CHINESE

THEATER
CHINA IS KNOWN FOR
THEIR TRADITIONAL
THEATER FORM, THE
PEKING OPERA OR
BEIJING OPERA
WHICH COMBINES
 It started in the late
18th century and became
fully developed and
recognized by the mid-
19th century. During the
Qing Dynasty court it
became extremely popular
 ROLES AND CHARACTERS:
ROLES AND CHARACTERS:
ROLES AND CHARACTERS:
is the main male role in
SHENG
Peking opera
XIAOSHENG
actors are often
involved with beautiful
women by virtue of the
handsome and young
image they project.
WUSHENG
is a martial character for
roles involving combat. They
are highly trained in
acrobatics, and have a
natural voice when singing.
LAOSHENG
is a dignified older role,
these characters have a
gentle and cultivated
disposition, and wear
sensible costumes
 DAN
refers to any female role in
Peking opera
LAODAN

old woman
WUDAN
martial woman
DAOMADAN
are young
female
warriors
QINGYI
are virtuous and
elite women
HUADAN
are vivacious and
unmarried women
 Jing is a painted face male role
who plays either primary or
secondary roles. This type of role
entails a forceful character,
which means that a Jing actor
must have a strong voice and be
able to exaggerate gestures. The
red color denotes loyalty and
goodness, white denotes evil,
and black denotes integrity.
Chou is a male clown
role. The Chou usually
plays secondary roles
whose name also means
"ugly". It reflects the
traditional belief that
the clown's combination
of ugliness and laughter
could drive away evil
spirits
Visual Performance Elements: Peking-opera performers utilize
four main skills.
1. Song
2. Speech
3. Dance-acting - This includes pure dance, pantomime, and all
other types of dance.
4. Combat - includes both acrobatics and fighting with all
manner of weaponry.
The meaning of colors in Peking Opera Masks/Make-ups:
Red - devotion, courage, bravery, uprightness and loyalty.
Black - roughness and fierceness
Yellow - fierceness, ambition and cool-headedness
Purple - uprightness, sophistication and cool-headedness
Reddish purple - just and noble character
 Blue - loyalty, fierceness and sharpness
 White - dangerousness, suspiciousness and craftiness. Commonly seen on the
stage is the white face for the powerful villain
 Green - impulsive and violent and stubbornness
 Xiaohualian (the petty painted face) is a small patch of chalk on and around the
nose. Clowns of traditional drama who wears this special make-up show a mean
and secretive character.
 Aesthetic Aims and Principles of Movement:
The highest aim of performers in
Peking Opera is to put beauty into
every motion. The art form, gestures,
settings, music, and character types
are determined by long held
conventions
Conventions of movement:
-Walking in a large circle always
symbolizes traveling a long distance
STAGING AND COSTUMES
Stages:
 square platforms, the action on stage is usually visible from at
least three sides
 stages were built above the line of sight of the viewers, but some
modern stages have been constructed with higher audience seating
 divided into two parts by an embroidered curtain called a shoujiu.
 Costume:
popularly known as Xifu in Chinese
origins of Peking Opera costumes can be traced back to the mid-14th century
enable the audience to distinguish a character's sex and status at first glance if noble
or humble, civilian or military, officials or private citizens
give expression to sharp distinctions between good and evil or loyal and wicked
characters
oblong wings (chizi) attached to a gauze hat indicate a loyal official.

Xingtou
In contrast, a corrupt official is made to wear a gauze hat with rhomboidal wing
 utilizes very few props
 will almost always have a table and at least one chair, which
can be turned through convention into such diverse objects as a
city wall, a mountain, or a bed
a whip is used to indicate a horse and an oar symbolizes a
boat
 MUSICIANS:
are visible to the audience on the front
part of the stage
 VIEWERS
always seated south of the stage, therefore, north is the most
important direction
 PERFORMERS
immediately move to center north upon entering the stage. All
characters enter from the east and exit from the west
 Kabuki is a form of
traditional Japanese drama
with highly stylized song,
mime, and dance, now
performed only by male
actors. Japanese,
Kabuki theater is known for the
stylization of its drama and for
the elaborate make-up worn by
some of its performers. Kabuki
is therefore sometimes
translated as "the art of
singing and dancing". Since the
word kabuki is believed to
derive from the verb kabuku,
The Kabuki stage features:
 Hanamichi – a flower path, a walkway which extends into the audience and via which
dramatic entrances and exits are made; Okuni also perform on a hanamichi stage with her
entourage.
 Kogakudo -kabuki theaters that have stages both in front of the audience and along the
sides help create a bond between the actors and viewers ‘
 Mawaro butal -the interior of the theater contains a revolving stage
 Suppon -a platform that rises from below the stage
 Hanamicho – a walkway that cuts through the audience seating area to connect the stage
with the back of the theater. Magicians and supernatural beings often make their entrances
from trap doors in the hanamachi. Some stages have 17 trapdoors.
 The three main categories of the kabuki play are

jidai-mono- historical, or pre-Sengoku

period stories
sewa-mono- domestic, or post-Sengoku
stories
shosagoto - dance pieces
 Elements of kabuki:
• Mie - in which the actor holds a picturesque pose to establish
his character and his house name yagō, is sometimes heard in a
loud shout (kakegoe) from expert audience member, serving
both to express and enhance the audience's appreciation of the
actor's achievement. An even greater compliment can be paid by
shouting the name of the actor's father. Keshō
 Actors are separated into two main categories:

Onna-gata - female roles and

Aragoto - male roles.

Most main characters in Kabuki
plays are aragoto, because of
its super-stylized masculine,
heroic style
 Kabuki "Hero" character
Make-up is also one of the most iconic parts of Kabuki.

The colors and lines that are used tell you what kind of
character is being performed.

Red and blue are usually aragoto roles, onna-gata playing

young women have very little paint
 Rice powder is used to create the white
oshiroi base for the characteristic stage
make-up, and kumadori enhances or
exaggerates facial lines to produce dramatic
animal or supernatural character.
 The color of the kumadori is an expression of the
character's nature:
• red lines-are used to indicate passion, heroism,
righteousness, and other positive traits;
• Pink-for youthful joy;
• light blue-for an even temper;
• pale green-for peacefulness
• blue or black- for villainy, jealousy, and
other negative traits
• Green-for the supernatural; and
• purple-for nobility
The play occupies five acts. The first corresponds
to.
• jo,
.
an auspicious and slow
opening which introduces the
audience to the characters and the
plot
• ha, speeding events up,
culminating almost always in a
great moment of drama or
• tragedy in the third act and
possibly a battle in the second
 Kabuki props are often quite
interesting. Flowing water is
usually represented by fluttering
roles of linen; and creatures like
insects and foxes. Props often
have symbolic meanings. Fans are
used to symbolize wind, a sword, a
tobacco pipe, waves or food.
Costumes are swung from sticks or
manipulated by helpers who come
on stage dressed in black hooded
robes so they are invisible to
the audience. The female
characters generally wear an
elaborate kimono and obi. Pleated
hakuma trousers are worn by
characters of sexes.
 Costume changing is considered
as an art. There are special
teams that take care of complete
and partial costume changes and
are done as part of the
performances
 Wigs are important
accessories, with each
costume having its own
type. Specialized craftsmen
shape the wigs to the head
 Wayang refer to kinds of puppet
It was sometimes
theaters, given therecognition
puppet itself
as a Masterpiece of Oral
is referred to as wayang. Performances
of shadow puppet theaters are
and Intangible
accompanied by a GamelanHeritage
orchestra in
of Humanity
Java, and by Genderon November
Wayang in Bali.
Wayang Kulit, or shadow puppets, are
7, 2003
without a doubtbythe UNESCO
best knownandof the
required Indonesians to
Indonesian Wayang. Kulit means skin,
and refers to the leather construction
The stories are usually drawn from the Hindu epics:

• 1. Ramayana
• 2. Mahabharata
• 3. Serat Menak
- a story about the heroism of Amir Hamza
Wayang Kulit Performance consists of shadows cast on a cotton screen and an oil
lamp.
In Java, most often used as a light source is a halogen electric light
Wayang Sandosa has employed spotlights, colored lights and other innovation
 The Handwork in Making a Wayang Kulit Figure:

1. They start from master models (typically on paper) which are traced out onto
skin or parchment, providing the figures with an outline and with indications of
any holes that will need to be cut (such as for the mouth or eyes).
2. The figures are then smoothed, usually with a glass bottle, and primed. The
structure is inspected and eventually the details are worked through. A
further smoothing follows before individual painting, which is undertaken by
yet another craftsman.
3. Finally, the movable parts (upper arms, lower arms with hands, and the
associated sticks for manipulation) are mounted on the body, which has a
central staff by which it is held.
 Elements of Performance:
• the puppeteer, dhalang(Java) / dalang(Bali)
• a hammer used by the dhalang to knock on the puppet box, cempala metal plates that
the dhalang hits with his foot, kepyak
• a traditional Indonesian orchestra, gamelan
• shadow puppets, wayang kulit
• a light source, blencong
• female singers and a male chorus, pesindhen and penggerong
• a screen frame and screen, gawang and kelir; the main focus of the performance
• banana logs, gedebog; the pointed sticks of the wayang base handle pierce the peeled
trunk of a banana tree and the spongy substance holds the puppets in place
• a puppet box, kothak
 Shadow puppet (Thai: Nang) was one form of
public entertainment in the south of Thailand.
It is still very popular at village festivals,
temple fairs, and celebrations such as
marriages. Its characters are made from
intricately cut out and articulated shapes of
leather. They are delicately colored, but this
does not show during a performance as the
puppets appear only in shadow against a white
sheet, with light shining through from behind.
They are manipulated with rods that control
movements of the arms and legs.
Performances
have a religious theme or have an episode from the Ramayana epic which contains dozens of
individual stories. They may also be specially written to include up-to-the minute reflections,
songs, and poems about local events and matters of current interest in the district or country.
there are hundreds of different characters each with a distinctive shadow, but the show will
almost always include a clown, funny old man, scatter - brained old woman or rather stupid
yokel, who are all great favorites with the fun - loving audiences.
Mr. Suchart Sapsin, he is a man of many talents. He is not only an expert in the craft of
making the puppets but he is also an award - winning writer and poet. He is narrator, speaking
or singing all the parts using different voices, and he is a superb mimic.
 Themes commonly seen in Nang performances include

romantic tales, hermits teaching magic to

their apprentices, and abandoned children
seeking lost loved ones.
fantastic adventures of a wandering hero

star-crossed lovers

family conflict
The Nang attempts to relay to the audience the importance of Thai
values and ideologies in a changing world, however, the mystical
and historical events remain fundamental in all performances. The
association with karma (all actions have equal reactions) and the
underlying message of rewards and punishments act as allegories
for Buddhist morality and philosophy. And it is usually performed
during the country's dry season (February to August).
Two Types of the Nang:
Nang Talung is Nang Yai is normally made of
played with leather cowhide and rattan, a large,
puppets, each
representing a decorated scenes and
separate character, characters measuring around
about 50 two meters high and a meter
centimeters high. wide. They do not have jointed
They usually possess arms, but the themes and
a movable, jointed styles remain the same.
arm controlled by a
string
The Nang's Theater Troupe

• Usually consists of five to ten puppeteers and musicians.

• Nai Nang - the teachers and presenters of the Nang Talung
• There are over 300 Nai Nang in the southern regions of Thailand.
• They perform using the puppets on a backlighted white screen, and hide
themselves in small wood and bamboo shelters.
• The performances run from dusk to dawn and incorporate narration, songs,
prose, and the performer's improvised dialogue.
• The rhythm and fluidity of each performance is essential in maintaining
audience interest, thu the Nai Nang must vary their techniques and story lines.
CHARACTERS

gods and goddesses

kings and queens

magical figures

comedians.
THE END