(
课件网) Unit 4 UNIT 4 Stage and screen To understand the main idea of the passage To understand the change of the author’s feelings To learn useful words and expressions in the passage To express your own opinions about relative topics Look at the pictures of two performances and talk about their differences and similarities. Consider the following: orchestra costumes and masks stage set performers’ movements 1 Differences Peking Opera traditional Chinese instruments such as jinghu, gongs(锣)… Western Opera a full orchestra orchestra Costumes and masks Peking Opera colourful and decorative costumes thick, unnatural, and heavy in colors Western Opera makeup is closer to real life Differences Stage Set Peking Opera simple platform Western Opera complicated platform The stage has vivid and various props (道具). Role Classification Peking Opera four fixed roles: Sheng (hero), Dan (heroine), Jing (painted face), and Chou (comic) Western Opera variety of roles according to their voice pitch Peking Opera usually combines music, vocal performance, mine, dance and acrobatics(杂技). Facial make-up is very important to the aesthetic (美学) of Peking Opera. The colours are rich and depict (描绘) different characters using colour symbolism. Sheng Dan Chou Jing Roles in Peking Opera sanxian Orchestras in Peking Opera jinghu erhu sheng yueqin The costumes, often the most recognisable feature of Peking Opera, are graceful, elegant, and brilliant in colour and design. They tell a character’s sex and status at first glance, marking off people from all walks of life, noble or humble, civil or military. Accessories(装饰物), including helmets and hats, constitute an integral part to bring about dramatic stage effects. Stages in most Chinese theatres are square platforms exposed to the audience on three sides, even all sides sometimes. There are very few props on the stage, and they are mostly used symbolically. The most common ones include tables, sedan chairs, flags, horsewhips and weapons. Most attention is focused on the actors’ and actresses’ singing and movements. The basic skills of Peking Opera include dance movements and special acrobatic movements while singing or reciting, which are necessary requirements mastered by all actors and actresses. Opera (in the Western tradition) An opera is like a play in which everything is sung instead of being spoken. It incorporates(包含) a number of the performing arts, such as acting, scenery, costume, and sometimes dance or ballet. The singers who sing and act out the story are on the stage, and the orchestra is in front of the stage but lower down, in the orchestra pit, so that the audience can see the stage. Which literature work does this sentence come from Hamlet is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. Prince Hamlet is called upon by the supernatural to take revenge upon his uncle, Claudius, who has murdered his brother the king, seized the throne an ... ...
