demands It is of course possible that local situations were incorporated in an existing piece, but to what extent this happened there is no way of knowing. Nor can we be sure about the way in which not so harmless ambiguities crept into a play; farces lent themselves more to this kind of improvisation than tragedies and perhaps it was one of the reasons why the people loved them, in an age that, by convention, forbade open talk about matters sexual. But again, apart from one reproachful remark by the reviewer, noted above, there is no information to shed light on this aspect of the performances.
Finally a word about the production of the plays. Hardly ever do the reviews in the Herald or Record dwell on the details of staging. In London the melodramas especially were often the scene of spectacular effects; this could be done in the larger houses, particularly when the long run began to gain public support. But in Shanghai everything must have been very simple; both financial and theatrical means were lacking to permit lavish productions. A touring company could not be expected to have detailed scenery for the many plays that were given. Probably a couple of winged sets served the purpose for all pieces. A director in the modern sense of the word did not exist in Shanghai in those days; in his place the stage manager had more often than not a say in how a play would be mounted. For the remainder it depended heavily on the qualities and eccentricities of the actors in how far a mediocre piece would be elevated into something highly amusing or relegated to the dustbin.
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demands It is of course possible that local situations were incorporated in an existing piece, but to what extent this happened there is no way of knowing. Nor can we be sure about the way in which not so harmless ambiguities crept into a play; farces lent themselves more to this kind of improvisation than tragedies and perhaps it was one of the reasons why the people loved them, in an age that, by convention, forbade open talk about matters sexual. But again, apart from one reproachful remark by the reviewer, noted above, there is no information to shed light on this aspect of the performancs.
Finally a word about the production of the plays. Hardly ever do the reviews in the Herald or Record dwell on the details of staging. In London the melodramas especially were often the scene of spectacular effects; this could be done in the larger houses, particularly when the long run began to gain public support. But in Shanghai everything must have been very simple; both financial and theatrical means were lacking to permit lavish productions. A touring company could not expected to have detailed scenery for the many plays that were given. Probably a couple of winged sets served the purpose for all pieces. A director in the modern sense of the word did not exist in Shanghai in those days; in his place the stage manager had more often than not a say in how a play would be mounted. For the remainder it depended heavily on the qualities and eccentricities of the actors in how far a mediocre piece would be elevated into something highly amusing or relegated to the dustbin.
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