"First Love of the Century: Yang Lihua"—A Special Exhibition on Taiwanese Opera

Gezaixi originated in Yilan, Taiwan, and took shape around the early 20th century, sung in Taiwanese Hokkien. It grew out of Yilan's "local gezai" (also called ludisao), took in folk tunes such as those of the chegu small plays, and later learned fighting, costume, and movement from the large-scale operas such as Peking opera and luantan. Qizidiao, Dumadiao, and Zanniandiao are its most basic core tunes. The places it was performed kept changing: outdoor stages at temple festivals to thank the gods, ticketed indoor theatres from the 1920s, radio gezaixi in the 1950s, a first film in 1955, and then television after TTV opened in 1962. Yang Li-hua became the first leading man (xiaosheng, the young male role) of television gezaixi, playing the part as a woman in male dress.

Compare how the costumes, props, and sets are made, and imagine whether they were seen at a temple's outdoor stage, in a theatre, or in front of a television camera.