​The “Jinlian” Phenomenon in Small Theatre Cantonese Opera and Its Aesthetic Construction——An Interview with the Creative Team of Jinlian

The “Jinlian” Phenomenon in Small Theatre Cantonese Opera and Its Aesthetic

Construction——An Interview with the Creative Team of Jinlian

LIN Guanxing

Abstract: The small-scale Cantonese opera “Jinlian” successfully toured various domestic cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Hangzhou, triggering the “Jinlian” phenomenon. This event demonstrated the vitality of small-scale opera art and the creativity of the dynamic inheritance of intangible cultural heritage. The creative team endowed Cantonese opera with new performance attributes and artistic aesthetic ideas, thereby narrowing the aesthetic distance between the actors and the audience in the immersive theater space. Jinlian explored and presented the significance of “body”,“space”, and “empathy” in contemporary theatrical performance aesthetics. Its unique narrative style, opera performance language, and atmosphere creation were used to reshape the identity image of “Jinlian” and innovatively interpret the storyline. While viewers experienced and perceived the thoughts of the characters, they also achieved emotional integration between the actors and the audience. The author conducted academic discussions with four creators of Jinlian, analyzing in detail the success of the play from the perspectives of scriptwriting, directing, and performance. This has certain reference and value for the contemporary transformation and cross-cultural dissemination of the intangible cultural heritage project “Cantonese Opera”. 

Key words: The small theater Cantonese opera Jinlian; “The Jinlian Phenomenon”; Cantonese opera performance aesthetics; Immersive opera performance; Cross-cultural dissemination of intangible heritage

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