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受訪者/陳勝福
明華園劇團總團長
台北市屏東縣同鄉會 第六任理事長
明華園總團長陳勝福,是《國境之南‧永恆春日》作者王敏勳的同鄉及多年好友。在1990年代,明華園劇團曾面臨客源多角化轉型的挑戰,陳勝福深知僅僅依賴宮廟酬神邀請或三台時代單一檔的歌仔戲,並無法長久支撐劇團運營。因此,他每天緊盯報紙,深入了解社會動態,試圖找尋新的發展機會。陳勝福發現,很多建設公司為了要吸引人群賞屋,會舉辦載歌載舞的工地秀活動。於是他靈機一動,找上了建商毛遂自薦,順利獲得對方青睞。於是,陳勝福的第一場歌仔戲工地秀就這樣風光開演。
如此意想天開的創舉,果然吸引滿滿人潮和話題,其他建設公司在看到成效後也紛紛跟進,光是在以文教區及中產階級為主要客群的地段,明華園就進行了十多場演出。這不僅打開了工地新市場,更讓陳勝福感到欣慰的是——這些演出,證明了歌仔戲綜藝秀並非走低俗路線,只要足夠用心、足夠精緻,就可以打動人心,達到宣傳與收益效果的雙贏,可說是賓主盡歡。
「明華園出來演戲,就像是代言人一般,大家相信我們的商譽,」陳勝福對自家劇團演出工地秀充滿信心,「明華園的品牌價值讓大家願意買單,這就是我們最大的優勢。」
明華園北京演出的成功之路
1990年,明華園第一次兩岸的官方交流,當時李登輝總統對這種交流並不熱衷。雖然海峽兩岸已經40年沒有交流,但明華園仍應亞洲藝術節之邀,踏上了這場北京之旅。
當時,大家對明華園是否能在北京成功演出很有疑慮。有人擔心明華園講台語,北京的觀眾聽不懂,但陳勝福告訴他們:「不需擔心語言問題,因為在國際演出中,語言不是最大的障礙。就像看美國電影時,我們有字幕一樣,所以語言的問題是可以克服的。」果然,明華園的演出突破了語言障礙,走入人心,獲得極高評價,開創了兩岸藝術交流的成功先例,也讓歌仔戲從地方傳統戲曲的極限,走向國際多元發展的無限可能。
傳統文化的紮根與傳承
和王敏勳同為恆春子弟的陳勝福總團長,未來也計畫要在故鄉大力推動歌仔戲文化,培養新生代的戲曲人才。除了紮根學校教育之外,明華園還可能會與政府一同成立專門的戲曲基地,作為學生學習和演出的場所,相信這將會成為地區文化的重要象徵,能夠促進地方經濟發展,創造更多就業機會,在傳承歌仔戲文化的同時,更能賦予傳統戲曲新創意。
另外,有感於好友王敏勳投身公益,在恆春當地推動希望教育工程的用心,明華園劇團也將配合響應由吳念真導演所發起的「快樂學習」計畫,以多樣性、學習無負擔的多元方式,來挹注故鄉孩子的成長。可預期的是,這些未來規畫將會豐富恆春地區的文化生活,為學習提供更多選擇和成長空間,也讓歌仔戲的薪火在這片土地上乃至於全世界開枝散葉,大放異彩。
Interviewee: Cheng Shen-fu
Chief Director of Ming Hua Yaun Taiwanese Opera Troupe
The Sixth President of Pingtung County Association of Taipei City
Cheng Shen-fu, the chief director of Ming Hua Yuan Taiwanese Opera Troupe, is a fellow townsman and a long-time friend of Wang Ming-shiun, the author of Southern Sovereignty: Spring Eternity. In 1990s, Ming Hua Yuan faced the challenge of how to diversify the customer base. Cheng Shen-fu was fully aware that solely relying on the invitation of local Taoist temples for gods-worshipping, or on the single time-slot broadcast on the previous monopolizing three TV channels, could not sustain the long-term operation of the troupe. Therefore, he closely read newspaper daily, trying to fully understand the social dynamics and to search for new opportunities for the troupe’s development. He found out that to attract crowds to visit the new buildings, many construction companies would hold entertainment shows at the construction sites. An idea thus flashed into his mind: he proactively visited the construction companies to recommend his own troupe, and smoothly won the other party’s favor. Thus, Cheng Sheng-fu gloriously presented the first Taiwanese opera show at the construction site.
Such a fanciful initiative, as expected, attracted huge crowd and hot publicity; other companies also started to follow suit after they had witnessed the positive result; simply in the areas where the customers were mainly based on the well-educated and the middle class, Min Hua Yuan had presented more than ten shows. This not only opened up the new market of the construction sites, but also made Chen Shen-fu feel rewarded—these performances proved that Taiwanese opera variety show did not necessarily appeal to the vulgar taste; as long as it is performed professionally and perfectly, it can resonate in people’s hearts, so as to achieve the double wins of promotion and benefit; it could serve as a case of both the host and the guest feeling fully satisfied.
“As Ming Hua Yuan is invited to perform, it is like serving as an endorser; people believe in our business reputation,” Chen Shen-fu had complete confidence in the performance of his own troupe at the construction sites. “The brand value of Ming Hua Yuan makes everyone willing to pay the bill; this is our biggest advantage.”
In 1990, facing the likelihood for Ming Hua Yuan to carry out the first official exchange between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, at that time, the former President Lee Teng-hui was not enthusiastic about such exchanges. Although there had been no exchanges between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait for forty years, Ming Hua Yuan still accepted the invitation of the Asian Arts Festival, embarking on the trip to Beijing.
At that time, people were concerned about whether Ming Hua Yuan could successfully perform in Beijing. Some people worried that since Ming Hua Yuan used the Hokkien dialect, the audience in Beijing just could not follow; nevertheless Cheng Shen-fu told them: “Don’t worry about the language issue, since in the international performances, language is not the biggest obstacle. Just like when watching the American movies, we have the subtitles; hence, it is possible to overcome the language barrier.” As expected, Ming Hua Yuan’s performance broke through the language barrier, made the audience feel touched, and was highly recognized and praised; it not only set a successful precedent for the cross-strait artistic exchanges, but also allowed the Taiwanese opera to evolve from the limitation of being a traditional local opera toward the infinite possibilities of diverse and international development.
Wang Min-shiun and the troupe’s chief director Cheng Shen-fu are both Hengchun natives; the latter also plans to dedicatedly promote the culture of the Taiwanese opera in the future, aiming to cultivate the opera talents of the new generation. Besides consolidating the job through the school education system, Ming Hua Yuan might also collaborate with the government to establish a specific opera base, providing students with a venue for training and performance. Believably, it will turn to be an important symbol of the regional culture. It can boost the local economy and create more job opportunities as well; simultaneously, in the passing-on process, the traditional Taiwanese opera can be endowed with new creativity.
On the other hand, due to being empathetically inspired by his buddy Wang Min-shiun, who devotes himself to the public welfare and to carrying out the local hope project for education in Hengchun area, Ming Hua Yuan will also collaboratively join the Happy Learning Project initiated by director Wu Nien-jen, adopting diverse and burden-free approaches while trying to help enable the development of the hometown kids. Predictably, all these future plans will enrich the cultural life of Hengchun, offering people with more options and more space for personal development; it can also allow the torch of the Taiwanese opera to radiate and brilliantly shine over the homeland, and even over the whole world.
文字整理/《史料未及之永恆春日》編輯部
Edited by the Trans-history staff in charge of Spring Eternity