A life inconceivable to city-based counterparts

Life in the troupe is also mundane and stressful at times. More than 500 performances annually means that 10 months of the year are spent traveling, packing, unpacking, and doing seemingly endless performances of a limited repertoire. It is a life inconceivable to city-based opera troupes.

Hardest to bear is the time spent away from loved ones. Actress Wu Yuhong has been performing Yueju Opera since she was 18, and has an 8-year-old son. She tried other work in order to stay close to him, but eventually returned to the troupe. This anguish is shared by her fellow performers, none of whom can take time off other than during the hottest summer month. During the holidays that are the traditional time for family reunions they are always away performing.

A job with the troupe is nevertheless attractive, partly because it offers relatively good pay, but mostly because it helps to uphold one of Zhejiang's finest cultural traditions. Performance excellence apart, it is also fascinating as a female-dominant phenomenon in the otherwise man-friendly world of entertainment.

Yueju Opera performances are most enjoyed by elders and children in rural Zhejiang Province. Today's young adults are more drawn to contemporary music and performance, and that the majority of people going to see opera are rarely younger than 40 years. Yet, Chen's troupe has made efforts to draw younger adults by staging pre-performance cross talks and skits.

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