Abstract
This chapter focuses on the downturn in the urban theater business from the late 1920s. It begins by considering the lull in theater activities during the sixteen-month-long boycott-strike in Hong Kong and the revival immediately thereafter. The two seasons from 1926 to 1928 were marked by strong competition and sustained profitability among the city companies. The ensuing downturn was stunning, to say the least; one disappointing season after another, long-established xiban gongsi closed down, opera troupes went bankrupt, and actors struggled with unemployment. Drawing on news reports and contemporary accounts provided in various entertainment publications, the chapter attempts to identify the sources of the problems confronting the Cantonese opera community in the late 1920s and the early 1930s and then examines its survival strategies.
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