A father and daughter who have severed their relationship, a choice between love and family. Yanghua's annual drama production "How Are You" recently concluded at the National Center for the Performing Arts. The play is written by Wan Fang, directed by Wang Keran and Zhang Rui, and stars Tao Hui, Li Zonglei and Fan Yinshan. The whole play focuses on three groups of daily relationships: father and daughter, husband and wife and son-in-law. In an exclusive interview with a reporter from the Beijing News, Tao Hui said that although "How Are You" is her first stage play, she has benefited a lot from it. In her opinion, stage plays are real nourishment for actors, "As a Actors should practice their own practice on stage regularly."
Tao Hui plays the heroine He Zhuo.
Character: "Love Brain" is an overly simple and crude interpretation of this character
Beijing News: In the play, the heroine He Zhuo does not put career and self-realization first, and has been maintaining a stalemate in marriage for so many years. Life, to use a current popular word, is a bit "love-brained". What do you think of this character?
Tao Hui: The word "love brain", at first I thought it was a derogatory term, used to describe a girl who is so irrational that she makes decisions subjectively. But in fact, sometimes people who are good enough and confident enough will make many judgments very subjectively, although looking back many years later, the judgments made at the time may not be correct. In fact, He Zhuo was extremely confident. Under this premise, she chose love. It was the life she wanted at that time, and she was not just in love. "Love Brain" is an overly simplistic and crude interpretation of this character.
Beijing News: In your opinion, the reason why He Zhuo's husband "Dayu" is always in a "love-minded" state is because the fulcrum of this character is the recognition of "love" from the outside world before he can realize himself. A person of value?
Tao Hui: I think he was in this state at the beginning, but as time went by, he got used to it and no longer needed recognition from the outside world. He actually doesn't realize that his moral bottom line is different from others. He feels that he is very sincere, but everything has a time limit and a shelf life, so when He Zhuo was 20 years old, the words Dayu said in courtship may have expired after 20 years of marriage.
Beijing News: But in more than ten years of marriage, He Zhuo was not completely unaware of what kind of person her husband was. Why did she endure it until the end?
Tao Hui: He Zhuo is addicted and dependent on this relationship. In their relationship as husband and wife over the past ten years, she must have had a side that enjoyed it very much, whether it was material enjoyment or the fact that her husband gave her enough emotional value and care. And most of the time, He Zhuo feels that her choice is the right one, and she lives in a world she has built. Later, she gradually felt that something was wrong. The fact that they still had no children might be a trigger, and their love did not last. Then her husband's scandal began to come to light, and various problems surfaced. Until the death of her father, everything... He Zhuo's own worldview collapsed, and she suddenly returned to reality.
Tao Hui said that He Zhuo was addicted and dependent on this relationship.
Beijing News: He Zhuo finally made up his mind to divorce and get out of this marriage. What was the lowest motivation in his heart?
Tao Hui: One of the very important underlying motives of is the death of her father. When she was a child, she used her father as her support. After graduating from school, she got married, and then she used her husband as her support. She was like a canary, living from one cage to another. Suddenly, she realized that no matter what kind of framework she was in, she was not living for herself. It was the framework built for her by others. In fact, it wasn't her husband's cheating, nor was it a small incident. It was just a moment that made her realize. She discovered why she couldn't be her most important support and always had to rely on others.
Beijing News: He Zhuo has undergone a "quantitative change to a qualitative change". Have you figured it out at once?
Tao Hui: I think it is .And I felt like at that moment, she had no complaints against anyone or anything.
Original intention: There is a feeling of returning to the original dream
Beijing News: When you got the script of "How Are You", did you feel it was challenging or difficult?
Tao Hui: I think there is a lot of interest in . My major in college was drama performance. At this time, there was such a good stage play, such a good character, and such a good creative team. I thought it was just the right opportunity. After graduating from college, I have not been on stage again, so I have always wanted to act in a stage play, which seems to have fulfilled one of my wishes. After returning to the stage, I feel like I have returned to my original dream.
Tao Hui has always wanted to act in a stage play.
Beijing News: From the initial receipt of the script to rehearsals to the final performance at the Grand Theater, has your understanding of the character He Zhuo changed or adjusted?
Tao Hui: There are many stages of , and there have been many explorations including the performance processing method. This is also one of the great charms of drama. We used many methods to collide with different actors, and the chemical reactions were also different. I also tried to shape He Zhuo with many characters and in many ways. Until the version that was finally performed at the National Center for the Performing Arts, I wanted to bring this character to life so that the audience could experience the character's inner state of mind and complexity that the script itself wanted to express.
Beijing News: Where does your biggest challenge come from in your performance?
Tao Hui: The character is very difficult to play. In the first stage, I wanted to portray it from the outside, but later on it just sank. When I performed at the National Center for the Performing Arts this time, I just threw away all external things. I was especially afraid that my extra performance and design would affect the character itself. So my performance at the National Center for the Performing Arts is a subtraction this time.
Director: He is very good at teaching students according to their aptitude.
Beijing News: During the entire creative process, as a director, did Wang Keran give you some help and inspiration?
Tao Hui: He was very helpful. After all, this was my first stage play, so he was the mentor who led me into the stage play. He is very good at teaching students according to their aptitude. I need to figure it out on my own and fully understand it in my mind before I can play this character. It's not like you tell me where to stop and where to raise my eyes to look, then I can act. I know how it is and why it is so. Ke Ran is a very good teacher. He can explain all this to you and make you completely immersed in it. Although this is our first time working together, we have an inexplicable tacit understanding, which is quite rare.
Beijing News: Is there anything that you didn’t particularly understand about this character at the beginning, but Keran helped you straighten it out?
Tao Hui: For example, the relationship between He Zhuo and her husband needs to be dealt with in some subtle ways. I have to play a person who has been married for nearly 20 years. Because I have never been married, I am particularly afraid of distortion when interpreting family relationships and husband-wife relationships. I wasn't particularly worried about He Zhuo during his elementary and middle school years, adolescence, and dating. But what I am very worried about is the situation of a couple who have been married for nearly 20 years and are facing divorce. Nothing can be fake on the stage of a drama. You stand naked on the stage and everyone can see it very clearly. If you are a little fake, the audience can see it. If you are a little bit empty in your heart, the audience can also see it. I believed in my heart that I couldn't perform it, but Keran helped me build up my sense of belief bit by bit and helped me smooth out these relationships.
Tao Hui said that the director helped her build a sense of belief.
Beijing News: Specifically, what kind of inspiration did Keran give you in interpreting the marriage relationship between He Zhuo and Dayu?
Tao Hui: He will talk to me about many other people’s examples. When we were rehearsing, he would tell me a lot of stories, stories that had nothing to do with our script. It’s very interesting, it’s a story about a real couple in real life.In a certain scene, when he was rehearsing a certain line, he would say let’s not talk about the script for now. Let me tell you something else first. The story he told was very useful and inspiring to me.
Performance: Every time you are on stage, you have different feelings and reactions.
Beijing News: In the entire rehearsal and performance, is there any scene that impressed you the most?
Tao Hui: In fact, every performance will have a different chemical reaction. I always believe that real performances cannot be replicated. Every time I am on stage, I will have different feelings and reactions. The more I feel today, the more I will give; the less I feel, the less I will give. Working with other actors is like playing ball, they come and go, the emotions in each scene are different, and the final effect will be completely different.
Beijing News: So you will review the performance every time?
Tao Hui: Yes. If there is something that I think is particularly good, I will definitely tell it when I get to the stage. If I feel bad, I will say so. One day during the performance, Dayu made a finger-snap gesture to He Zhuo. I had a huge reaction at the time. I'm extremely sensitive every moment I'm on stage, and all the senses of touch in my body are open. I believe that Dayu must be caring enough and kind enough to He Zhuo, but he was snapping his fingers in a very loud voice next to me, a bit like he was commanding you, and it was not very respectful. I had a very strong reaction at the time, "How could you do this to me? I can't accept it at all." I thought to myself that if Dayu did this, He Zhuo would have divorced him long ago. This action does not belong to these two characters. Dayu cannot do this to He Zhuo, and He Zhuo cannot accept Dayu's action. I told Li Zonglei frankly as soon as I came down. This is also because our relationship is good enough and we have a tacit understanding.
Stills from "How Are You".
Beijing News: After playing a character who was completely different from yourself, did He Zhuo make you think about some issues that you had not thought about before?
Tao Hui: Of course there is . After playing this play, I have some empathy for men. I can sympathize even more with the responsibilities a man needs to bear as a father and husband among these identities, as well as his complex psychological emotions. After I finished playing "How Are You", I felt more pity for men. Maybe I really am a pure heroine in my heart (laughs).
Beijing News: Your achievement should surprise many people?
Tao Hui: Because this is reverse, you need to put yourself in someone else’s shoes. Sometimes it is necessary to have an overall view in order to control the entire context and rhythm of the performance. I feel that I have a sense of mission. For example, when I am on stage, I need to control the direction of the entire play. Whether the scene is hotter or colder today, I need to adjust the rhythm to be slower or tighter. I have an intuition about how to grasp the rhythm, how to adjust the atmosphere today, and how to breathe together with the audience in the theater. This is really magical.
Creation: Stage plays are real nourishment for actors
Beijing News: In terms of personality, is your own character completely different from He Zhuo?
Tao Hui: Yes, we have two completely different personalities, with different growth environments and experiences. But I think what’s interesting is that because it’s different, you can feel another person’s life, so why not do it, it’s good.
Tao Hui said that her personality is completely different from that of He Zhuo in the play.
Beijing News: Will this "complete difference" make it difficult for you to get into the character at the beginning?
Tao Hui: Because is very different, it is not difficult to enter. If there is a slight resemblance, it will be more difficult to get into the character. When you have completely different experiences and personalities, it’s especially easy to abandon yourself. When creating this character, you don’t think about yourself at all.
Beijing News: In the past, everyone liked Qiong Yao-style heroines who were always chasing love. Nowadays, the more popular heroines seek career development and the realization of self-worth. What do you think of these two heroines?
Tao Hui: There will be a popular trend in every era. Some people think that raising a husband and raising children is the most perfect life, while others think that doing your own career and becoming the heroine of life is the best choice. I think the most important thing is to follow your heart and live according to your own wishes. You will not regret it in 10, 20, 30 or 50 years. This is the most important thing.
Beijing News: Do you want to participate in more stage plays next?
Tao Hui: will definitely work. After playing "How Are You", I felt that I was still suitable for stage plays. Also, I really love stage plays. I think stage plays are real nourishment for actors. As an actor, you should practice your own practice on the stage regularly.
Beijing News reporter Liu Wei
editor Xu Meilin
proofreader Liu Jun
