TRADITIONAL Chinese opera, with its sometimes shrill tones, long-winded plots and stylized movements, hasn’t been particularly popular with young generations more interested in rap, rock, Hollywood fantasy films and Chinese martial arts movies.

With contemporary tastes hard to budge, Chinese opera has had to adapt to the new age of entertainment. To capture younger audiences with typically short attention spans, classic plays that underpin Chinese opera are being rewritten and condensed into faster-paced stories.

Hit TV dramas and online novels are combed for opera material, and modern elements such as crossover characters and digital stagecraft are also being deployed. Crowdfunding is proving a new and profitable source of financing for new productions.

Chinese opera is also recruiting younger talent for scriptwriting, stage direction and costume design. Artists from traditional troupes have opened personal studios to mentor a new generation of professionals.

Of course, such dramatic changes to a centuries-old culture have some traditionalists up in arms. They warn that the grab for audiences shouldn’t destroy the very essence of the original art form.

As the debate goes on, we explore some of the innovations now reshaping traditional opera troupes in Shanghai.

Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe

The Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe, based on tranquil Shaoxing Road, has set up an artistic committee of 11 Kunqu Opera professionals to promote its 600-year-old art form, help create new, original plays and nurture young talent.

Kungqu is one of the oldest forms of Chinese opera. It traditionally combines elements of plays, ballet, poetry and musical recital, drawing on early forms of theatrical performances, such as mime, farce and acrobatics. Words, music and dance come together in harmony.

The Shanghai troupe hosts a series of regular “Follow Me” training sessions and gives resident performances in Yuyuan Garden. According to Wu Peng, deputy director of the troupe, the efforts to reach out to a broader audience have attracted many Chinese white-collar workers and expats.

The sessions teach participants basic Kunqu opera skills, with “students” given the chance to perform on stage. The troupe plans to expand the sessions to more venues in the city.

Since March, episodes of the classic 600-year-old opera “Peony Pavilion” have been regularly performed at Beaufort Terrace, a newly upgraded cultural landmark in Yuyuan Garden. Following on the success of the troupe’s “Miaoyu and Baoyu” show, “Peony Pavilion” is scheduled to run weekends throughout this year in a condensed one-hour format.

Kunqu opera returns to the stage of a garden after decades of absence. The atmosphere of the outdoors enhances the depth of the performances.

More original and crossover productions are being created. The experimental Kunqu opera show “Chair” is inspired by a classic drama. Its performance in Japan earlier this month received wide acclaim from both critics and audiences.

The troupe has also adapted Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” into a Kunqu opera set against the backdrop of ancient China. In October a crossover performance featuring Kunqu and guqin, a seven-stringed zither, will be offered. The shows have been listed by UNESCO as “masterpieces of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity.”

The troupe this year has also embarked on a national and world tour, performing the opera “Four Dreams of Linchuan.” It’s a work by Chinese playwright Tang Xianzu, who is often called the “Shakespeare of China” and died 400 years ago in the same year as the Bard. Tang is also the author of “Peony Pavilion.”

Accompanying the performances, troupe artists will host a series of lectures for foreign audiences in Prague and New York.

Shanghai Pingtan Troupe

Pingtan opera, often called Suzhou opera, also has a long history of some 400 years. It evolved out of the storytelling art of the Tang and Song dynasties, and traditionally utilizes the Wu dialect. It is, simply stated, storytelling set to music.

The Shanghai troupe, based on Nanjing Road W., offers regular performances of the genre.

A show typically involves just one or two people on stage. To make the traditional long stories more palatable to today’s audiences, the stories have been condensed. Innovative new takes on old classics like “The Three Kingdoms,” “White Snake” and “A Dream of Red Mansions” have been added to the repertory, and a few new productions, such as “Maritime Silk Road” and “Four Beauties of Ancient China” have been created.

One eye-catching recent project is the original production “Lin Huiyin.”

The show recounts the legendary life of Lin Huiyin, a famous poet and China’s first female architect. It was financed by crowdfunding, a first for the Shanghai troupe. The show will tour Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

The troupe took its production of “Four Beauties of Ancient China” to Japan in May, where it played to great acclaim. An English version is in the pipeline for performances in the UK and North America.

The Shanghai troupe plans to build up an exhibition center in the city for charity performances, public lectures and cultural displays.

Shanghai Peking Opera Troupe

Perhaps the best-known of Chinese opera is Peking opera. It originated in the 18th century and blends music, vocal performances, mime, dance and acrobatics. Its costumes and makeup are elaborate; its movements almost ritualistic.

The Shanghai Peking Opera Company, based on Tianyaoqiao Road, is sparing no effort in its bid to nurture a new generation of talented young performers. It offers 36 “avant-garde” performances by young artists in the city every year.

Celebrated Peking opera artists such as Shang Changrong have opened workshops for young performers and theater critics. In them, masters of the art share their knowledge about the stagecraft and aesthetics that mark the genre.

The company is also collaborating with film studios to produce opera films adapted from classic Peking opera plays. The film projects include the 3D Peking opera film “Farewell My Concubine,” the first movie of its kind in Chinese cinema, “Cao Cao and Yang Xiu” and “The Legend of Xiao He.”

The company is also turning classic literature to music. This year a series of shows based on the stories of the legendary Monkey King are being presented to attract younger audiences. The show includes very visual martial arts feats.

Shanghai Yueju Opera Troupe

Yueju opera is a relative youngster in Chinese opera. It came into being in 1906 and is sometimes called Shaoxing opera. It has become the second most prevalent genre after Peking opera.

Originally, Yueju opera was performed only by males. Today, the roles are reversed and women are the sole performers. The songs of Yueju opera are soft and melodious, and modern influences such as kung fu are often added.

The Shanghai Yueju Opera Troupe, based on Fuxing Road W., met surprising success with its five-hour performance of “The Legend of Zhen Huan.”

It debuted in 2013 as a condensed production of the 76-episode TV drama of the same name. It was the first time the troupe created a show based on a television hit.

More than 70 performances have been staged, and the popularity of the TV series and the original online novel on which it is based guaranteed a large following among young people.

The play centers on the court intrigue of the empress and imperial concubines in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Its protagonist, an innocent young concubine, has to learn how to survive in a cruel world dominated by jealousy and ambition.

The show boasts exquisite costumes and visually stunning sets.

The troupe has also produced an original play about the life of celebrated ancient Chinese poet Li Shangyin. Earlier this year, performers gave a series of cultural lectures to college students in Beijing to promote the newest trends in Yueju opera.