RED BOAT TROUPES AND CANTONESE ... - University of Georgia

Chapter Four
The Plays
According to statistics, there are 11360 recorded titles in the history of Cantonese
Opera. 88 Even though certain tunes are repeatedly used in other operas, the figure is still
astonishing. Over the years, many performances have been staged. The two main categories of
traditional Cantonese operas are wan and wu plays. Wu plays are usually stories that involve
generals and warriors with weapons and choreographed fighting. Wan plays are civil operas of
romantic stories and the paternal-filial bond; instead of swords, long water sleeves 89 are used
often to enhance expression. Wu acts, fighting scenes, may be in some parts of a wan play.
Fewer wu plays have been performed in the last few decades.
During the Red Boat era, a troupe was stationed at a performing venue in a town for a
few days. The program for each day was different so that the audience could watch a different
line up on another day. The program included the Eighteen Standard Operas, playlets, and main
feature plays. The Eighteen Standard Operas were a pool of play titles that were performed
during daytime shows in the 1930s. 90 Many Chinese opera genres also have their own eighteen
standard plays. Each play is numbered from one to eighteen, and the number is the incipit of the
poetic play title, e.g. Luk Jyut Syut (Snowing in the sixth month); luk is the transcription for six,
88
P. G. Leung. “Koi Lun Yuet Kek [Discourse on Cantonese Opera] (paper presented at the International Seminar
on Cantonese Opera, Hong Kong, November 18-20, 1992).
89
Sleeves of a costume that are extended beyond the length of the hands.
90
Interview with Wong Toa.
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