Traditional Chinese opera renaissance

The Star

The huangmei opera, which is a traditional Chinese opera, is attracting a growing number of younger fans. Xinhua takes a peek behind the curtain at a theatre in Wuhan to find out why.  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

Transcript

00:00 With elaborate makeup, sweet melodies, and lavish costumes,

00:05 traditional Chinese operas have attracted younger audiences and students in China over the past years.

00:12 But the quintessential focus of one of China's most famous art films is far beyond that.

00:25 I'm Xinhua correspondent Wen Wan, an honored student of Huangmei Opera,

00:30 one of the five major types of traditional Chinese operas and an intangible cultural heritage.

00:37 I'm now in Shouyi Theater, Wuhan, in central China's Hubei province.

00:42 Here you can enjoy the local Han opera, as well as the widespread Beijing opera,

00:49 Yu opera, Yue opera, as well as the Huangmei opera.

00:54 May I ask, what kind of role do you think we're playing today?

01:00 Today's makeup is based on the traditional style of the Qing dynasty.

01:04 The Qing dynasty's makeup is usually a woman of the Yang family,

01:09 who is warm and gentle.

01:11 In your opinion, what do you think is the most attractive feature of the Huangmei opera?

01:18 The liveliness, the way the opera is performed, and the way the opera actors perform the opera.

01:25 I think that's what's most attractive.

01:27 Why do you think more and more young audiences are interested in the Huangmei opera?

01:46 I think the Huangmei opera has a lot of special features.

01:50 It's widely known.

01:53 Everyone knows there's a Huangmei opera genre.

01:56 The Huangmei opera is about young girls and boys,

02:03 and it's about love.

02:05 It's very moving.

02:09 The birds on the tree are in pairs.

02:16 The dew falls on the green hills and the stars are shining.

02:21 We often perform at the Yongfang Ancient Theater.

02:24 The Yongfang Ancient Theater is a popular place for the Tanghua Lin.

02:29 We have a lot of young audiences,

02:33 and a lot of college students come to watch our performance.

02:36 Many young people post their impressions on the Internet

02:41 so that more people can learn about our opera and the Huangmei opera.

02:45 There are many operas about talented people and their families.

02:58 They express love, or the immortals.

03:01 The world is changing, and the times are changing.

03:06 Only by constantly innovating a genre can we keep up with the times

03:12 and make more young people like it.

03:15 Now we slowly feel that in the past,

03:18 young people didn't want to go to the theater as long as it was a play.

03:21 Now, when young people go to the theater,

03:23 they see the change in the lineup and the packaging.

03:27 The pace of the performance is fast, and they can sit down and watch the whole play.

03:31 As time goes by, the number of young audiences will increase.

03:35 [no audio]

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