THE STAGE AND BEYOND : CHINESE OPERA PERFORMANCE IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

This thesis is a study of the presence of both the professional and the amateur Chinese opera troupes in Singapore. In the National Archives of Singapore, street opera performers had been classified among the 'Vanishing Trades' in Singapore, yet professional street opera troupes put up as many as two hundred days of shows a year, usually in association with the celebrations within the realm of religion. Chinese opera performances by the amateurs are popularly accepted and are viewed as aesthetic products of superior standards. The amateur performers have established themselves with the nation's discourse on culture and the arts, as representing the tradition of Chinese opera in Singapore. They are recognised as the key bearers of the Chinese operatic tradition in place of the vanishing professional opera troupes, and are backed by state support in preserving and promoting this Chinese cultural tradition. Not only have the professional troupes been rendered invisible in the nation's discourse on traditional cultural forms, they are further maginalised by perceptions of their opera performances as inauthentic. Both the amateur and professional operatic practices have been present since the development of Chinese opera in Singapore. However, it is only in recent decades that opera performances by the professional opera troupes are viewed as being of questionable standards and are framed within discourses of vanishing. This thesis is a study of the various meanings generated by opera performances within the different performance contexts. It is also an investigation of the differences in the performance repertoires between these two categories of performers and their performances. By examining the wider social context in which Chinese opera is situated in today, as well as the role of the state in managing culture and the arts, I explore the social significance in the presence of both the professional and the amateur perfomers in Singapore and the dynamics and tension between these two groups of performers.