The Wanfeng Village Opera Troupe

A grassroots acting company which gained national acclaim.

For centuries, the villagers of Wanfeng, a village found in the Bao’an district of Shenzhen, have been a musically inclined people. Since the Ming Dynasty, Guangdong style opera — yue ju — has been performed in the village, and in the 1950’s, the Pan family initiated a village opera troupe.

Since then, their unique style of Guangdong Opera has brought their performance group from a mere troupe of hobbyists to their ultimate position at the heart of mainland China’s Guangdong Opera scene. Although the troupe was financially independent, since the Yuan dynasty and through the Qing dynasty, it has received the continued patronage and support of emperors who indulged in the performances. Revered by folk artists and theater lovers alike, and performed during bustling crop seasons and relaxed harvest seasons, Wanfeng Village Guangdong Opera traditions carried on through numerous generations.

In its prime, the Wanfeng Village won the National Gold Medal for village professional troupes twice, organized a grand Guangdong Music Club, and actively carried out opera events. In 2004, Wanfeng Village was declared the by the Guangdong Provincial Department of Culture as the home of Guangdong traditional arts. Comprising only its home village even in its heyday, the Wanfeng Village Guangdong Opera has withstood the test of time in a way rarely seen in similar establishments.

Yet unfortunately, due to diminishing demand and lack of financial support, the troupe disbanded in 2013. Former members reported on the stress of having to practice for the unpaid performances as well as work and raise families, and said that they often made their own costumes and did each others’ make up. To the Wanfeng villagers however, theater was and remains an integral part of life, and opera performances continue to be present at occasions of worship, festivity and clan activities.

Hence, shortly after the disbandment of the original troupe, local villages officials and the Bao’an government have agreed to finance the newly formed Guangdong Haoxiang Opera Troupe, named after the oysters — hao — of the town of Haoxiang. Since its formation, this troupe has enlisted many of the previous troupe’s members, and well as younger actors, and it is through this new group that the legacy of the Wanfeng Village’s Guangdong Opera will live on.

This piece is a translated work, translated from Chinese to English as part of the Shenzhen Nonmaterial Heritage Project of Shenzhen Polytechnic University and Shenzhen Museum.