邁向商業之路：日治時期臺灣內臺七子班的藝術因應問題探討

在臺灣戲曲史上，日治時期是一段關鍵的發展年代。除了清領時期的流行劇種持續發展之外，中國戲班的渡臺巡演影響甚鉅，同時，因應市場需求的商業劇場接連興造，新劇種的異軍突起與劇種的白字化現象也成為日治時期臺灣戲曲無法忽略的特質之一。日治時期的現代化劇場支持了戲曲商業特質在觀演供需方面的持續性，同時提供庶民娛樂審美的實現空間，彼時於商業劇場演出的戲班無不在劇目、表演、音樂、舞台美術……等方面相互競爭，形成漸趨商品化與庶民化的戲曲樣態。本文旨在分析承繼清領時期語言與文化優勢的臺灣七子戲，如何在日治時期商業劇場戲曲環境之下生存？嘗試探討其可能原因，同時，企圖考察七子戲的支持系統，分析內臺七子班面對大眾劇場時代的回應策略，希冀提供一個娛樂生態、語言文化、劇種藝術、觀眾審美等交織作用下的劇種參照個案。

關鍵字

七子戲；日治時期；白字；商業劇場；臺灣戲曲

並列摘要

In the history of xiqu (traditional theatre) in Taiwan, the Japanese colonial period was an era that saw a number of significant developments and transformations. In this period, genres that had been popular in the Qing rule period continued to evolve, theatre troupes from Mainland China crossed the strait to tour on the island, commercial theatre emerged and thrived, new genres hit the mainstream, and languages used in theatrical works became vernacularized. Meanwhile, a vivid modernization process took place in multiple aspects of life. Among all, the modernization of theatre augmented and extended the commercialization of xiqu. For the general audience, the modern theatre provided a space for them to fulfill their recreational and aesthetic needs; in the commercial theatre, troupes strived to present their finest repertoire, performance, music, stage art, etc. Xiqu, at that time, became increasingly commodified and popularized. In this study, I focus on the Taiwanese qizi opera, a specific genre that had once enjoyed linguistic and cultural privileges during the Qing rule period. I ask: when the Taiwanese qizi opera stepped into the Japanese colonial period, how did it struggle to survive amidst trends of modernization and commercialization? In addition, this study investigates the systematic conditions that (dis)endorses the qizi opera in Taiwan, and analyzes the strategies that indoor-stage qizi troupes employed in response to the contemporary time of popular theater. By doing so, I seek to unfold an example of how a previously successful genre struggled with multiple changes in the entertainment industry, languages and culture, theatre arts, and audience aesthetics.