I was walking through the village in the middle of October and saw a large tent erected in one of the parking lots. After asking around I discovered there was a touring company performing Shaoxing Operas for 3 nights. Several local companies were sponsoring the opera so it would be free for the villagers. A friend in the village mentioned they were looking for more sponsors, so I decided to help the culture cause. I didn’t realize they posted all of the sponsors on an LED sign next to the stage so the audience could see who paid for the performances. When I arrived to photograph the show I was swarmed by some of my village friends to say thanks. Apparently, I was the only individual to help sponsor the opera. As it turned out my sponsorship also helped me to get backstage – which is where all of the good photos were. I also accidentally appear ONSTAGE for a few seconds as I was lining up a shot of the actors.

All photos used a Mamiya 6 and either Portra 400 or Ilford Delta 3200 (shot at 1600).