Long-lost Shoulder Drama Reappears

Long-lost Shoulder Drama Reappears

Shoulder Drama, a traditional popular folk art that vanished for more than two decades, has now reappeared in its birthplace, Shaxian county in east China's Fujian Province. When night screen falls, locals gathered and flock to lanes and streets to watch theatrical performances by children standing on the shoulders of adults. According to local records, the drama style was created during the last years of the imperial Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) by a folk artist named Lian Xigou at the Shanxian county in central Fujian. As a host of theatrical troupes had arrived in the county, competition for the space of performances was intensive and acute at times. To save the bother of setting up a theatrical stage and to perform whenever he could, Lian decided to have one child and one adult jointly playing a particular character. The child usually aged from 5-10 would sing and make the required hand and head actions while the mute adult beneath would be responsible for the leg movements. As the unique performance requires close cooperation between the players, it was a hit from the moment it was invented. During a period of turmoil of the Cultural Revolution that began in mid 1960s and ended in mid 190s, the vivid and lovable drama, regarded as the residue of feudal culture, was banned and gradually disappeared. It was not until the 1990s that some local artists who still knew how to perform Shoulder Drama began staging it at family get-togethers, local festivals and other occasions mainly for entertainment. These days, the art form has joined the county's "classic repertoire" and plays at almost every major festive event. A special kindergarten has even been set up to train over 100 child folk artists.