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

all were indicative of an old lady. I mentioned to Mr. Yuen how surprised I was that he took the
old lady stock role. Mr. Yuen’s answer was simple: In order to put the show on stage, somebody
needed to do roles when no other performer was available. I applaud a performer who did not
mind how he looked, and whose goal was to make the performance possible and preserve
history. At the time of the interview Mr. Yuen was scheduled to perform a new production about
the librettist Kwan Hon Hing of Yuen Jept Kek. Based on a Kwunju, the script was organized by
Mr. Yuen. The opera was to premier in the next few days.
Figure 8. Mr. Yuen Siu Fai and the author. Picture taken at the Eight Harmony Guild for
the Performers in Hong Kong at the interview in 2008.
Following is the interview I conducted with Mr. Yuen in Hong Kong in 2008
Ling: Mr Yuen, please let me know what you have learned about Red Boat Troupes from your si
fu (teachers) or anyone from the performance industry.
Yuen: The Northern performer Zhang Ngh who came to Da Gai May of Foshan is the only
human that is venerated by the performance industry. Other figures are god of plays, god of fire
etc. Zhang Ngh trained many Cantonese performers, he became blind at old age. In memory of
his hard work for the industry, no one on the Red Boats poured water on the deck [so that a blind
person would not slip]. Much of the culture of the Red Boat troupe was carried to the opera
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