Taiwanese Opera.pdf

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1、Taiwanese Opera本篇文章選自東吳大學大學一年級英文教材Taiwanese Opera, orgezaixi (歌仔戲), is a theater rich in local color. Accordingto the General Record of Taiwan Province (台灣通史), it was born in YuanshanTownship (員山鄉) of Yilan County, on the northeast coast of Taiwan.In its early stage, Taiwanese Opera used no stage an

2、d was performed on the bareground; then outdoor stages were set up; and finally indoor stages were provided. Itsexpression and techniques have changed greatly with the passage of time. Nowadays,it is already widely accepted by people in Taiwan, and even performed on radio, TV ,and in movies.In the b

3、eginning, Taiwanese Opera was no more than a small theater with aheroine1 and a male jester2, but as time went on it has gradually grown into a grandtheater which can be roughly3 divided into two groupsaction drama (wuxi,武戲)and elegant drama (wenxi,文戲). In an elegant drama literati scenes4 are domin

4、ant5,while in an action drama, warring scenes are dominant.From the perspective6 of operas, Taiwanese Opera has a unique music andperforming style. A mixture of various elements and sources, the music of TaiwaneseOpera is presented in accordance with7 the plot and the scenes performed on the stage.I

5、ts major ingredients include such elements as songs of lament8, folk songs, operatunes (absorbed from other opera forms), new tunes (created by musicians to meet therequirements of new plots), and so forth.Like the actors and actresses in Chinese opera, the characters in Taiwanese Operaalso wore ver

6、y traditional costumes in the past. But there is considerable freedom withcostumes today. Sometimes modern costumes or even kimonos (和服) are allowed onstage in order to meet the needs of the play. And there is no set rule for hairstyles formale actors and supporting actresses (副旦).The characters in

7、Taiwanese Opera are also quite similar to those in Chineseopera. In the early stages of development, there were only three characters in a play:xiaosheng (小生), xiaodan (小旦), and xiaochou (小丑).Later, as the opera evolvedand absorbed the merits of other major opera styles, five more characters were ad

8、dedin. Today there are eight major characters in Taiwanese Operaxiaosheng, fusheng(副生, the second sheng, or supporting actor), kudan (苦旦, the major actress whooften plays an unfortunate role), fudan (副旦), dahua (大花, a powerful and craftymale character like 曹操), laodan (老旦), sanhua (三花, male clown) a

9、nd caidan (彩旦, a female clown such as a matchmaker or a coquettish9 woman).The gestures used in Taiwanese Opera are divided into“basic movements” and“stylized movements.” The former focuses on step movements, finger movements,and flowing sleeve movements (揮袖動作), while the latter combines basic bodym

10、ovements with eye movements.The sources for the plays performed in Taiwanese Opera are mostly derived fromhistorical stories, folk stories, legends, stories of gods and spirits, romantic lovestories, or the swordsman storiesstories of chivalrous10 swordsmen or warriors whodemonstrated extraordinary

11、loyalty and courage. The themes of these stories arecentered mainly around conventional virtues such as loyalty, filial piety, integrity, andjustice (忠、孝、節、義 ). These plays are usually performed during religious festivalsin front of large or small temples scattered throughout the island. Stories of

12、gods andspirits (the Eight Immortals, 八仙, for instance) are mostly played during templefestivals in celebration of the gods birthday. People invite opera troupes to performthese plays with the purposes of expressing gratitude to deities11 for protection,praying to the gods for safety and prosperity

13、in the years to come, strengthening thebonds of believers, entertaining the people and enlivening the community.Taiwanese Opera is the only theater which originated and developed in Taiwan.It has long been the most popular theater in Taiwan because it has enriched and hasbeen closely related to the

14、daily life of the ordinary people here on this island,especially during the period when TV was not yet available, and, above all, becauseall the songs and narration are presented in the Taiwanese language only, a languagemost familiar to and most easily understood by the people in Taiwan.1.heroine (

15、n.): the most important female character in a story, play, or film2.jester (n.): a man whose job is to amuse others by telling jokes or performingtricks3.roughly (adv.): not exactly; approximately4.literati scenes (n.): lives of literary men5.dominant (adj.): the most important6.7.8.9.10.11.perspective (n.): viewin accordance with: according tolament (n.):a strong expression of disappointment or sorrowcoquettish (adj.): playful; not seriouschivalrous (adj.): courageous; attentive and polite to womendeities (n.): gods