Sichuan opera is the regional opera of the Sichuan basin, and Chongqing, which was part of Sichuan until 1997, shares the tradition completely. There are working opera companies in the city that perform in small theatres, and the form is unusual among Chinese operas for the amount of comedy it carries.
The form
Sichuan opera combines singing, spoken dialogue, acrobatics, mime and percussion. The singing is high, nasal and heavily ornamented, supported by a small ensemble of strings, flutes and gongs rather than a large orchestra, and the lyrics are in Sichuan dialect. The repertoire draws on history, legend and domestic comedy, and slapstick and wordplay are as important as the serious scenes. The staging is deliberately minimal - a table and two chairs do for almost anything, and the audience is expected to read the meaning from the actors' movements.
Face changing
The act that everyone knows is bian lian, the instantaneous change of painted masks. A performer in full costume turns, flicks a hand or a sleeve, and the face changes colour and pattern in a fraction of a second, again and again, without the mechanism ever becoming visible. The technique was traditionally guarded within families and troupes and is still not fully explained in public. It is usually performed as a short showcase or as a highlight within a longer programme, and it is genuinely startling the first time you see it at close range.
Where to see it
Chongqing has a professional opera house and a number of smaller venues that stage regular performances for local audiences, along with tourist-oriented shows that combine opera with acrobatics, shadow puppetry and music. The two experiences differ: the tourist shows are shorter, in a single language of spectacle, and include the face-changing act; the regular opera performances are longer, in dialect, and much closer to the living tradition. If you have time for both, the combination gives a complete picture.
Practical notes
Tickets for regular performances are inexpensive and rarely sell out, while the tourist shows cost more and should be booked a day ahead in high season. Surpertitles are rare, so the plot is best understood in advance - programme notes usually give a short summary. Performances generally last ninety minutes to two hours. Photography is usually allowed except during the face-changing act, when flashes disturb the technique, and the performers will often pose afterwards.
