Hip-hop crosstalk also taps into young Chinese people's nostalgia, featuring music and themes from cartoons and television series that dominated their childhood, such as the well-known Japanese cartoon "Doraemon" or the famous Chinese show "Cucurbit Brothers." Such shared experiences and memories give hip-hop crosstalk performers plenty of material and help audience members to engage with the performance in a new way.
"I feel the energy and vitality in their crosstalk and there is no generation gap at all," said one young audience member.
Gao and other hip-hop crosstalk enthusiasts are not content with merely adapting the language of crosstalk for a younger audience, but have also developed a form of crosstalk uniquely modern known informally as "crosstalk drama."
Crosstalk drama is a combination of drama and crosstalk, where performers loose the traditional gown in favor of contemporary costumes and simple stage props.
One crosstalk drama, "The Legend of White Snake," was adapted from a well-known TV series in China and was the first crosstalk play promoted by the hip-hop crosstalk club.
The crosstalk drama adds a twist to the familiar storyline with a heavy dose of slang and little regard for pre-prescribed gender roles, happily interchanging male and female performers.
Recognizing young people's growing Western habits, the hip-hop crosstalk society also draws on Western elements and stories, such as their version of a modern-day "Cinderella." In the hip-hop crosstalk version, Cinderella's sisters are played by two boys with Beijing accents and Western dresses. Gao has also replaced the familiar pumpkin carriage with an angel offering 20 yuan for a taxi ride to the royal ball.
Though the updated crosstalk may look different to some, Guang Ming Ge's packed houses are proof of its popularity. With a capacity of 220 people, the teahouse routinely sells out in several hours with many people booking a ticket a week in advance.
"Young audiences are the future of arts. Actors and actresses who win the support of young audiences might well win the market in the future," Zhang Xinan, Vice-Chairman of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, said on China Radio International's China Drive.
(Global Times August 17, 2009)
