08 Wichmann 96-119

“Reform” at the Shanghai Jingju Company and Its Impact on Creative Authority and Repertory Elizabeth Wichmann-Walczak Until , jingju (historically often called “Beijing/Peking opera” in En- glish) was without question a popular form of theatre, completely dependent upon the equivalent of box-office draw for its very existence. This draw was created in substantial part by the “star power” of leading actors. Most profes- sional companies were created by and for star actors; in each company, the lead actor was an actor-manager who chose other company members, selected works to be performed, and conceived of new works to be created. And while the creation process itself was collaborative, this lead actor remained the primary creative authority throughout, approving or disapproving of scripting and musical composition carried out by other actors and/or assisting writers and musicians. During the first half of the th century, a number of attempts were made to “reform” jingju, primarily by intellectuals who wanted it to be more “scientific” like the Western “problem play,” or more “elevated” like Italian and German opera. While these reformers did succeed in luring jingju into the Western-style proscenium theatre, dynamics of creative authority remained largely unchanged during this time. However, with the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in came more concentrated efforts at reform. New artistic personnel were added to jingju troupes with the aim of . Shang Changrong as Cao making them more scientific and elevated, including directors, designers, and Cao in Cao Cao and Yang playwrights trained in Western-style theatre, and composers trained in Euro- Xiu ( ) stands center, pean concert music and other more recent European and American musical with He Shu as the con- styles. But just as serious experiments in new dynamics of creative authority demned Yang Xiu above. were beginning to get underway, a much more radical change took place. The lighting suggests the full During the Cultural Revolution (–), all the creative artists involved moon. The moon, a central in each company were placed firmly under the authority of Communist Party image for Yang’s execution officials, who as a group replaced the single actor-manager of the pre- here at the end of the play, period in many real and practical ways. also dominates the joyous In the years since the end of the Cultural Revolution, however, socio- early scene in which Cao and economic factors have once again come to influence the dynamics of creative Yang meet and forge their al- liance. (Photo by Elizabeth The Drama Review , (T), Winter . Copyright © Wichmann-Walczak) New York University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/10542040051058500 by guest on 26 September 2021 Shanghai Jingju Company Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/10542040051058500 by guest on 26 September 2021 Elizabeth Wichmann-Walczak authority in jingju. Since the early s, jingju has faced serious and growing problems, including: oversized troupes and companies; shrinking and aging audiences; diminishing state support; and competition from television, film, and popular, often Western-inspired, entertainment. Most jingju companies have only begun to grapple with these problems in the last three or four years. However, as early as the Shanghai Jingju Company began a process of self-initiated reform, remaking and reorienting itself according to its own pri- orities. Now, at the end of the s, the Shanghai Company is one of the few jingju companies in the country to have successfully maintained tradi- tional audiences while creating substantial new ones, and to be approaching economic independence from the state. One of the main reasons why Shanghai is leading the way in self-initiated reform is surely the legacy of haipai, the daringly innovative Shanghai-style jingju of the late th and early th centuries. During that period, Shanghai was one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world, and haipai developed as a market-driven performing art in competition and interplay with other re- gional forms of xiqu (literally “theatre [of] song,” the indigenous Chinese theatre comprised of over distinct forms) and international influences (Shanghai Jingju Yuan :–). Haipai was characterized by a willingness to expand forms. For instance, it included the practice of “plays in episodic in- stallments,” liantai benxi, in which each performance ended at a “cliff-hanger” moment so that audiences would return for the next installment. Somewhat later, haipai also pioneered “reformed jingju” (gailiang/gaijin jingju), jingju plays produced under the influence of playwriting and acting techniques from huaju, literally “spoken drama,” the Western-inspired, realism-based Chinese theatre form that began developing in the early th century (). Equally im- portant, haipai was characterized by the extensive acceptance of material from other sources. Plays were adapted from other forms of xiqu, such as Yu Tangchun and Xu Ce pao cheng (Xu Ce Runs on the City Walls) from huiju, . Shang Changrong as the King of Qi uses the chains shackling his hands to strangle He Shu as Shangguan Meng (Edmund) in Dream of the King of Qi (). (Photo by Elizabeth Wichmann-Walczak) Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/10542040051058500 by guest on 26 September 2021 Shanghai Jingju Company and numerous plays about Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, from bangzi (). Production techniques were adopted from other arts, including modern technology, leading to the seemingly magical “machine-operated stage scenery” (jiguan bujing) in which, for instance, the stage might rise in its entirety like a drawbridge, or all scenery on it might appear to burst into flame and blaze into ruins before the eyes of the audience (Cai :n.p.). The influx of Western thought in the s and ’s led to a number of haipai plays concerned with politics and philosophy (Shanghai Jingju Yuan :). And the influx of Western popular culture during the same period led to techniques and produc- tions now considered by some to be flashy, shallow, excessive, and/or porno- graphic (Cai ; Shanghai Jingju Yuan :). While traditionalists even today often disapprove of at least certain aspects of haipai, the Shanghai Company sees its legacy as being one of innovation and flexibility, and its current task as reconnecting with its own spirit (Li Zhongcheng , ; Lü Ailian , ; Xu Xingjie , ). Throughout and , the period during which the majority of field re- search for this article was conducted, members and administrators alike seemed to take great delight in repeating two slogans: “Our tradition is creation,” and “The sky is high, the emperor far away” (e.g., Shanghai Jingju Yuan :; Li Zhongcheng , ; Ma Ke , ; Shang Changrong , ; Xu Xingjie , ). In once again making jingju a market-driven performing art in a cosmopolitan city with inhabitants con- stantly demanding “the new,” the Shanghai Jingju Company has focused on self-initiated “reform” in two major areas—the administrative and economic sphere, and the educational and artistic sphere. Changes in both areas are fun- damentally related to those in creative authority, and in repertory. “Cut expenses and make money” has been the overall aim of the Company in the administrative and economic sphere throughout the s and ’s (e.g., Li Zhongcheng , , ; Ma Bomin , , ). In pur- suit of this aim, the Company’s first goal was the acquisition of their own theatre venue. In the early s, the Company persuaded the municipal government to give them the decrepit but historic and centrally located Tianchan Theatre. Shortly thereafter, they convinced Hong Kong’s film mag- nate Run-run Shaw (Shao Yifu in Mandarin Chinese) to finance renovations and to outfit the theatre technologically. Renamed Yifu Wutai (Yifu Stage) in Shaw’s honor, the major priority of the theatre is to present as many performances as possible (Li Zhongcheng , ; Ma Bomin , ). In , they presented over , more than any other theatre in Shanghai—and over of those performances were jingju, most featuring one of the two troupes of the Company (Xu Xingjie ). This record has been maintained or bettered in each year since (Ma Bomin ). A second goal of administrative and economic reform has been to increase the motivation for work while decreasing running expenses. As did administrators all over China at all levels in the mid-s, those at the Shanghai Jingju Company perceived that the “great wok” (daguofan) or “iron rice bowl” (tiefanwan)—that is, the practice of providing guaranteed income from the state, unconnected to productivity—was detrimental to Company work. In Shanghai, however, administrators began major economic and administrative reforms as early as , when they carried out the newly articulated na- tional policy of “setting rank” (pingzhicheng), initiating changes not undertaken by jingju companies elsewhere in China until much later—for instance, in in Jiangsu and Beijing (Fang Jinsen ; Shen Xiaomei ; Xu Xingjie ). In the course of setting rank, the Shanghai Company was reduced in size from over to approximately working personnel (Xu Xingjie ). In contrast, almost years later in the China Jingju Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/10542040051058500 by guest on 26 September 2021 Elizabeth Wichmann-Walczak Company still had over working personnel, and the Beijing Jingju Com- pany over , (Li Zhongcheng ). The more than displaced personnel at the Shanghai Company either took early retirement, or were placed in or themselves found other employment. The Company continued to support -plus retirees until , when that responsibility was assumed by the newly established Ministry of Insurance (Baoxian Bu). Ranks are now set ev- ery two years, providing one clear motivation for individual productivity (Xu Xingjie ). Other aspects of administrative and economic reorganization have also con- tributed to creating a Shanghai Jingju Company that is “lean and hungry” compared to that of years ago.

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