There are three fixed shadow play theaters in the urban area, and this pattern has been maintained for five years. One is near the ship lock, one is in Tangzi Street, and the other is near the bridge. The business of the three karaoke bars is booming, with more than 300 people watching the play every day at the matinee.
Shadow play is particularly popular in rural areas. In Shi Peng, Yanglin, Shihe, Zhanggang, Wangchang and other places, it has become a common practice to invite shadow play classes for weddings and funerals.
Gan Zhongyan, 58, was born in a shadow play family and has been singing shadow play for more than 30 years. He said, "You can go out to perform with your shadow box and motorcycle at any time. And three or four square tables and a few boards can set up a performance. Because it is easy to set up a stage, you can sing if you want. Rural people like to invite shadow play, usually three or five hundred yuan. "
There are seven people in Gan's troupe. During the performance, two men and one woman manipulated the strings and performed various roles such as beating, jumping, turning and running behind the screen, accompanied by harpsichord, gong, cymbals and drums. Seven people cooperated tacitly and performed brilliantly. The content of singing depends on them to unfold the plot and portray the characters according to historical stories, and singing, doing, reading and acting are seamlessly connected. They often choose plays according to the types of happy events held by their hosts, and sometimes they improvise stories. Therefore, they also have the reputation of "lighting talents".
Gan said that singing shadow play can earn a net income of 1.2 to 1.5 million a year. In the countryside, he is not bad. Nevertheless, some young people still think that the outside world is more exciting, and generally prefer to go out to work rather than learn this craft.
"Shadow play and singing require oral instruction from the master and long-term hard work. It looks like a simple skill, but it is not easy to extract it. Some children from poor rural families feel bitter after studying for a while and give up halfway. " When it comes to accepting apprentices, Gan Zhongyan seems a little helpless.
After decades of hard work, Gan Zhongyan has developed a set of unique skills by playing shadow play: he can use all his fingers and play several shadow play fights at the same time. "This skill will be passed on to the apprentice without regret." He said frankly.
Among the five shadow play classes in Tianmen, 36-year-old Ai and 34-year-old Ai are the youngest artists. Ai/Kloc-began to learn to sing at the age of 0/3, and the husband and wife have been on stage for more than ten years. They are outstanding figures in Tianmen shadow play. They are also deeply worried about the lack of successors of Tianmen shadow play. "At present, there are few shadow puppeteers in Tianmen," said Liang Bing.
We believe that with the joining of famous Tianmen artists such as Gan, Ai and others, the development prospect of Tianmen shadow play will be broader. Tianmen shadow play will have more distinctive features and more prominent charm in its development.