Peking+Opera

Beijing opera

The Beijing opera was started in 1790 when the famous four Anhui opera troupes came to Beijing. Under the reign of Emperor Qianlong the Beijing opera underwent fast development and became more viewable by the public. In the beginning Beijing opera was performed mostly in an open air area temple courtyards or tea houses. Because of the dim lighting on stage the cast would wear extremely colorful clothes. The act would be a huge selection of opera, ballet and acrobatics, dance, dialogue, monologues, martial arts and mime.

The musical part of the show consists of an opera and a band that would sit on the left side of the stage and would play traditional instruments such as Erhu(Bowed string instrument), Huqin (bowed string instrument), Yueqin (moon guitar), Sheng (reed pipe), Pipa (lute) and other instruments.

The costumes worn by the cast of the Beijing opera were usually robes. Robes worn by the characters would vary in style and color depending on the rank of the character, for example children and the elderly would wear simple white robes, powerful characters would wear purple, emperors yellow and brave or honorable characters would wear red. The costumes were made to match the characters make up and head dresses. The audience would immediately recognize the characters sex and age by what they are wearing.

One thing that Beijing opera is most famous for is a technique known as changing faces. The actor changes his mask or facial makeup (without the audience noticing) on stage in a blink of an eye. This skill is extremely hard to master and would take years to even get the basics. The use of face changing can portray extreme change in feelings.

Face changing can be done in 4 ways; the actor can blow dust hiding his or her face for a few seconds, changing the beard to show anger or excitement, mopping the makeup away to show the layer underneath, and simply pulling of the mask.

The characters in a Beijing opera are very similar to a traditional melodrama with
 * 1) the male role, //Lao Sheng// the smart elder, //Xiao Sheng// young man, who is a warrior, //Wu Sheng// the acrobat.
 * 2) Female Role: //Qing Yi// modest, //Hua Dan// flirtatious, //Gui Men Dan// married girl, //Dao Ma Dan// strong woman,), //Wu Dan// female acrobat, //Lao Dan// old woman.
 * 3) The face painted ones. The Jing. His facial colors symbolize the type of character: red = good, white = treacherous.
 * 4) The comedian. Stupid, dim witted, can sometimes be treacherous.

Different shows that are presented today include Banquet at Hongmen A mix of attempted murder and political intrigue, this opera pits powerful warlord Xiang Yu against Liu Bang, the future emperor of the Han Dynasty Xiang invites Liu to a banquet at a place named Hongmen in an attempt to murder him. Getting the murder intelligence in advance, Liu's officers help Liu crush the conspiracy.

As you can see the shows often include violence but almost always end up getting the problem fixed

"Peking Opera." Web. 27 Sept. 2009. . "Beijing Opera, Peking Drama, Oriental Opera, Facial Painting, Lianpu." //China// //Travel Agency,China Tour,China Travel Tours,24/7 Trip Service//. Web. 27 Sept. 2009. .

"PEKING OPERA Peking Opera is a typical example of the Chinese traditional operal performance." //People's Daily Online - Home Page//. Web. 27 Sept. 2009. .