Song Xue cover news reporter Gou Chun Yang Bo
html It was after one o'clock in the afternoon on November 8th. The long and narrow backstage of Chengdu Sanhua Sichuan Opera Troupe became lively. The actors began to put on makeup one after another, and many audience members also entered it to shoot and interact with each other. The actors interact. This is a private Sichuan Opera troupe. The theater is not big, and there is no gorgeous stage. The backstage is open to all audiences, and everyone can walk in and have close contact with the actors. It is also known as the “most smoky” and “most down-to-earth” folk Sichuan Opera troupe in Chengdu.
Old theater fans and young people sit together.
At two o'clock, the gongs and drums rang, and the play started on time. Partly because of the working day, the hundreds of seats were not occupied. The actors on the stage were babbling and singing, making the audience laugh from time to time. The white-haired old people and young people in the audience were sitting together, drinking tea, eating melon seeds, and feeling the beauty of traditional Sichuan opera. The unique charm of the performance.
Compared with its previous bleak business and fewer audiences than actors, this Sichuan Opera troupe has ushered in a "new life" nine years after its founding.
Founded 9 years ago, there were once fewer audiences than actors
Sanhua Sichuan Opera Troupe was founded by the "Three Flowers" of Dahua, Erhua and Sanhua. Because of their like-minded love, they established the Sichuan Opera Troupe at Beimen Bridge in 2015. It moved to Fuqing Road in 2019 and has been there ever since. Sanhua Chen Ying told reporters, "The three of us started preparations in 2014. It was officially established on October 8, 2015, and we started performing (after that). So far, we are open all year round."
Sanhua Chen Ying accepted Reporter interviews.
Chen Ying introduced that the traditional Sichuan Opera excerpts are performed at 2 p.m. every day. The repertoire includes nearly 300 traditional operas such as "Yang Family General", "Three Saints Become Brothers" and "The No. 1 Scholar Pagoda"; in the evening, there are non-heritage Sichuan Opera performances, including Sichuan Opera Performances such as changing faces, spitting fire, and rolling lights. In their words, if the traditional Sichuan opera in the afternoon is for the elderly, then the evening performance is for young people.
"Sichuan Opera is a sluggish industry. In addition, in the Internet age, few people, including today's young dolls, know about it, so we are able to reach this point because we love it too much." Chen Ying told reporters that the previous members of the troupe Business was sluggish or even bleak. Sometimes there were fewer audiences than actors, and the troupe was always at a loss. When
suffered serious losses, they also considered whether to continue. "Three Flowers" even needed to perform outside, and the fees earned were used to subsidize the troupe. You'll lose money if you act, and you'll lose money if you don't act. What should you do? Just keep acting. Together with other members, they have performed with passion until now.
Actors perform on stage.
Chen Ying said: "I have also thought about changing my career and doing other things, but I feel unhappy doing other things, so I am willing to do this. We, a group of people, have been studying Sichuan Opera for decades and singing for decades, and we are too familiar with Sichuan Opera. Only when you love it, like it so much, can you persevere."
However, what keeps them persevering until now is a group of old theater fans. Grandma He, who is 84 years old, came to the theater an hour before the show started and sat in the first row of seats quietly waiting for the show to start. "If you like them and perform well, they will come as long as there is nothing at home." Grandma He told reporters.
The actors were putting on makeup and styling backstage.
went viral on the Internet, and the old Sichuan Opera Troupe caught the traffic and "resurrected"
The turning point came in 2023. A member of the previous troupe opened a social platform account of the Sichuan Opera Troupe at the suggestion of a friend. In addition to updating the daily performance repertoire, he will also Highlights of the performance were uploaded to the account and gained a small following. After being attracted, many netizens actually went into the theater to experience it.
In 2023, with check-in recommendations on social platforms, more and more young people came to the theater to listen to plays, experience costumes, and go backstage to interact with actors for filming, and the place gradually became popular.
Old theater fans and young people sit together.
Because of the strong fireworks atmosphere here, the Sanhua Sichuan Opera Troupe also attracted many college students who filmed video projects.After the videos are produced, some will be uploaded to the Internet, and the story of "Three Flowers" and the Sichuan Opera Troupe will be known to more and more people.
So, in 2023, a turning point came here, and waves of traffic brought by the Internet came here. More and more people are coming here to listen to performances, check in, and take photos.
Xiao Liu from Hubei is one of them. "Last night I watched the intangible cultural heritage Sichuan opera face-changing, fire-breathing, hand shadows, etc. Today I want to watch traditional Sichuan opera." She said that she chose this place after making a guide. You can understand half of it after watching a performance. "Overall, it's very good. I really want to become an old man and watch a different show every day."
So, how did the Sanhua Sichuan Opera Troupe catch this traffic during this period? Young people may not understand traditional Sichuan opera, so they purchased subtitle screens and placed them on both sides of the stage to play the subtitles on a rolling basis. In order to attract more young people, in late September 2023, Sanhua Sichuan Opera Troupe’s intangible heritage Sichuan opera performance will be launched online. The 70-minute performance includes 7 performances including Sichuan Opera Face Changing and Water Sleeve Dance. The reporter noticed that the ticket price for two people for this performance was 69.8 yuan, and more than 10,000 copies had been sold.
"Now more and more young people are paying attention to our traditional culture, which is quite happy." Chen Ying said. Today's Sanhua Sichuan Opera Troupe is no longer just old people, more and more young people come to experience and understand Sichuan Opera culture. This Sichuan Opera Troupe has a "new life" and ushered in a "new life".
