Across China: Traditional opera faces modern blues

Preparing for a show, opera singer Gao Qinying uses her own powder and eyebrow pencil, just to save costs.

Gao is the head of a small Yunnan Opera troupe. The art form has been performed in the southwest of China since before the Qing Dynasty (1616-1912 A.D.). While Yunnan Opera features the usual bowed instruments associated with other forms of Chinese opera, it is the distinct vocal style of its performers that sets it apart.

Opera troupes face rising costs, while a lack of funding and a dearth of fresh talent makes things more difficult yet.

"The troupe's budget is so tight that most of the money for our props and materials comes out of our own pockets," Gao said.

Gao's "theater" is in a huge, sprawling vegetable market in the provincial capital Kunming. Here "the rent is cheap," and the troupe relies on a group of "old folk" who regularly attend the musicals.

Despite the commitment of a handful of regular punters, her troupe sill struggles to make ends meet, and a rising rent is not making matters any easier. Over the last decade the price to rent the space at Zhuanxin Rural Market has increased from 50 yuan (7.70 U.S. dollars) to 280 yuan a day.

"This means we must sell at least 45 tickets, but we are lucky if we sell 30," Gao said.

A local government grant of 3,000 yuan, and donations, such as a set of chairs and desks just last week, have gone some way to reducing the troupe's financial burden, but these are only temporary solutions.

"We are not turning a profit at all," Gao said. "I even have to borrow money to pay my actors."

A ticket to the show costs 6 yuan, yet the majority of those who watch the shows are retirees, who survive on their pensions. It is for this reason that Gao has ruled out increasing the ticket price. While this altruism is commendable, it means the troupe must draw its purse strings ever tighter.

FRESH TALENT

Yunnan Opera performers cheered the inclusion of their art on the national intangible cultural heritage list in 2008. Almost a decade on, however, problems still beset the craft, a lack of new performers being one.

There are less than 500 active, professional Yunnan Opera performers in the province, according to Kunming Daily. Most are snapped up by larger troupes, such as the 131-member Yunnan Opera Theater or another group in Yunnan's Yuxi City.

It is understandable that performers prefer the more celebrated opera troupes, but it is to the detriment of smaller groups, such as Gao's, which only pay 20 yuan per two-hour show.

Li Yuzhen, 26, is the troupe's only young performer. Last year, she quit her job at a power grid company and joined the market troupe.

"This is my passion," she explained.

Aware that something must be done to attract new talent, the culture and sports bureau of Kunming's Guandu District last month launched a Yunnan Opera course, which will run until June.

A Yunnan Opera "inheritance class" is also offered at Yunnan Vocational College of Culture and Art, with scholarships and grants for talented students, according to the provincial culture department.

"WE HAVE NO CHOICE"

Despite being grounded in the local dialect, history and culture of Yunnan, audience numbers are dwindling.

Chen Zhouyan, a member of the market theater troupe, said people are more interested in catching a movie or watching TV now. "We are competing with these new forms of entertainment."

The acoustics and ambient noise in the market theater are less than ideal. Performers' voices compete with the sound of vendors hawking their wares, and when it rains, the plastic roof amplifies the sound of each drop making the downpour almost deafening.

"How do you expect people to truly enjoy the show in an environment like this?" Chen said. "But, we have no choice."

To attract more people, the larger opera houses are reinventing their shows.

Guo Weiping, head of the provincial opera house, believes that they have created shows that are up-to-date, and reflect modern life. They also perform at colleges, and for foreign visitors.

"It's not that people don't like the opera, it's that they don't know about it," Guo said.

"We need shows that suit a modern audience," he said, "and more government support."

For Gao Qinying, however, the future for her small group is uncertain.

"If things don't change, the final curtain may fall for our troupe before the year is out." Endi