During the 1980s, two self funded Cantonese Opera clubs were established in Manchester's Chinatown.
Both of them are playing a very important part in the Manchester cultural activities in both the past and present. They organize a performance every once a year at the theatre, they are very popular among the Chinese community; especially for the elderly generation.
The young volunteers (new generation) help set the stage, backstage design, make up, costumes, music and IT technical support.
This type of performing can be very demanding as it is also the biggest Chinese opera event for Manchester China Town and Europe.
It has been the main stem of fun for the Chinese community and a greatly successful achievement during the passed decades.
The Manchester Chinese Opera team have been working extremely hard to self fund their work for the Chinese Community; but the city council and Art council and Manchester communities do not take a lot of notice of our contribution to Manchester Festivals.
Chinese opera has existed for centuries, probably dating from the Sung period. Unlike Western opera, it is an unique theatrical art that combines singing, dancing and stylised pantomime as well as strenuous acrobatics that is breathtakingly colourful to the ear as well as the eye. Today the most active operas in China are the Peking Opera (
) in the North and the Yue Opera (
) in the Southern province of Guandong.
However, each region in the country has its own local opera, such as the Wu Opera in Shanghai or the Chuan Opera in Sichuan, whilst other types of performances with a strong local flavour exist, such as the Imitation Tang Dance of Xi’an in Shaanxi.
The most popular opera among the predominantly Cantonese Chinese in the United Kingdom is the Yue opera. 
There are four classical roles common to all styles of opera and easily recognisable by the audience. An actor would normally specialise in one or two of these roles, like the Sheng role, playing the main male character in the opera, like a scholar, a statesman or a warrior. The role requires no painted makeup although the actor is usually bearded, except when playing younger roles. Tan, or female roles, were until recently filled by female impersonators, for example Mei Lan-Fang, one of its greatest exponents in the 20th Century. Even today, actresses must display a technique of femininity that was invented by the male mind and brought to perfection by male performers. Ching actors, unlike the Sheng, paint their faces and foreheads for portrayals of particular male characters such as warriors, bandits, evil ministers, righteous judges, statesmen, gods and they usually wear special high-soled boots to increase their height. The last role is Wen Ch'ou, the clown, who is alone in the use of colloquial, sometimes improvisatory speech but he is also a mimic and acrobat.
The actor has no assistance from scenery and has few props. The most intriguing thing about Chinese Opera is its abstract way of conveying meanings: the stage is bare except for a small table and two chairs. This table may be a court or a mountain, with a chair on top, it could be a throne. The few props there are consist principally of weapons, often used in the acrobatics so popular in plays about warfare and also indicative of the status of the wearer, for example the use of a riding crop to denote an equestrian.
All actors must be adept at specialised hand, sleeve and foot movement. These actions have symbolic meanings that are familiar to the audience for example, the act of paddling to represent maritime transportation. Even a door can be closed symbolically; the actor merely brings his two hands together at arm’s length. Thus, movements and expressions accompanied by music, a few actors on a bare stage can evoke a huge army going to war. Conventionalised gestures and movements are often used with the props, such as the throwing of a riding crop on the stage when the rider alights.
If the properties are few, the costumes are many and varied, and often bright with colour. To the Western eye, much that is interesting in Chinese opera stems from the brilliant spectacle of the distinctive costumes and the great array of masks. Furthermore, the costumes amount to a sort of type casting; there are different categories of dress for rulers, generals, scholars, for example. and colour is also used to indicate rank, status and personal character. Apart from masks, heavily painted faces are another unusual feature, filling much the same function as masks in Greek drama. Colour identifies the type of role played by the wearer: red for loyalty and bravery, black for integrity, green for spirits, gold for the gods.
Most storylines are several hundred years old, although new and more modern dramas have been written. They are concerned with the whole range of human emotions, but lean toward a preoccupation with royalty, wars and romance, as well as emphasising traditional virtues such as loyalty, filial piety, chastity, justice and righteousness. Many are based on history, for example, Lok Shen, which is included in this programme.
A small orchestra accompanies the opera at the side of the stage, consisting of a string, wind and percussion section, using such instruments as the erhu (
), the ti tzu (
) or bamboo flute;
flower drums (
), clackers ( 
), gu zheng (
), gongs (
) and cymbals (
).
There twenty four kinds of musical instruments altogether, although a number are heard only rarely.The Opera drama of tradition is fixed and immutable, yet always subject to the slight nuances of change that emerge from the individuality of a great performer. It is popular, even in modern China, bringing many a theatrical classic to new generations with beautiful costumes, and a combination of the music, dance, and literature.
During the 1980s, two self funded Cantonese Opera clubs were established in Manchester’s Chinatown. Both of them are playing a very important part in the Manchester cultural activities in both the past and present. They organize a performance every once a year at the theatre, they are very popular among the Chinese community; especially for the elderly generation. The young volunteers (new generation) help set the stage, backstage design, make up, costumes, music and IT technical support. This type of performing can be very demanding as it is also the biggest Chinese opera event for Manchester China Town and Europe. It has been the main stem of fun for the Chinese community and a greatly successful achievement during the passed decades.
