The story of Sanhua Sichuan Opera

下午2点，大幕拉开，演员相继出场。台下的人，一方桌椅，一杯茶水，一场好戏开始了。

At 2:00 p.m., as the curtain pulls open, actors steponto the stage. The audience under the stage, with a table and a chair, and a cup of tea, waits for an excellent show.

这里是成华区的玛塞城收藏品市场的负一层——三花川剧团所在地。这个扎根于成都的民间川剧团成立8年来，几乎全年无休。

This is the negative floor of the Masaicheng Collectibles Market in Chenghua District, where the Sanhua Sichuan Opera Troupe is located. This folk Sichuan opera troupe, rooted in Chengdu, has been established for eight years, played almost all year round.

因为“太爱了”

三个中年女人成立民间剧团坚守8年

三花川剧团，团如其名，由大花王娟、二花伍玉和三花陈英三姐妹组建。

The Sanhua Sichuan Opera Troupe, as its name suggests, was formed by three sisters, Wang Juan, Wu Yu, and Chen Ying.

54岁的陈英12岁开始学川剧，18岁退出剧团转行工作，与舞台一别近30年。2015年，陈英已经46岁了，三姐妹还是决定成立一个剧团。“还是太爱了。”陈英反复强调。

Chen Ying, 54, began learning Sichuan opera at her 12 and quitthe troupe at 18. By 2015, when Chen was 46, the three sisters decided to set up a troupe. "I still love it so much." Chen Ying stressed repeatedly.

每天下午1点开始，三花川剧团的后台迎来了最热闹的时候。演员们已经就位，开始化妆、对戏，没有演出的则帮着给观众端茶倒水、整理桌椅。

Every day from 1:00 p.m., the backstage of Sanhua Sichuan Opera Troupe is at its busiest. The actors are already in their position, starting to put on makeup and rehearsing, while those who are not performing help to serve the audience and organize the tables and chairs.

每天2个半小时的演出中，观众只需花上30元买一张门票即可坐上一下午，老人的票价则是20元。门票的收入远远不够支付成本，为了保证剧团的正常运转，“三花”通过在外接商演来补贴剧团。

The ticket for the two and a half hour performance is thirty yuan, and twenty yuan for the elderly. The income is not enough to cover the cost. To ensure the operation of the troupe, "Three Flowers" have to subsidize the troupe through outside commercial performances.

每天过来听戏

这里是老年人的“LiveHouse”

观众席里，大多数是七八十岁的老人，年纪最大的有90多岁。对这群老年人来说，到这里听戏和年轻人去音乐节追星一样。

The audience are mostly in their 70s and 80s, with the oldest being in their 90s. They enjoy opera here, just like that the young people enjoy music festivals.

陈英说，剧团与老戏迷们是相互陪伴的关系。剧团曾经历搬迁，戏迷们始终跟随着。“我们选址，既要保证离观众近一些，也要交通便利，这样他们过来才方便。”

Chen Yingbelievesthat the troupe and the old theater fans are in a mutual companion relationship. The troupe was once relocated, and the fans followed. "We chose the location to make sure it was closer to the audience, and also to have easy access for them to come."

而对戏迷来说，这个坚守至今的川剧团也是他们的“秘密花园”。

For the fans, this troupe is also their "secret garden".

“几乎每天都来。”74岁的李隆勇应该是所有戏迷中住得最近的了，还有不少观众是从龙泉、新都等地赶过来的。年近90岁的李爷爷退休前曾是航空工业成飞的技术员，负责过歼-10系列的技术工作，退休后爱上了听川剧，每天雷打不动地乘坐公交赶来听戏。

"I come here almost every day." Li Longyong, 74, should be the fan who lives the closest. Many fans are rushing over from Longquan, Xindu and other places far away. Grandpa Li, who is nearly 90-year-old old, retired as a technician of Avic Chengdu Aircraft Industrial Company whowas responsible for the technical work of the J-10 series. After retirement, he fell in love with Sichuan opera, and come to enjoy the play by bus every day.

不过，观众席里还是有年轻面孔。他们有的是通过网络了解到这样一个地方，将这作为一种文化消费。来自中国美术学院的学生袁嘉婕则是把这里作为一个川剧团坚守与传承的样本在观察，她计划用一个月的时间在这里进行调研、搜集资料，而后提出自己的思考与建议。

There are also young audiences. Some of them learnt this place through social media and took it as a kind of cultural consumption. Yuan Jiajie, a student from the China Academy of Art, is observing this place as a sample of Sichuan opera troupe's perseverance and inheritance. She plans to spend a month here to research and collect information, and then make her own thoughts and suggestions.

坚守与传承

希望更多年轻人爱上川剧

三花剧团每天演出两个半小时，演员酬劳是30-60元不等。来这里的演员基本都需要其他商演或工作来维持生计，但他们仍然坚守剧团，原因很简单——这里可以天天演。

The troupe performs for two and a half hours a day, and the actors are paid from thirty to sixty yuan. The actors who come here basically need other commercial performances or part-time jobs to make ends meet, and the reason why they stick around is simple: it allows them to perform every day.

剧团的演员年龄大多在50岁左右，唯一的年轻面孔，是90后尹若愚(艺名尹霜)。尹霜家里三代唱戏。如今，他除了三花川剧院的演出，还在外兼职各种演出。

Most of the actors in the troupe are around 50 years old, and the only young actor is the post-90s Yin Ruoyu (stage name Yin Shuang). Three generations of Yin's family have been playing opera. Now, in addition to his performances at the Sanhua Theatre, he also performs outside on a part-time basis.

有时候，陈英也会担忧川剧艺术的传承问题，“我们爱了一辈子的川剧，不希望在我们这一代断掉。”

Sometimes, Chen Ying worries about the inheritance of the art of Sichuan opera, "We love Sichuan opera all our lives, and we don't want it to be broken off in our generation."

在尹霜看来，川剧的传承，不仅需要更多年轻人加入演员的行列，也需要更多年轻人加入观众的行列，“希望有更多年轻人去了解川剧、看懂川剧。如果能够静心地在台下看完一出戏，我相信他们一定会爱上川剧。”

In Yin's view, the heritage of Sichuan opera requires not only more young actors, but also more young audience, "I hope that more young people could understand Sichuan opera and enjoy Sichuan opera. If they can watch a whole play, I believe they will fall in love with Sichuan opera."