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Mimi Lau

A multimillion-yuan entertainment production hailing itself as a tribute to Cantonese opera and based on a river cruise boat in Guangzhou has run into a storm of indignation from the city’s cultural community who say it defiles Southern China’s culture.
Chuan Shuo, or the Red Boat, has raised the ire of local critics, who have been questioning its artistic integrity and right to public funding since a preview aired on local television on December 31.
They say the show bears little resemblance to genuine Cantonese opera and question why it has attracted investment thought to exceed 100 million yuan (HK$118 million).
But the greatest affront, they say, is that most of show is performed in Putonghua, rather than Cantonese.
READ MORE: Red boats: Cantonese opera’s floating dark history
Official moves to supplant Cantonese with Putonghua are controversial in Guangzhou, where people fearing their ancient dialect is being marginalised have staged numerous protests
“The make-up, costumes and the acting are poorer than any rural troupe,” said one critic. “It’s painful to see so much investment plunged into something like this.”

The Red Boat is essentially a commercial performance for tourists that combines acrobatics, modern dance, singing and narration in Putonghua as well as about eight minutes of Cantonese opera set in its golden era more than a century ago. The show tells the tales of Cantonese opera artists back in the days when troupes lived on red boats and used them to reach shows on the Pearl River.
The show is billed as “a century-old boat telling the story of Guangzhou” offering audiences “spiralling stage sets, beautiful dancing and classical Cantonese opera”. “It is the largest, longest, widest and tallest boat on the Pearl River, bearing the glorious mission to attract young people to Cantonese opera,” the promoters say.
READ MORE: Cantonese opera traditions must be protected as it modernises
The show is being performed on a vessel 52 metres long,15 metres wide – the size of two basketball courts – that can seat 300.
The production targets tourists and younger people, offering a “creative performance” to introduce them to Cantonese opera.
Compared with tickets for traditional Cantonese opera performances in the city, which cost from about 30 to 300 yuan, a ticket for the Red Boat costs 380 yuan and 680 yuan for a VIP seat for a 35-minute show on a 70-minute river cruise. However, one would have to visit the Red Boat four times to get the full story as the four parts are performed simultaneously in different areas of the boat, according to the promoters.
READ MORE: Cantonese opera master Lam Ka-sing dies in Hong Kong, aged 82
“We’ll be delighted if we simply arouse people’s interest in Cantonese opera,” Red Boat’s creative director Huang Nanbing told the Yangcheng Evening News. “It’s a new way to introduce Cantonese opera, like experiencing Beijing opera after watching the film Farewell My Concubine.”
The Cantonese opera community has vowed to “drive the Red Boat out of Guangzhou”. A five-minute preview that aired on a December 31 television programme featured an actor with half his face painted in Cantonese opera make-up speaking in Putonghua with a handful of Cantonese opera actors in the background. The scene moved to a woman singing a modern song in Putonghua.
Critics said the Red Boat’s “lack of artistic integrity” would mislead and confuse the public about Cantonese opera, which is on Unesco’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
“This is the biggest storm in the world of Cantonese opera over the past 30 years,” said He Duzhong, a deputy executive chairman of the Promotion Society of Guangdong Opera and a state-level scriptwriter.
“It has nothing to do with Cantonese opera, apart from a few actors wearing Cantonese opera costumes ... None of the actors on the Red Boat have received professional training in the art form. The artistic value is unacceptable for public viewing,” He told the South China Morning Post.
“Hung Sin-nui [a star of Cantonese opera who died in 2013] would be spinning in her grave if she found out about this,” said He, who co-founded the society 23 years ago with Hung.
He accused the Red Boat project of cashing in on the reputation of Cantonese opera to secure resources and an audience without consulting local Cantonese opera professionals.
“There is no conflict of interest from my side as I’m purely voicing my opinion based on 60 years of professional experience and my emotional ties to Cantonese opera,” He said. “We have worked too long and too hard to get to where we are today just to watch Cantonese opera being destroyed by such a show.”
READ MORE: Reviving the tradition of Cantonese opera in teahouses
The Red Boat was first proposed in 2014 to revitalise local performing arts. The idea was put forward by Yi Hongxia, a delegate to the Guangzhou political consultative conference, and has been listed as a key project to promote Cantonese opera while developing cultural and tourism projects with the backing of the Guangzhou city government.

It was approved by now disgraced city party boss Wan Qingliang, who confessed to corruption involving more than 110 million yuan in December and is awaiting his verdict.
According to local media reports, the Red Boat production attracted investment of about 100 million yuan, not including land granted by the city to build a dedicated pier in the posh Zhujiang New Town business district.
Zhu Nu, an actress with the Zhaoqing Cantonese Opera Group, said it was not right that the project had attracted funds in the name of Cantonese opera.
“The opera circle hardly crosses with politics, but if you are using our name to raise resources but failing to promote Cantonese opera as a respected performing art and culture, there is nothing we can do but reject it,” she said.
Hong Biao, a veteran Cantonese opera radio host, questioned why the project had failed to seek the participation or input of expert professionals. “There’s been no public consultation or participation by industry professionals, while all the resources have been digested internally,” he said.
The exact source of the funding behind the project is not clear. Yi told the Yancheng Evening News it had not cost taxpayers “a dime”.


‘Hung Sin-nui would be spinning in her grave’: Cantonese opera boat in a storm over use of Putonghua 

Red Boats of the Cantonese Opera. SCMP Pictures (UNDATED HANDOUT)

Actor of the Red Boats of the Cantonese Opera. SCMP Pictures (UNDATED HANDOUT)

A stage set on the controversial Red Boat, which has been criticised for its performances of Cantonese opera. File Photo

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‘Hung Sin-nui would be spinning in her grave’: Cantonese opera boat in a storm over use of Putonghua

.css-jfmysa{display:inline;word-break:break-word;}.css-1ankfgb{cursor:pointer;display:inline;word-break:break-word;}READ MORE: Red boats: Cantonese opera’s floating dark history

READ MORE: Red boats: Cantonese opera’s floating dark history