Vogue and Various Shanghai Drama

There are differences between Shanghai drama and Beijing drama in terms of theme, stage presentation, and performance style, although sometimes the dividing line isn’t too clear. Beijing drama is grand and traditional, while Shanghai drama is gentle, fresh and flexible, vogue and various to learn Chinese.

After 1843, when western civilization came to China through Shanghai for the first time, Shanghai developed rapidly into the national commercial and economic center. Thus hai pai culture, the combination of Chinese and Western cultures, gradually formed.

The term hai pai (literally 'Shanghai style') was coined by a group of Beijing writers in 1920 to criticize some Shanghai scholars and styles of writing for their admiration of money and western cultures. Hai pai is rebellious, while its opposite jing pai, or 'Beijing style,' is traditional. They represent two kinds of different Chinese cultures. The famous author Cao Juren wrote an article on jing pai and hai pai in the 1920s saying that, "jing pai is like a fair lady, while hai pai is like a modern babe."

Shanghai drama, under the influence of western dramas, developed into a distinct new style. Hundreds of new Shanghai drama programs with actors and actresses in modern costumes and Western-style clothes were created from 1903 to the beginning of 1910. Shanghai opera broke the conventions of traditional Beijing opera by creating vivid and lively artistic images, integral stage art effects, and unique music with ancient elements.

Today, the main Shanghai drama troupe is the Shanghai Drama Performing Art Centre, which introduced the system of ‘producing by producers’ in 1995. According to its Chairman, the center usually performs three kinds of plays: famous worldwide classical plays like Thunder Storm, Sun Rise, Red and Black, and more. The plays are full of elements of Shanghai local taste like Wang Anyi’s Everlasting Regret, Chang Hen Ge, Elieen Chang’s The Golden Cangue, Love in a Fallen City, and more. These plays distinguish the Shanghai brand from Beijing drama and have generated lots of fame for Shanghai drama, in addition to pioneering Shanghai’s urbanism.

Author: Xu Shenglan