Two Stage Sisters, also called Stage Sisters, is a 1964 Chinese drama film produced by Shanghai Tianma Film Studio and directed by Xie Jin, starring Xie Fang and Cao Yindi. Made just before the Cultural Revolution, it tells the story of two female Yue (Shaoxing) Opera practitioners from the same troupe who end up taking very different paths in their lives. The film begins in 1935 and ends in 1950, just after the founding of New China.
Unlike most Chinese films of its period, which were adaptations of accepted and well-known dramatic and literary works, it was made from an original screenplay.Synopsis
In 1935 a runaway tongyangxi, Zhu Chunhua, takes refuge at an itinerant Yue Opera troupe performing at a Shaoxing village. The head of the troupe, A’Xin, intends to send the girl away, but Yue Opera teacher Xing, seeing her potential, takes Chunhua in as a disciple and trains her. Chunhua signs a deal with the troupe and becomes the performing partner (in a dan role) to the teacher’s daughter Yuehong, the latter performing as a xiaosheng.
Actors