Although only about 100 people attend their concerts, mostly elderlies, Jen Chieh-li, 34, insists on keeping the Opera Hakka alive in Taiwan.
Taiwan’s traditional Hakka opera dates back to the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and was brought to the nation by Hakka settlers from southern China. It is considered one of the best Chinese opera shows.
But as the use of the Hakka language among this minority which represents around 20 percent of the Taiwanese population (23 million) has declined and Mandarin has become the dominating language, the popularity of Opera Hakka has dwindled.
While performing “Legend of the White Snake”, a classic of her troupe, at the stage of a temple in Taoyuan county, Jen doesn’t seem ready to give up on the fading art.
“I could find a regular job but it would be a waste of all the time and effort I have devoted to studying and performing Hakka opera,” she said.
Chiang Yu-ling, who founded the Jing Sheng Opera with her husband 19 years ago, acknowledges that Jen is practicing an increasingly marginalized art performed by only 8 troupes in Taiwan under the sponsor of official organizations.
“It is a niche performance art as many people don’t even understand the language,” she said.
Louis Lo, 30, who was accompanying his elderly relatives to the show, feels sorry for this situation. “My father’s generation speak mostly Mandarin already and I speak very little Hakka,” he said.
He added that this type of opera, which resembles the popular Beijing Opera added on the Human Heritage List by UNESCO in 2010, “doesn’t appeal to young people due to the language barrier.”
To attract more fans, Jing Sheng’s troupe has incorporated modern elements into traditional performances such as acrobatic characters, street dance shows and fireworks.
“We are getting the audiences to know Hakka opera through more innovative performances and hopefully they would also want to watch the traditional ones,” Jen said.
“My husband and I are in our 50s and we have limited ideas. We hope to get more young people on board... to make Hakka opera more different,” Chiang told Agence France Press (AFP).
Fellow performer Shih Yu-tsen, 31, believes this art “definitely won’t vanish”.
“There may be fewer Hakka operas but people are nostalgic. They will recall the past and they will want to watch it,” she told AFP.
Chiang Yu-ling sees that the affordable ticket ($200 Taiwan dollars /US$6.30) plays a major role in keeping this art alive. “We often say it just takes the same amount of money you pay to buy a cup of coffee to keep this traditional art alive,” she said.
