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

These women were important figures in helping Cantonese opera and performers through
difficult times to maintain production and assist the survival of performers.
A decrease in young clientele, competition with Hollywood and British movies, Kwok
Yu movies (Mandarin, or Putonghua movies), Westernization, lack of support from government,
and general lack of respect, were some reasons for the decline in Cantonese opera audience.
Survival in the commercial and industrialized metropolis was difficult. Most men had little time
for opera. Scripts turned to more civil plays than had been the case in the previous years. 146
Opera patrons since the 1950s have been mostly elderly men and women, housewives, female
servants, and children who followed adults to the shows. Most people who went to operas did
not know much Putonghua (mandarin) or English, and were traditional Chinese. It was amazing
that in those years, people who knew Putonghua and English had little desire for the opera.
Female servants made up a certain percentage of the audience, through either going to
shows with their employers or taking advantage of free rituals in the communities. Many of
these servants called gu por, were women who had chosen not to get married after becoming
mature. They were probably the most independent group of women. After a ritual of tying up
her hair as a witness to her new roommates, the woman started living with her “sisters.” The
sisters took care of each other until the end of their lives. These women found work raising
silkworms, and doing embroidery in the three counties— Nam Hoi, Pun Yu, and Shun Tak—
close to Guangzhou. These counties were prosperous before WWII, so finding work and making
a living was not difficult. In the early 1950s, many gu por went to Hong Kong and served as
domestic servants. They wore white traditional tops, black trousers, and braids that hang to the
waist. Modernism did not seem to change much of their life style. Some factory women
workers were aficionados of opera too. Plastic, toy, and wig factories were the first factories that
146 Action plays were enjoyed by men and civil plays by women.
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