"2023 Chinese Small Theater Opera Performance" will be held again in Shanghai from December 16th to 24th. This year, a total of 90 plays were registered across the country. After selection, a total of 12 small theater opera works will be performed in the Yangtze Theater Red Box, Black Box and Wanping Theater small theaters. This performance involves 10 opera types, among which Xi Opera, Fujian Opera, Wuyin Opera, and Shanghai Opera are all making their debut in this performance.
According to statistics, this year’s performances received applications for nearly 40 opera types across the country, including Fujian opera, Wuyin opera, Liuqiang opera, Yun opera, Huahaier, Shaoxing tanhuang (yingge opera), Hunan opera and other operas for the first time Appeared in the application list, among which there are more than ten creative staff who have won the Chinese Drama Plum Blossom Award, the Wenhua Award and the Magnolia Award.
After multiple rounds of selection by expert judges, the 12 works were finally shortlisted for the "2023 China Small Theater Performance". They have unique personalities, diverse styles, and are all brand-new creations. Whether they are writers, directors or actors, they all show the current opera of young strength.
On the basis of inheriting the art of opera, young creators make bold attempts and strive for new breakthroughs in narrative structure, ideological conception and other aspects through the diversification and multi-angle innovation and exploration of small theater opera.
Among them, the Kunqu Opera "Suoyi·Visiting Dai" from Kunming, Jiangsu Province adheres to the elegant, delicate and exquisite performance style of Nankun style, and the new opera is as old as the old. Shi Xiaming and other Kun Opera masters from the Mesozoic era took the lead, interpreting the Wei and Jin Dynasties with the style of Nan Kun Opera. Another Kunqu opera "Panzhu Ji" by Kunshan Contemporary Kunqu Theater tells the emotional entanglement of Su Shi and the Wang sisters throughout their lives, injecting contemporary aesthetics into tradition, retelling ancient events, and caring for the emotions and growth of contemporary youth.
Experimental Shanghai Opera "If I Were the Number One Scholar" retains the characteristics of Shanghai Opera while incorporating many "modern memes", using creativity to create a light comedy that keeps pace with the times.
Sichuan Opera "Li Hentian·Jian" is a "tragedy and comedy" work with a sense of absurdity. It inherits the tradition of Sichuan Opera, combines the essence of traditional opera, and gives the work new era ideas and artistic expressions.
Liyuan Opera "Cyberpunk" combines the elegant ancient charm of Liyuan Opera with the trendy cyberpunk mechanical style, demonstrating that Liyuan Opera can be "the most classical or the most modern" in a new space.Fujian opera "Silver Zheng Broken" brings to the stage for the first time the story of Lin Xu, a talented man from a poor family and one of the "Six Gentlemen of 1898" who was almost forgotten by history, and Shen Queying, a patriotic talented woman, and expresses the "Reform of 1898" from their life and death love experiences.
The tin opera "Red Bean" pursues an elegant, quiet, poetic and ethereal artistic style through the joys and sorrows of Zhao Ming Prince Xiao Tong and the nun Hui Ru, and explores the creation and staging style of small theater tin operas.
Lu Opera "Shan Bo" is an innovation of the traditional Lu Opera. It has a new interpretation of the story of Butterfly Lovers and uses the small theater format to make the plot more interesting.
Wuyin Opera, which first came to Shanghai, comes from Zibo, Shandong Province. It has a history of nearly 400 years and is one of the rare opera types in the country. With its beautiful singing, lively and humorous language, and simple and delicate performances, it is unique among local operas. "Eternal Life" is adapted from the Liaozhai story "Shui Mangcao" and is performed by a younger generation of actors, from which we can see the inheritance and innovation of Wuyin Opera.
It is worth mentioning that among the plays performed this year, three are "Shanghai original" works, and they are all making their debut.
Among them, the Peking Opera "Deer Ming" by the Shanghai Peking Opera Theater is presented with the unique artistic vocabulary of Peking Opera and a stage where reality and reality are intertwined. It reinterprets the story of good and evil being rewarded contained in the "Deer King Jataka" in Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes. and creation. Screenwriter Zhang Chuyin said, "Although the venue for opera performances in the small theater is 'small', this platform is actually inclusive of everything. We hope that through this work, we can introduce the concept of 'parent-child enjoyment' to attract more young people." , teenagers and even children walked into the small theater to understand and love opera."
Kun Opera "East China Sea Bochen" uses a new narrative method to reflect the history of the late Ming Dynasty by shaping the image of Mao Yuanyi. The whole play is performed by the younger generation of Shangkun Opera such as Ni Xuhao, Jia Zhe, Yuan Jia, Zhang Qiancang, etc., with their performances of both civil and military skills, strong and soft, showing the innovative thinking of Kun Opera in small theaters.Director Yu Eunwen has participated in the small theater performances with 4 works in the past 9 years. She said, "This platform provides us with excellent practice opportunities. From the perspective of 'change', the small theater opera performances have witnessed self-exploration." process. From the perspective of 'unchanged', we always maintain a true, solid and down-to-earth creative state, which is an indispensable essence in artistic creation."
Yue Opera "If I'm Not Ji Kang" by Shanghai Yue Theater "Using Ji Kang's story, it triggers thinking about the character, destiny and value of life of intellectuals. It interweaves sorrow and joy, and injects a more modern form and spirit into traditional Yue opera. Co-starring Wang Rousang, Wu Jiayan, Chen Huidi, Cai Yan, Sun Jiawei and others.
It is reported that the "2023 Chinese Small Theater Opera Performance" is co-sponsored by the Chinese Dramatists Association, the Shanghai Federation of Literary and Art Circles, the Shanghai Opera Art Center, the Propaganda Department of the Shanghai Huangpu District Committee of the Communist Party of China, and Wenhui Newspaper Press. Shanghai Drama Co-organized by the National Theater Association and the "Script" magazine of the Chinese Dramatists Association.
In addition to the performances, special seminars will also be held during the selected performances, where experts and scholars and the chief creators of the theater will discuss the sustainable development of Chinese small theater operas.
"The opera performances in Chinese small theaters have a strong youthful color, providing a stage for a large number of young opera talents to 'have a go' and 'explore'." Gu Haohao, Secretary of the Party Committee and President of the Shanghai Opera Art Center, said that experimental pioneers Traditional opera works need to discover their vitality in performance, and Chinese small theater opera performances provide such a platform.
