April 24, 2009

酬神戏 - 福建漳州芗剧团

Guan Yin Pu Sa

Ba Xian


It was the first time I watched a Hokkien Opera performed to thank the Gods. It lasted about 40 minutes, with numerous characters in heaven descending on the stage. Maybe it is a condensed version. It started with the Eight Immortals going to the Big Birthday Celebrations of the Grand Empress. There were also the three famous Gods (Fu, Lu Shou) and the compassionate Goddess of Mercy who sprinkled blessed water to the audience. It ended with the zhuang yuan scholar returning to his hometown and found that his wife has borne him a son.

It was performed by The Fujian Zhangzhou City Xiangju Troupe at the Sheng Hong Temple at Arumugam Road.

I asked a woman fan how often they performed this. She said everyday, because the sponsor is different for every show (I think she meant the night show). So I think they have to perform to give blessings to the sponsor.







八仙祝寿

4 comments:

amai said...

U watched it last night?

amai said...

sometimes they have to repeat the show twice if they have 2 sponsors.

Most of the time they will do it in the afternoon...

fr said...

I think quite taxing for them, doing it everyday in the hot afternoon.

The pictures and video are from Wednesday afternoon.

I aslo watched the Opera Excerpts last night but didn't take any pictures.

amai said...

Recently, the actors 水土不服...Some of them have already started to feel sick due to the weather.

Heard that one even vomitted a few times during rehearsal.