classical art gradually
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| Yang Chunxia, a famous dan player, stages a performance on a makeshift stage in Hebei. | entered the life of city people.
Tanghui , or Performance at A Private Party
Tanghui, or performance at a private party, was an important form of performance in Beijing from the last years of the Ming Dynasty to 1949 when New China was founded. When a theatrical company was invited to put on shows at a private gathering outside a commercial theater, such as a private residence, a guildhall or a restaurant, that is called tanghui. A tanghui could also involve good performers of several theatrical companies who performed in the same shows.
A tanghui was held to celebrate a happy event such as a wedding and could last a whole day or at least half a day. Occasionally, Theatrical companies jointly held benefit performances {for victims of natural disasters, for example). The list of plays and performers were all specially arranged; and the tanghui sponsor could select plays. Performers were selected from different theatrical companies in the city. As long as a tanghui sponsor had
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| A gathering of piaoyou, or amateur performers. | money, he could invite all famous performers in Beijing.
A tanghui had the following characteristics:
Firstly, the audience for a tanghui was not as mixed as that in a commercial theater: as a result, order and sanitary conditions at the venue of performance were much better than in a theater.
Secondly, a tanghui sponsor could organize the performance of plays that people of a prospective gathering liked most. Officials and citizens with power could even demand that performers abandon their acting assignment in a commercial theater to perform for their tanghui. Professional performers, out of fear or only too willing to flatter the powerful, did as told. Generally speaking, therefore, the quality of performance at a tanghui was better than that in a commercial theater.
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| In 1925, Mei Lanfang put on a tanghui, or performance at a private party | Thirdly, a tanghui sponsor could volunteer to participate in tanghui performances; and some fans requested that they play roles in the same show with famous professional performers. This often resulted in strange or even laughable performances.
Fourthly, at tanghui performances, audiences could eat and drink; women were allowed to watch performances (sometimes behind screens or on the second floor). At the time, this was not possible in commercial theaters.
Thanks to good material conditions, tanghui refined Peking Opera performance. In the first two decades of the 20th century, box office prices for famous actors who were frequent tanghui performers shot up. Tanghui made it possible for famous actors of different theatrical companies to act on the same stage. They discussed acting skills, learned from each other and competed for
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| Pi, everyday dress for woman. | fame. This naturally led to a general improvement of their singing and acting skills.
Infatuated fans loved tanghui. These people would not miss a single performance by the actor they adored. A tanghui did not sell tickets, but they had a way of getting into a residence or guildhall, venue for a tanghui performance. Wearing clean clothes and carrying a gift package, they went through the gate when it was most crowded. Gatekeepers, taken in by their manners, usually let them in. Once inside, they would enjoy shows without fear of being bothered.
Amateur Performers
Peking Opera fans who double as amateur performers are called piaoyou. Piaoyou reportedly appeared in the reign of Emperor Qianlong (1736-1795) of the Qing Dynasty. Piaoyou staged performances generally to a limited number of audiences and mainly for self-enjoyment. Many amateurs were better educated than professional performers and were interested in studying the art of Peking Opera, including plays, verses, singing styles, word phonetics and performing styles of different acting schools. Some well-known amateur performers can sing as well as do
acrobatic fighting; some of them can even play a variety of roles, including sheng (male character), chou (clown) and dan (female character). Their attitude of striving for the perfect and their dedication to Peking Opera are absent in ordinary Peking Opera fans. Piaoyou as the core of Peking Opera audiences has played the role of raising audiences' overall level of appreciating Peking Opera and promoting the improvement of performing skills on the part of actors and actresses.
The place where amateur performers gather is called piaofang. A piaofang can be the home of a Peking Opera fan, or it can be a public place. By extension, it can also mean performance by amateurs. A complete piaofang must have the participation of three kinds of amateurs: those who sing, those who give musical accompaniment and those who watch.
Amateur Peking Opera performers also gather regularly in parks in many Chinese cities, singing and acting largely for self-enjoyment. Their love of Peking Opera has enriched their life in their spare time.
In Beijing and Shanghai piaofang as a cultural activity has boomed in recent years. Amateur performers have set up loose organizations of their own and hold performing contests on the stage. A piaofang involving dozens of retired diplomats in Beijing puts up performances regularly and invites famous Peking Opera performers to give lectures. In the two cities, there are even piaofangs involving foreigners. The rebirth of piaofang is characteristic of our times. The getting together of Peking Opera lovers for self-amusement has become a fashionable leisure activity.
To become a Peking Opera piaoyou, one has to become a Peking Opera fan first. And before becoming a fan, one usually has accumulated many hours of watching Peking Opera performance and listening to Peking Opera singing. Some people are addicted to Peking Opera. The more they watch, the better they love Peking Opera to become out-and-out fans. |
