Private opera troupes are flourishing in Fujian, a province on the east China seaboard,
as more and more local residents decide to hire troupes to
entertain their friends and neighbors.
According to Lin Ruiwu, an official with Fujian provincial
cultural bureau, there are 765 non-governmental troupes in Fujian,
more than in any other province in the country, providing over
20,000 people with jobs.
By contrast, there are only 30 or so state-financed troupes in
Fujian.
"The non-governmental troupes stage more than 160,000 shows a
year and earn 400 million yuan (US$50 million) in revenue," said
the official.
Fujian, with a 1,000-year tradition of opera singing, had as
many as 32 types of local opera and drama in the past. Only 20 are
still in vogue, including fuzhou Opera, an opera popular in
northeastern Fujian Province, and puxian opera, also known as
xinghua opera, popular in Putian and Xianyou.
Eleven Fujian operas are included on the state intangible
cultural heritage list.
Wu Xianyang, leader of Xiangyang Non-Governmental Fuzhou opera
Theater, said he now operates three separate troupes with 180
employees and a registered capital of 2 million yuan. "We are
invited to do more than 1,000 shows each year, and we charge 4,000
yuan per show. People have lots of reasons to celebrate with a
show: the birth of a baby, the completion of a family clan temple,
a birthday, or the fulfillment of a promise," said Wu.
Old people and migrant workers make up the bulk of the audience
for local opera shows which are mainly held in the open air, said
Wu, whose opera theater earns 4 million yuan in business revenue a
year.
He said that his theater received technical assistance for stage
illumination and choreography from the more professional
state-backed Fuzhou opera Theater in Fuzhou City and had recently
been given financial support from the city government of
Fuzhou.
"Our theater took part in the 23rd Fujian drama performance
season held in Fuzhou from Jan.18 to 29, with a special fund of
100,000 yuan provided by the city government," said Wu. "It is the
first government financing I have received in my career to run a
theater."
"With the encouragement of local government, we will work harder
to achieve more in the future," he added.
Lin Jinbiao, head of the Putian City Arts Institute, said the
Putian city government has spent 300,000 yuan to produce a new
Puxian opera masterpiece.
There are now more than 100 non-governmental Puxian opera
troupes in Putian alone.
"The Putian city government has decided to invest more than 100
million yuan to invite old artists to teach young people their art
and to build a theater for Puxian drama," said Lin Jinbiao.
Lin Ruiwu with the cultural bureau of Fujian Province believes
market demand, along with government support, has contributed to
the boom of privately owned local opera troupes in this coastal
province.
Local operas, which are sung in local dialects, are a lively and
effective way of transmitting historical and cultural knowledge,
especially for people who are illiterate, according to Liu Yanjun,
a researcher with China Arts Institute.
In China's modernization drive, local operas have had to face
the challenges posed by other popular forms of entertainment, such
as electronic games, but they continue to have a big following,
especially in rural areas, said Liu.
Wang Yifu, vice governor of Fujian Province, said at a recent
seminar on protection and development of local operas that the
government plans to increase funding for the art in coming
years.
(Xinhua News Agency February 12, 2007)