Interviews

Date: 2014.12.31 Location: Social Studies Classroom (2) of Sanyu Elementary School

　After several discussions we finally invited Zhi-Shan Taiwanese Opera Club’s Yu-chun Tseng who played xiaosheng and Shu-ching Lin who played xiaodan for an interview. The team was super excited at the chance to interview these two masters.

Q1:What would you do if you had to go to the washroom during a performance?

(Tseng): Usually we would go to the washroom prior to a performance. Once on stage, the layers of costume and stage lighting can get really hot and make you sweat. You wouldn’t have the need to go to the washroom.

Q2: How often do you perform?

(Tseng): Once a year for large public performances and several times a year for small promotional performances at places such as senior homes and communities. It’s hard to count.

Q3： How were the roles assigned in Taiwanese Opera? Do performers fight for roles?

(Tseng): There shouldn’t be a problem, because each performer has his or her own specialty. In our theater group, the director allocates the roles.

Q4The props used in fighting scenes, what were they made of? Were they very heavy?

(Tseng): The props in fighting scenes right? They’re made of cane which is lighter in weight. Its flexible characteristic also makes it harder to break. There are many throwing motions in fighting scenes and it would be extremely dangerous if the prop breaks. However, the top half blade section of the prop is made of wood and is attached to the cane base with a different material.

Q5：Do you always play the role of the same sex? Have you played roles of different sex?

(Tseng): Yes! I played a female role. But, in most Taiwanese opera it’s rare for actors to play female roles. Because, it would look weird. The eye expression, movement and steps of xiaosheng (male) and xiaodan (female) are quite different. The waist of the xiaosheng is stiff and the waist of the xiaodan is soft and flexible. The eyes of the xiaosheng are sharp and the eyes of the xiaodan soft. A xiaodan can’t have a strong physique, because it would make her look like a cross dresser. Therefore, most of us xiaoshengs are afraid of playing the role of xiaodan. However, there is an exception. If the female role was a female who pretend to be a male like Mong Lee Chiung or Hua Mulan, a xiaosheng would play the role. This is because these roles are dressed as male in many of the scenes. Therefore, those who play the role will have to walk like a man and yet possess some qualities of a woman. A lot of adjustments would be needed for roles such these. The process of the adjustment is quite stressful. I had played the role once, and never wanted to try again.

(Lin):You looked good!

(Tseng):But there was a photo of me dressed as a xiaodan with eyes of a killer. (Everyone burst out laughing)

(Lin):I did~ But, the roles I played were mostly scums. (laugh)

(Tseng):Since I am taller and Lin is shorter with narrower shoulder, the teacher would put our physique and voice characteristic into consideration when assigning roles. Usually a xiaodan is played by someone petite with a soft voice. Therefore, it’s hard for them to play the role of Zheng Sheng. If she really wants to play a Sheng role, she would have to play the role of the painted face, Chou. The voice of a Chou is very small, so it didn’t matter if you didn’t have a good voice. But, Lin is very humorous, so she’s really good at playing a Chou.

(Lin):I think I’ll change roles! (Everyone burst out laughing) I was really good.

Q6：What were the greatest obstacles you faced while learning Taiwanese Opera? How did you overcome the problems?

(Tseng): I think my greatest problem is flexibility. I didn’t learn Taiwanese Opera until I was upon graduation in University. Since, I didn’t start at a young age my level of flexibility was low. Flexibility is an important element of martial art. Stage performing is a comprehensive art, so you have to find your own strength. In my case, I am a good singer, so I would enhance my singing skills to make up for my weaknesses. It takes time to adjust and slowly you will succeed. Don’t give yourself too much stress, but don’t leave your problems to rot. Work hard on your strengths and slowly it would cover up our weaknesses and the obstacle is over came.

Q7：What do you do when you are not performing?

(Tseng):Teach! Usually, we would also practice and hire Masters to teach us on singing skills and anything we need to improve. Prior to a performance we would practice singing, posture, position, and understanding between performers.
In the case of professional performers, they would be performing all the time. There wouldn’t be much break in between performances.

Q8：How long did it take to make an opera, from planning to actual performing on stage?

(Tseng): If it’s a full two hour performance, from first finding the script, to ask the masters to write music, to audition for performers, to practice and finally perform; it would take us from a year to a year and half to accomplish. This would include the time it took to write the scripts. If it is an old script, it would take about half a year to practice. It took quite a bit of time to do. Due to the fact that our theater group is not like other professional theater groups who practice every day, we could only practice once or twice a week during holidays or nights. Therefore, it would take us about half a year to practice. If you practice every day, you would probably be ready from a month to a month and half.

Q9：Were your costumes bought our rented/burrowed?

(Tseng):The costume you saw today is mine. You couldn’t possibly possess so many costumes. There wouldn’t be room to store them all. So, if we needed a certain costume, we would rent it. On the other hand big theater groups would usually have custom made costumes catered to their needs. However smaller theater groups with smaller budgets would have a cooperative agreement with a costume company. As for outdoor theater troupes, it wouldn’t benefit them financially if they rent their costume every time they perform. In this case, they would have their own costumes. For the fear that the costumes won’t be suitable for all types of roles, the costumes are designed with glittery sequins. It doesn’t matter whether the role played is rich or poor, they were all glittery. The sequins also make them more visible at night.

Q10：How long have you performed in Taiwanese Opera? What made you want to learn Taiwanese opera?

(Tseng): I got in touch with Taiwanese Opera sixteen years ago and had seriously studied it for over ten years. The reason I got into the art was because I watched it with my grandparents when I was little and found it very interesting. During my time in University I joined a Taiwanese opera student society which Tsui-feng Sun was teaching at the time. I thought that it was a chance of a lifetime, and began my journey in the learning of Taiwanese Opera.

Q11：Have you had any unforgettable incidents while performing on stage?

(Tseng): Lots~ The most unforgettable…. Let’s talk about something funny. The most recent incident was the time that I played a really cool role which had to use a sword. Finally, the finest moment had come for me to wave the sword and the sword’s tassel got caught in the teacher’s head ornament. Why was it caught? It was because during practices we were taught to get the sword as close to the body as possible to make the performance look better. However, when on stage we forgot about the ornaments attached to the head. We should leave a little bit of space in between the sword and the body. If we didn’t watch what we were doing things may get caught and once caught it would be very hard to get it off.

(Lin): Last year?

(Tseng): Yes. I was doing a fighting scene with Lin, but I was stuck. She didn’t know what to do either. The actor behind us not aware of what was happening went on with her lines. I thought, “Darn, what am I going to do?” Fine! Since the role I play was supposed to be a little humorous, I said to Lin, ”Give me a hand!” I asked Lin to help me break free and dealt with the problem at hand. The audience thought that it was very funny. It was quite unforgettable. Humiliating events often happen on stage, but we dealt with it and improvise to make it entertaining for the audience.

(Lin):Wasn’t there also performance of the “Wei Cheng Ji”?
(Tseng):Oh! Yeah! That “Wei Cheng Ji”. We were supposed to throw the sword, so it was supposed to be tied to the scabbard with a rubber band. When we need to use the sword in a fight scene we would untie the rubber band without anyone knowing and swing. There was a scene where I was supposed to throw the sword in the air and catch it, but I forgot to tie the rubber band and the sword flew out toward the musician. The musician picked up the sword and threw it back to me. The audience burst out laughing. Why am I the one with all the bloopers?
(Lin):Because you had a lot, and I didn’t have any. What bloopers did I make?
(Tseng):There was this time that she played a chou, and she was supposed to sit on a chair and grab on to it with the both of her legs and do a somersault along with the chair. However, she was very light and couldn’t flip over. She tried and tried and it wasn’t until the third time that she finally succeeded. It was humiliating, but Lin said it was the best of her time.
(Lin): I never did it again.
(Tseng): It was very hard and you have to use an extremely heavy specially made chair. I couldn’t do it. After the performance she was injured. She over practiced. She’s too old for it. (Laugh)

Q12：Were there occurrences where performers suddenly couldn’t make the performance? How did you deal with it?

(Tseng): It happened when we were performing in Danshui. A performer’s grandfather passed away and another performer sprained his ankle. So, immediately we found two actors to take over their roles. Fortunately, the two roles didn’t have any lines. They were all fighting scenes. So, all we had to do was incorporate them into the scene. If it were more important roles we would be faced with bigger problems. There was once where I was injured and had to be reframed from performing. Our teacher sat in for me. Yes, we must find a replacement. If we couldn’t find any, the performance would have to be canceled. Situation like this doesn’t usually happen. Most of the theatre groups would find ways to let the show go on.

Q13：What happens when you make a mistake on stage? If you made a mistake with a dialogue would you apologize to the other members?

(Tseng):What happens when you make a mistake? We would improvise and let the show go on to the end. Would we apologize? Well, it depends on the person. I would. Why are you looking at me in a funny way?
(Lin):Did you try to improvise? You didn’t even know you made a mistake and blamed me for not improvising.
(Tseng):She’s holding a grudge. Sometimes when the mistake was too serious we would apologize to our partner. There was this time that I didn’t realize that I was the one making the mistake.
(Lin):Prior to going on stage I asked her questions about the script and she said, “How can you not know, we’re going on stage now.” In the end she was the one who forgot. Once she (Tseng) realized her mistake she was smiling at me throughout the entire show.
(Tseng):I thought Lin forgot. After we’ve repeated a couple of times, I realized that I was the one who made the mistake. So, I started to smile at her gloriously until she finished her part. Since, it was a happy and light scene, my facial expression was proper at the time. Quite theatrical. However, it was a smile of apology. Yes, I would apologize. (stressed Tseng)

　　The day grew dim and the interview ended. Lastly, Yu-chun Tseng encouraged us to get to know ourselves and exert our strengths and work on our weaknesses. This will help us grow. It was a fun interview.