Beijing Opera plays and Performance

Every Beijing opera troupe aims for a playable balance of role types. This balance is often described through analogy to a table whose top is supported by four beams that in turn are supported by four legs. The top represents the full repertoire of Beijing opera plays; to perform them, four "beams,"i.e., four principal performers, are required to portray leading roles. These principal per- formers are an older sheng, a martial sheng, a young dan, and either a young sheng or a jing. These four "beams" are then supported by four "legs", the abso- lutely essential performers of supporting roles; a secondary older sheng, an older dan, a chou, and a young sheng or a jing (whichever has not already been em- ployed as a "beam"). Every troupe also requires a number of tertiary performers to serve as additional supporting characters, foot soldiers, attendants, and servants of both sexes.