Gendering Plays, Playing Genders
Introduction
In the Cantonese opera circle, some people use the term “dowry plays” (jiazhuang xi) to refer to actors’ signature plays. In Chinese society, dowry usually reflects the wealth and social status of the bride’s natal family. Therefore, in the context of Cantonese opera, “dowry plays” not only indicate actors’ strengths and individual styles (which are inherited from their teachers), but also serve as a determining factor in defining and ranking them as actors. This metaphor also reflects the importance of plays in actors’ careers. After examining the changing meanings of both the wenwusheng and role-type (hangdang) in contemporary Hong Kong in Chapter 2, this chapter looks deeper into how gender is actually performed. In the first part of this chapter, I examine how repertoire is gendered and conversely, how repertoire genders a wenwusheng actor.
As voice is an indispensable gender marker in theater, the discussion of gender and repertoire leads to the question of how voice is gendered. The second part of this chapter focuses on the gender signification system in the sonic dimension of Cantonese opera. I investigate the process of gendering voices in both operatic and concert settings in regard to gendered dress codes, theatricality, and the political legitimacy of certain kinds of vocal timbres.
The third part is an extension of the previous with a different approach. I study how female wenwusheng undo gender in their special performances. By analyzing two ethnographic examples of double cross-dressing performances on the operatic stage, and an audio recording
between voice and vocal gender, and between the performing body and gendered role-types. Following this, the concluding section highlights a leading female wenwusheng of the past two decades to exemplify what repertoire, performing style, as well as experimental performances and recordings tell us about how female wenwusheng position themselves today and how they are potentially impacting Cantonese opera at large.
Repertoire
Historically speaking, the rich repertoire of Cantonese opera repertoire can be categorized in different ways based on theme, performance style, performance practice, origin, and creative process. The frequently performed repertoire of commercial productions today comprises contemporary plays that were composed or rearranged in Hong Kong and Guangdong between the 1920s and 1970s. In terms of performance style, plays can be categorized into wen and wu— which has been briefly introduced in Chapter 2 and will be discussed in detail later in this
chapter. Another type of repertoire is ancient or traditional formulaic plays (chuantong paichang or gulao paichang) from the nineteenth century. Although they are no longer popular and are only occasionally performed, their role as the foundation of Cantonese opera performance cannot be overlooked.
Traditional Formulaic Plays and Zuogong
Despite their declining popularity, traditional formulaic plays have been fundamental for generations of actors to learn zuogong—highly stylized choreographed movements. Nowadays, the term “traditional formulaic play” does not necessarily mean a complete play. It is better understood as segments of standardized zuogong to signify certain moments, actions, and scenes. For example, the most common ones that are used today include “writing an indictment”
plays borrow elements from traditional formulaic plays to enhance dramatic effect. Each segment is accompanied by a unique set of percussion patterns with or without melodic
instruments. Given that the early Cantonese opera was mostly performed by itinerant troupes on temporary stages, props and stage settings were minimal. By the late 1800s, actors had
developed hundreds of symbolic sequences of miming movements to help deliver stories. Scripts in the first half of the twentieth century provided only synopses (tigang xi). Most of the time, actors needed to fill in the suggestive scripts with both improvisation and their prepared singing excerpts as well as traditional formulaic sequences.
Thanks to the rise of permanent indoor theaters in cities, urbanites’ thirst for novelty, and the use of modern technology, introduced in the 1920s and 1930s, the use of backdrop became increasingly elaborate and realistic. Thus abstract zuogong and traditional formulaic plays gradually lost their function, importance, and popularity. Inevitably, many traditional formulaic plays were also lost. Meanwhile, beginning in the 1950s, there was an increasing demand that actors follow details on scripts and rehearse (Chan 1996: 77–81), thereby doing away with improvisation.
Transmission of traditional formulaic plays still relies heavily on one-on-one instruction and observation because these detailed movements are never documented on paper. Over the past three decades, a few veteran actors who grew up watching and learning traditional formulaic plays have been increasingly alarmed by the loss of this “unique Cantonese opera tradition.”1
Dichotomies in Repertoire
Contemporary plays are generally categorized as either wen or wu according to their performance styles and plots. Although many plays contain both wen and wu scenes, if a play
includes at least a scene of extensive wu performance, it is more likely to be categorized as a wu play. This section focuses on the gendered relationship between wen and wu plays, and how it is directly related to the stylistic differences characterizing female and male wenwusheng.
Gendered Dichotomies
Wen performance—singing and zuogong—is gendered as female or feminine while wu— acrobatics—is male or masculine. It is important to note that the gendered wen-wu dichotomy is also similar to how the essentialized gender roles of many societies are differentiated by the private-public and soul-body parameter. Through singing and zuogong, wen performances feature characters narrating their experiences and expressing feelings. Very often wen
performances portray interpersonal relationships between lovers or family members. Many wen portray romantic love stories between young male scholars and female beauties (caizi jiaren), played by wenwusheng and principal huadan respectively. This style of play is also labeled as the “mandarin duck and butterfly” school (see note 18 in chapter 2). All these feelings are
relatively personal and the themes of wen plays tend to belong to the private or domestic domain. Performances that inspire love are related closely to delicacy, gentleness, and even weakness— the “feminine” attributes.
In contrast, the wu performances usually feature battle scenes and patriotic stories in which heroic characters fight for their countries or tribes, or take revenge on behalf of their emperors or loyal, righteous family members. The themes in wu plays have closer connections to the public sphere, politics, and patriarchy.2
Moreover, given the fact that men dominated the public sphere in traditional Chinese society, wu plays inevitably include more male characters than female.
The gendered relationship of the wen-wu dichotomy is also manifested sonically in the accompanying instruments. “Wenchang” is a term for both wen scenes and string ensembles, while “wuchang” is used to refer to both wu scenes and percussion ensembles. The wenchang ensemble consists of a string ensemble with lighter percussion; the wuchang is mostly or solely percussion instruments with or without the houguan (double-reed pipe), which are loud and somehow piercing. Sonically speaking, wu scenes are more powerful and driving while wen are more refined and lyrical.
Wen-Wu Dichotomies as Hierarchy
The wen-wu dichotomy and its underlying gendered relations are often used to hierarchize actors and audience members. Although many people believe that an impeccable rendition of a wen play requires profound artistry (yi or gongjia), my conversations with both practitioners and audience members illustrate that artistry is often narrowly defined by just those two skills which mostly feature physicality—wu and zuogong—without taking singing into account. Many of them also value wu performances more highly than wen.
Rehearsing and Performing Habits
Before further explaining the hierarchized relation between wen and wu performances, it is important to learn about practitioners’ rehearsing habits in recent Hong Kong. As most of the actors are freelancers and troupes are formed ad hoc, regular or intensive group rehearsals are rare for two major reasons. First, financiers do not want to spend money on renting a spacious rehearsing place, and paying actors and musicians extra money to rehearse. In most cases, actors rely on their own preparations and past experiences to cope with any situation that may come up in live performances.
too busy for regular group rehearsals. As the shows in Hong Kong usually do not repeat the same repertoire on consecutive nights, troupes need to prepare a different play for each night. For the active actors, the number of different plays they perform in a month varies from three to over a dozen. Most of my actor interlocutors vented to me that they were frequently overwhelmed with memorizing different plays within a short period of time, and that this is a stressful and time- consuming task in their professional pursuit. It is especially the case for rising stars because many of them did not want to lose performance opportunities and they tended to take many major and minor roles (sometimes in the same plays). One of them described the stress with a metaphor, “It is like a student life with ongoing exams. You need to keep studying and taking exams. The difference is that you don’t see the end” (Kwan, interview, 2013).
In most cases, the high variety of repertoire is still possible because the frequently
performed Cantonese opera repertoire today features mostly wen plays, which rely heavily on the singing (mostly solos or duets) of two to three leads, and rarely require substantial teamwork. Lead actors tend to prepare for performances on their own and may or may not have rehearsal(s) with their partners before each performance. Very often, the more experienced actors brief the supporting actors on the day of the show. Hence, making mistakes, forgetting the script, and lacking coordination are very common and thus generally acceptable—as long as actors can fix the mistakes on the spot and keep the performance going.
Wu Performance
However, wu performances require intensive instruction in acrobatic skills as well as both individual and group practice to make the show acceptable, although mistakes are still common. The frequently observed mistakes include the lead actors missing the catch when supporting actors throw a spear, inaccurate timing or positioning of jumping or turning movements, and so
forth. Despite the fact that spectacular wu scenes, with bustling percussion accompaniment, are sensational and please audiences relatively easily, mistakes (major or minor) are also more noticeable compared to those in wen performances. Wu scenes require high coordination between actors. Given that many movements require speed and accuracy, even if one actor makes a minor mistake, the entire team may be immediately messed up.
As rehearsals of wu scenes are supposed to be intensive, the preference for wu
performances is often used to rank troupes, actors, and audience members. Arranging a sizable group of experienced supporting actors to perform acrobatic sequences in splendid costumes is a conventional way that large-scale troupes show off the size of their casts, capital, and status. For individual actors, regardless of outcome, putting up a wu performance usually reflects the effort and time (and perhaps money, too) that they have invested.3 It also reflects their confidence and diligence. Thus, when a troupe includes wu scenes or plays in its program, both the show and actors are generally taken more seriously and regarded as professional because “artistry” is displayed in wu performances. Moreover, audience members who prefer wu performances are also considered to be those who know how to appreciate “real art” and take the quality of the shows more seriously.
Wen Performance
Compared to wu plays, wen performances generally require fewer group rehearsals, creating the impression that performing wen plays is easier as they take less effort to prepare. This illusion is also manifested in other biases related to both Cantonese opera (as a genre) and its wen performances. For instance, given the imbalance between wen and wu performances and the emphasis on star singers since the early 1900s, it is not uncommon to hear Cantonese opera
being criticized as “singing drama” or a “musical (yinyueju) sung in the Cantonese language” because many actors focus only on singing and neglect zuogong as well as wu skills. When compared to Peking and kunqu operas, Cantonese opera music is more syllabic. Many people— including Cantonese opera practitioners, audiences, and non-Cantonese people—downplay
singing skills, such as control of breath and melodic embellishment, and tend to believe that a gifted voice is all that is required for good singing. Although audience members are generally satisfied as long as actors do not make obvious mistakes, some disdain wen performances for “singing with insufficient zuogong” when actors fail to pepper their performances with stylized choreography to enhance visual presentation and facilitate dramatic expression.
Many people think wen performances are easier, actors (especially young female
wenwusheng) and audience members who favor wen plays are very often viewed as amateurs and groupies, respectively. Some practitioners advocate the idea that “real artistry” contains excellent wu skills and that knowledgeable audience members should not only choose to watch wen plays. In the past three decades, some actors, musicians, and playwrights, such as the House of
Cantonese Opera Troupe (yueju zhijia) (1993–2000), have tried to break the dominant “mandarin duck and butterfly” convention by adding more wu plays as well as producing and reviving wen plays that are loaded with political or patriotic themes (Yuen, interview, 2014).
Although Cantonese opera reform is beyond my scope, I still want to draw readers’ attention to the House of Cantonese Opera Troupe, as it is one of the most prolific troupes over the past three decades that advocated newly written, adapted, and revived repertoire that consists of substantial wu performances and public subjects (see Lai 2010: 468–78). It is not a
coincidence that its core members are mostly male wenwusheng who were struggling to rise in the 1970s and 1980s (for instance, Yuen Siu-fai, Leung Hon-wai, and Lee Lung), when the
Cantonese opera stage was still “monopolized” by the female wenwusheng star Lung Kim-sang and the male wenwusheng star Lam Ka-sing (Ip, interview, 2013). By bringing the themes of plays and performances from the relatively private domain to the public sphere with more male characters (played by male actors), this was also an attempt to masculinize the genre.
Men’s/Masculine Plays? Women’s/Feminine Plays?
Today actors perform a wide range of plays and yet wenwusheng actors are often expected to follow the paths of the stars of their own biological sex. Although plays are usually loosely categorized as either wen or wu, some exist in a border zone between the male and female wenwusheng’s repertoire. This section examines how the concept of wen-wu intertwines with various gendered dichotomies pertaining to repertoire.
Gendered Repertoire
Although practitioners and critics rarely deliberately categorize plays as male or female wenwusheng’s repertoire, many plays are gendered at the perceptual or practical level. For instance, if a play was premiered and frequently performed by a male wenwusheng in the 1960s or 1970s, it is very likely to be considered as a male wenwusheng’s play today because, as noted above, for most of the twentieth century, it was common for playwrights to tailor-make plays for Cantonese opera stars. Playwrights worked closely with actors to create scenes and excerpts that could both highlight the actors’ talents and conceal their weaknesses. Hence plays were a crucial device in fortifying stardom.
However, the close working relationships between playwrights and actors began to fade in the late 1970s and 1980s when many renowned playwrights retired, moved to foreign
countries, or passed away, at the same time that Cantonese opera retreated from a mass
79). Since then, the core repertoire performed was basically passed on from the previous three decades. Unlike actors prior to the late 1970s, the performance styles of today’s actors are, to a certain extent, shaped by this existing repertoire. It is rare to see actors establish their own styles and fame with new plays. Wenwusheng, for instance, inevitably inherit the signature pieces of the stars of their biological sex.4
Despite the fact that wenwusheng actors commonly crossing the sex line—performing the plays of the other sex’s repertoire—the perceptions of both audience members and practitioners are affected by the earlier stars. When a male wenwusheng performs a masterpiece of an earlier female wenwusheng, audience members may not hold very high
expectations because it is a “women’s play” and vice versa. “Masculine” Plays, “Feminine” Plays
As previously discussed, wen plays are generally gendered as feminine and wu as masculine; audience members also prefer male wenwusheng to play the “masculine” plays—wu plays and wen plays with political themes—and that female wenwusheng perform wen plays. According to my interlocutors, many tend to prefer female wenwusheng to be cast as romantic young scholars willing to give up their careers for the women they love in the plays. Ip Sai-hung, a former director of Radio 5, Radio Television Hong Kong,5
commented that female
wenwusheng have advantages over their male counterparts in playing the characters of lovesick young scholars because audience members do not like to see a “real man”—male characters played by male actors—languishing too much over their lovers (interview, 2013). As masculinity is essentially associated with being rational and enduring hardship, male characters who display intense personal feelings are better portrayed by female than male wenwusheng.
4 For instance, a female wenwusheng is expected to perform signature pieces of earlier female wenwusheng stars
such as Yam Kim-fai (1913–1989) and Lung Kim-sang (b. 1944) while a male wenwusheng is supposed to inherit the repertoire of male wenwusheng stars such as Mak Bing-wing (1915–1984) and Lam Ka-sing (1933–2015).
Another interlocutor echoed Ip’s point. Cecile Kung, a Cantonese opera fan in her early forties, shared with me that, although she did not have a special preference for the biological sex of wenwusheng, female wenwusheng are good at rendering the characters of lovers, but not husbands (informal conversation, 2013). In Cantonese opera, married men are usually associated with maturity and more serious social as well as familial responsibilities; Kung’s critique
supports the interconnection and consistency between wen-wu, private-public, female/feminine- male/masculine dichotomies discussed above. “Serious” gendered social and political roles are reserved for “real men” while personal romances should be enacted by “fake men”—unmarried male characters played by female wenwusheng.
Singing Voices and the Legitimate Gender
Although neither Ip nor Kung explicitly mentioned the relationship between voice and the portrayal of masculinity in wen plays, differences of vocal timbre between male and female wenwusheng should be taken into serious consideration to better understanding their critiques. In musical theater, vocal timbre signifies not only the gender, but also temperament, political power, and social legitimacy of the characters.6
Understanding the effects of using trouser roles in Italian opera is helpful in explaining the casting of female wenwusheng in a wen repertoire. Here I again quote Margaret Reynolds (1995) who notes that as opera became “a shrine to heterosex” in the