On November 30th, in order to better understand Taiwanese Opera, we went to Wenshan Theatre to watch Zhi-Shan Taiwanese Opera Club’s “The Story of Liu Hai and Jinchan”.

Yu-chun was still putting on makeup and she was also wearing a shui-yi which is an undergarment which one wears underneath the costume. Since costumes were difficult to clean the shui-yi would keep them clean from sweat and dirt. This way the costume wouldn’t get dirty.

The performers were putting on their make-up. Usually, the performers put on make-up by themselves.

The make-up of the young performers was done by professional make-up artists. The lady in the photo is a make-up artist. She was doing makeup for the little frog.

The hairdresser is putting on wigs for the performers.

The wigs were made by the hairdresser during the first show. After the show, the wigs were carefully stored and when you need to use it again all you have to do is put the wig in place with some black hairpins. For one this would save time and two it would keep the hairstyle constant throughout the shows.

Before each performance the performers would have to worship the gods and let the gods know that they were performing that day and hope the gods would bless them with a successful performance. We respect the religious belief of each performer so one can choose not to hold the worship incense.

We must bow down once toward each of the four directions, then someone would be in charge of gathering the incenses and stick them into the incense burner.

Ps. We were all sincere in the worshiping; the performance would be a success.

Before the start of the performance and we had some free time, the friendly actors give us a tour of the environment and facilities.

An introduction of the projector screen.

Since this performance included audiences who were children who didn’t speak Taiwanese, the projector screen would show translated subtitles of the dialogues. This would help the audience to get into the story more readily.

This is the backstage. The costumes were neatly hung together. The actors, after they’ve put on their makeup would come here to get dressed. After they were dressed the sound control technician would attach a microphone to them. Then, they would rehearse on stage.。

Props and other things would be place on another table. This way they won’t be buried in the clothes and we will be able to find it.

On the left of the curtain were the sound technician and his assistant.

The main actor had more lines, so a microphone is taped onto his cheek.

Secondary actors with few lines would have to share a microphone, hence had the microphone attached to their chest for easy removal.

The Wen chang musician

The traditional wen chang instruments consisted of kezaixian, datongxian, yueqin, Taiwanese flute, erhu, sanxian, dongxiao, ya-mu flute and yangqin. This time we used electric piano to replace most of the instruments. (Sitting next to it is the datongxian musician)

The Wu chang musician

From left to right is the datongxiang (a wen chang instrument), gong and snare drum, and tanggu. The tanggu musician is very friendly. He even gave us the victory sign!

After the rehearsal the performance began!

Our faces showing traces of our excitement and anticipation.

Curtain

This is the last day of the showing of The Story of Liu Hai and Jinchan. Many people came. It was very busy.

Heartwarming group picture.

The performers were outside waiting to have photo taken with the audiences. There were quite a few flowers offered from the audiences.

Afterthoughts:

Lo-chen Wang
　Prior to the trip, I was anticipating on learning something from the visit, and I especially want to have a chance at those interesting equipment.
During the vsit, I saw lots of actors putting on their wig, makeup and costumes in the backstage. I also saw some props and musicians sound testing. It was very interesting. At the front stage I saw drapes of scenic curtain and they each had different functions. There was also an electric fan on the side which was used for blowing out the smoke. In the back there was the lighting control room which can make special effects. Through the trip I had learned some Taiwanese from the opera and also got to know some of the commonly used equipment and instruments in the making of Taiwanese opera. I think it’s a lot of fun.

Kuo-chen Sun
　Before the trip I was really excited, so excited that I couldn’t sleep. On the day of the trip I saw a lot of instruments in the backstage and they each have different sounds; some have low pitch and some high. There were also some that sounded like the calls of animals. In the makeup room, there were a lot of performers putting on their make-up. The makeup of Taiwanese opera is vivid and unique. There were also a lot of teachers and personals getting ready in the front stage. While waiting at the front stage I saw the actors warming up their body, and voice. Their voices sounded so bright. After I’ve seen the opera I realized that it was a lot fun. I would definitely see it again.

Feng-ming Chuang
　　I learned that if you make a mistake on stage you can’t say,” oops I made a mistake”. You have to pretend that you didn’t make a mistake and improvise, so nobody knew you made a mistake. These actors are really good!

Hsin-ling Hsu
　Before the opera began I was really excited. I wanted to know whether their performance would be like what I had imagined. In the beginning I thought Taiwanese opera was just people taking turns going on to the stage and sing. It wasn’t until I had arrived at the scene had I realized that it wasn’t as I had imagined. Not only was it humorous, there were singing, dialogues and interaction with the audience too. It had opened my eyes!
From the back to the front stage I had seen many things which I had never known. It brought out my curiosity. In the backstage I saw people put on wigs and make-up. The experience was very unique and I indulged myself in it!
　After visiting the stage, I think the most special part about the stage is its microphone. You can control its volume in the backstage. It was super cool! At the same I’ve been wondering why they needed instrument performers and not just use music recordings.
This trip had really taught me a lot. Watching opera is really not that boring. The interaction with the performers is very special. I learned that one must work hard to have results. Through this trip I learned about the hard work and effort the performers.

Tsung-ying Hsieh
　This time, I took the role of a little frog in the performance “The Story of Liu Hai and Jinchan” which I had spent a lot of time practicing. I sometimes practice at noon and there were other times when others would say that my movements were wrong and I would continue to practice until everybody said that it was ok. This is my first time performing Taiwanese Opera on stage. After my make-up was applied, I was shocked by what I saw. I couldn’t understand why I looked as if I was hit by paintball right in the face. On the stage I was frightened, because there were hundreds of people watching. Nevertheless it was a lot of fun!