What are the roles and characters in Peking Opera?

2 years ago

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Peking opera features four main role types, sheng (gentlemen), dan (women), jing (rough men), and chou (clowns). Performing troupes often have several of each variety, as well as numerous secondary and tertiary performers.

What are the main roles in Peking opera?

There are currently four main role categories in Beijing Opera. They are Sheng – Male Role, Dan – Female Role, Jing – Painted Face Male and Chou – The Comedy Role. Any role in these categories or sub-categories can be the leading role in a play.

How many characters and roles are in Peking opera?

In Peking Opera, there are four roles: the male and female roles, the painted-face role, and the comedic role. These roles have the natural features of age and sex, as well as social status, and are artificially exaggerated by makeup, costume and gestures.

What are the two main role characters of Peking opera?

There were two leading role types, who also sung: mo or the male characters and dan or the female roles. Besides them, there were also villains played by the jing or the painted-face actors as well as chou or the comic characters. During the Yuan Dynasty both men and women performed on the opera stage.

What is the role of chou in Peking opera?

The Chou is the character most connected to the guban, the drums and clapper commonly used for musical accompaniment during performances. The Chou actor often uses the guban in solo performance, especially when performing Shu Ban, light-hearted verses spoken for comedic effect.

What are the 4 characters of Peking Opera?

Chinese Opera. In Beijing opera, the actor’s roles are divided under four main headings, sheng, dan, jing, and zhou, or male, female, painted face, and comic. Each role has its own vocabulary of gesture, walking, and vocal technique.

Which refers to the main male role in Peking Opera?

The Sheng (生) is the main male role in Beijing opera. This role has numerous subtypes. The laosheng is a dignified older role. These characters have a gentle and cultivated disposition and wear sensible costumes.