Introduction to Shanghai Comedy Troupe’s repertoire

Comedy is an emerging type of opera that was gradually formed during the middle period of the Anti-Japanese War when the Shanghai folk art "one-man opera" was influenced by Chinese and foreign comedy, farce and local operas in the south of the Yangtze River.

Burlesque opera performance is based on one-man show, cross talk and other folk arts performances, and also absorbs the performances of civilized opera.

He is popular in many areas in Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang and is welcomed by a broad audience.

Today, burlesque has been listed as an intangible cultural heritage item in Shanghai and the country.

The repertoire of burlesque can be roughly divided into five categories: the first category is developed and adapted based on the "jokes" of one-legged opera.

Among them, "San Mao's Business" and "Seventy-Two Tenants", because of their profound ideological and complete artistic quality, have become excellent traditions of comedy and have been preserved on the screen.

The second type is transplanted from civilized drama.

The main ones include "Fang Qing Meets the Girl", "Bao Gong Catches the Wind of Losing His Hat", "Ji Gong", etc.

The third category is those transplanted and adapted from dramas, operas, and movie scripts in the early days of liberation.

Transplanted local dramas include "Suzhou Ergongzhao" (i.e. "Refined Seal") and "Mr. Hao" (i.e. "Three Family Portraits"); those adapted from drama scripts include "Happiness", "Looking West to Chang'an", etc.;

Adaptations based on drama scripts include "Little Nine Sisters" (aka "Dragonfly Girl"), "Foolproof" (aka "Dragnet"), etc.

The fourth category is a play adapted from a foreign script, such as "The Living Bodhisattva", which ran for a full year and nine months, setting a record for the most performances since the beginning of burlesque.

The fifth category is newly created plays.

Such as "Everything is in charge", "The Village That Never Sleeps", "Spring Scenery in the Garden", "Life is at stake", "One Thousand and One Days", etc.

When the 100th anniversary of Lu Xun's birth was celebrated in September 1981, the comedy "The True Story of Ah Q" was listed as one of the key plays in Shanghai's commemorative performances.