HAVING made it through six rounds of auditions and won a place on the annual CCTV Spring Festival Gala, a Shanghai comedy company received bad news last week that its performance of the city’s beloved traditional farce had been dropped from the showcase event.

While agonisingly close, this is the third time in 10 years that Shanghai farce — huajixi — has failed to make the final cut for the show that’s a fixture for Chinese households on the Lunar New Year’s Eve, which this year falls next Wednesday.

Huajixi is a comic style that has entertained generations of Shanghainese, and Qian Cheng, deputy director of the Shanghai Farce Troupe, had high hopes when he submitted his latest act, a monologue in collaboration with 21-year-old performer Ruan Jikai, to the gala organizing committee.

These hopes seemed founded when the act passed the gala’s six rounds of selection. But just ahead of the first rehearsal last Friday, Qian was informed that the huajixi act had been dropped.

It was replaced by a crosstalk show — xiangsheng — by northern performers Miao Fu and Wang Sheng. Crosstalk is a style of comedy traditionally more popular among people in northern China.

Qian, a veteran farce performer, says it was a bitter disappointment and that he has still not been told the reason why they were dropped.

As some consolation, it will feature on the CCTV Lantern Festival Gala on March 5. In accordance with his contract with CCTV, Qian says he can’t reveal details of the act’s content, other than that it retains distinctive comic elements of Shanghai farce. However, to be accessible to audiences all over the country, it will be in Mandarin instead of the Shanghai dialect.

This latest Spring Festival Gala disappointment for huajixi has led to renewed debate over why it’s so difficult for traditional theater styles from the southern regions of China to get a slot on this prime event.

“I think it is mainly because of the different tastes, cultures and viewing habits between audiences in north and south China,” Qian says. “We still need to work harder to promote Shanghai’s trademark comic arts to a larger number of people.”

While viewership figures for the gala run to several hundred millions, audiences from northern China usually make up the majority.

Insiders say that the gala, which was first performed in 1983, has very strict criteria for performers, placing a high premium on those deemed quality entertainers and rejecting those said to have bad moral records.

Huajixi takes as its subject matter ordinary people’s gripes and concerns in marriage and neighborhood relations. It can take the form of sketches through to mini-dramas and performers often improvise.

In 2005, Shanghai farce enthusiasts had high hopes for huajixi pair Wang Rugang and Mao Mengda, who submitted a sketch entitled “A Bunch of Keys.” But they were eliminated in rehearsals.

In 2012, Wang submitted a new sketch “Come Back Home and Celebrate New Year,” but it was moved to the Lantern Festival Gala, apparently because there were already too many comedy acts.

Very few Shanghai farce stars have performed at the CCTV gala, an exception being famous comedian Yan Shunkai. But Yan’s performances were not in huajixi style, instead sketch shows with actors from northern China.

Some Shanghai farce aficionados are unperturbed about these rejections and questioned “diluting” local characteristics in a bid to reach a wider audience.

Chen Daming, critic and theater expert from the Shanghai Dramatists Association, says that it is not necessary for Shanghai farce to feature in the gala.

“It’s impossible for this regional stage art to appeal to people in the whole country,” Chen says. “The humor of this Shanghai art will be largely weakened if performed in Mandarin. And in any case, people in north China can’t truly relate to and understand the wisdom and philosophy behind Shanghai culture.

“What matters is how to preserve the original charm of the style while innovating with more diverse comic approaches and elements to attract a younger audience,” Chen adds.

This is a view shared by some Shanghai farce performers.

Local stand-up comedian Zhou Libo once told media that he would not consider performing on the CCTV Spring Festival Gala. He said Shanghai farce must resonate with its audience, reflecting a strong cultural identity. The lifestyles and culture in Shanghai are very different from those in northern China, making it difficult for the comedy to travel, said Zhou.

Zhou joked in his show that “As a native of Shanghai, I drink coffee, but northerners eat garlic. How to eat garlic and drink coffee together?”

In the past, huajixi flourished in the city and the surrounding Yangtze River Delta region, encompassing monologues, dialogues, teasing and dancing. A farce performer is required to be quick-witted and have spot-on facial expressions and actions.

Versatility is a must — with skill at dialects, mime, improvisation and ballad storytelling required.

While fans like theater critic Chen insist that vivid Shanghai dialect is integral to Shanghai farce, some web users say the use of dialect threatens the future of huajixi.

Like many traditional regional theater forms, Shanghai farce is struggling to survive in competition with so many other types of entertainment.

Netizen “Linkinmoon” says that a Shanghai farce performance shows how vivid, humorous and with delicate nuances the Shanghai dialect is. Yet at the same time Shanghai dialect is declining in the face of competition with Mandarin.

“The art form now faces a big threat of losing a young audience,” says Linkinmoon. “Few young people in Shanghai can speak authentic dialect today and a lot of distinctive and interesting terms are vanishing.”

But some industry insiders argue that other factors are behind declining popularity. Well-known farce performer Gong Renlong says that what Shanghai farce truly needs is more touching and inspiring script that transcend boundaries of language.

“It’s also a problem that hampers many other theater forms in China,” says Gong. “The art form can be revived with more funny but thought-provoking stories reflecting various facets of the real life.”

And to support these forms, Gong suggests that the CCTV Spring Festival Gala feature sub-stages outside Beijing for regional arts, playing to their local audiences.

Different voices

Alex Huang

An IT worker in his 30s

“Audiences for traditional theater are shrinking mainly because of the boundaries of regional dialects and performing styles. A showcase on the big platform of the Spring Festival Gala is a rare chance for these theaters to attract new fans and apprentices.”

Claire Sun

A 20-something engineer

“My parents are big fans of Shanghai farce, but my friends and I would rather watch hilarious South Korean variety shows. I don’t like the way some actors perform with exaggerated gestures and facial expressions.”

Netizen “Gongqinwang”

“I used to be impressed by some classic plays of Shanghai farce, as the stories are deeply rooted in real life. But these days, few plays have touched me like that. There is now little originality and too much sarcasm.

Netizen “A Better Life”

“Shanghai farce is in urgent need of many more young stars to attract a younger audience and it has to update its humor and performances to reflect a new era of tremendous change.”