布景是近代以來中國人睜開眼睛看世界的產物。從1907年新劇誕生到1923年文明戲落幕,早期話劇逐步形成了由硬片、軟幕和大道具構成的寫實性布景體系。天幕的使用增加了舞臺景深。機關布景的初衷則是求真求實,后來蛻化為追求好看。布景的功能是把戲劇情境從想象變為實在,使表演貼近生活,使劇情更加集中、緊湊,也使聽戲變成了看戲。但其平面畫景的形式和一般化的值班布景,始終無法跟立體的、具體的表演完全融合,對表演形成有力的約束。角色制的流行和幕外戲的膨脹,均與此有關。最終,表演完全脫離情境、脫離戲劇,淪為雜耍和滑稽,早期話劇即告結束。表演跟布景的有機結合,還有很長的路要走。

Scenery in Chinese theatre came into being with the introduction of Western culture into China.From the birth of new drama in 1907 to the end of wenmingxi( early form of modern Chinese drama) in 1923,a system of realistic stage setting was established, with hardboard backdrop, cloth backdrop and set props as its major components. The use of cyclorama increased the depth of the stage. The stage machinery aimed at the realistic effects, and later turned to work after aesthetic effects. The stage setting rendered an imaginary scene into a physical set and drew the acting closer to real life. With the stage setting, the plot became intense and the theatregoers came to watch rather than hear the play. But the flat two-dimensional form of the stage setting and the mediocre stock backdrops could hardly fit into the specific, three-dimensional acting. Therefore, acting of that period was severely constrained by stage setting, which resulted in the popularity of role-oriented acting and the expansion of the interludes. The early period of modern Chinese drama ended with the ultimate separation of acting from its context and script, as well as the degeneration from drama to vaudeville and burlesque. There was still a long way to go before acting and stage set fit into each other.