Contemporary China - Yavanika

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Sun Yatsen and his followers was the occasion {br
several spoken drarnas about him. His wife Song
Qingling, who died in 1981, figures prominently in
them. The first of thc plays was Sun Yatsen's London
Lnclunter with Dtrnger \Sun Zhongshan Lundun mengan
ji). Its focus was Sun's arrest by thc Chinese legation
in 1896 and later release through the ef'forts of
his fbrner teacher, the British doctor Sir James
Cantlie. This enables the playwright, Li Peijian, to
emphasize not only the courage and unselflshness
of Sun, but also thc power and wisdon of the
British people, represented by Cantlie and others,
and Sun's good lelations with his'foreign friends'.
The play is unusual in China, even in the 1980s, in
being set rn a foleign country.
Sites of performance, audiences
Theatre perfbrmances can take place in a variety of
sitcs in China, including workers'ol t-ural clubs, a
The Changyin Ce lfoyful Sounds Pagoda), a three
tiered stage in the In-rperial Palaces o{'Bcijing,
srtc ofthe former intperial court.
marketplace or any open space. Street theatfe is
comrron only on special occasions such as festivals.
In the cities and towns, cinemas are readily
used as theatres for live perfbnnances. A major
theatre encyclopedia published in Beijing in 1983
stated that there were 891 theatres in China in
1949 and 2227 in 1957 . It claimed that 'after 1958
[we] continued to build quite a few new the:rtres'
but gave no hgures. In the main cities there arc a
few large theatres, of special note being one
opened in Beijing in 1984 which has a 600-squalenrctrc
slage able to hold 1000 performcrs.
Most theatres built since 1949 follow a somewhat
stark Soviet architectural style, both internally
and externally. In sharp contrast to the
teahouse-theatles of the 19th century, the audience
is expected to concentrate fully on the perfbr,
nance, and sits in rows facing onc side ofthe stage.
In the case of musical itcn-rs, the text is projected
beside the stage to facilitate comprehension. The
seats are rarely padded. The lalge 1984 Beijing
thcatre has a stage with rising and revolving
platforms, a stereo sound system, lamps, spotlights
and curtains all controlled by computer, the first
ofirs kind in China.
Some companies own their own theatre. Those
not so fortunate negotiate with a Iocal government
Bureau of Culture, which coordinates the timetables
of the various troupes and theatres. Tours are
planned through an annual meeting organized by
the central Ministry of Culture. In a few parts of
China there are special theatres fbr balladeers or
storytellers. Here people sip tea and listen to stories
sung out by one or several performers, acconlpanied
by musical instrurrents. However, in most
cases storytellers perfbrm by thernselves in parks
or squares.
Performances are advertised partly through the
Iocal press. Theatres announce forthcoming items
and perfbrmances through bills in the foycr. Most
important of all, advertisements afe stuck on special
billboar-ds, poles or any free space along the
streets or in the ll'rarkets. This is especially necessary
in snall towns or villages which lack their
own newspaper. Tickets for professional perfbrrlances
are cheap and ently to anateur oncs often
frec. Simple printed prograrnrres are very cheap.
Full houses are quite conlmoD, especially fbr good
and well performed pieces, br.rt companies frequcntly
complain of low attendances, and nearly
empty theatres are distress
provincial centres.
Those involved with the tr
newly arranged historical n
becone very worried over the
people from their audiences.l
performance of over a decader
Revolution dealt a crippling bL
est in such theatre. It was exclu
cation and cultural life for so lo
of its revival they simply did no
saw no reason why they should
the 1980s and 90s, audienc
mances of traditional music i
over 40 years of age, with n
women two or more to one
affects the countryside, but is
nounced there.
Young theatre-goers prefer
because they can understand il
say of relevance to their own li
the mid 1980s even spokend
been finding it increasingly dil
meet and to attract large aud
entertainment which is more a
the largest audience is not the
The State Statistical Bureau's
on the previous year's eco
declared that there were 764
and 1123 television transn
stations. Television is availa
cities but to very large and inc
countrysidc. Ironically the scr
drama forns in the sense that I
modern music-dramas and s
shown both on television and
the fact is of little comfort to thr
Audiences at traditional mr
be noisy, possibly in part a
incomplete understanding of
but lhose at spoken drama ar
reserved n-rainly for notes helc
of time or an excellent acro
very good troupes are lucky tr
patter at the conclusion ofthe
The performer
The State Statistical Bureaua
1996 that the number of full p
ing-arts troupes in China in