On the evening of March 23, the Shanghai Dramatic Art Center·Humanity Light Season Play, adapted from the famous writer Sun Ganlu’s Mao Dun Literary Award-winning work and the novel of the same name, will be held at the Shanghai Dramatic Art Center·Art Theater. Come to the premiere. The play is produced by the Shanghai Dramatic Art Center and jointly planned by the Shanghai Hongkou District Culture and Tourism Bureau. It is a 2024 large-scale stage play and work creation funding project of the National Arts Fund, funded by the Lottery Public Welfare Fund - China Welfare Lottery and China Sports Lottery, and the National Art Fund-funded project, Shanghai Cultural Development Foundation Municipal Major Literary Creation Funding Project, 2024 Shanghai Jing'an Modern Drama Valley Opening Show Repertoire.
"A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" is a novel by the famous writer Sun Ganlu. It has won the 11th Mao Dun Literature Award and the "Five One Project" Award. The novel cleverly integrates revolution, espionage, ideals, emotions and other elements, and the plot is coherent. , recreating the turmoil of Shanghai in the 1930s. The story revolves around the unknown heroes fighting on the hidden front, and against the background of the great historical event of the transfer of the Party Central Committee from Shanghai to Ruijin, it depicts a portrait of the brave and fearless Communists and records a thrilling underground struggle. Against the grand background of the times, "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" captures an aspect of social life at that time. From the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month to the eighteenth day of the first lunar month, in just over a month, a group of ordinary people living at that time, for the same purpose, Ideals and beliefs work together to complete a secret plan called "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains".
The drama "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" was adapted from the original work by national first-level screenwriter Zhao Wei, and directed by the famous theater director Wang Xiaoying. Liu Kedong served as the stage designer, Xing Xin served as the lighting designer, Lan Tian served as the composer, and Dong Guiying served as the costume designer. Zhu Chenqi is the props designer, Ding Yi is the sound effects designer, Xu Jinjia is the technical designer, and Xue Chen is the stage manager. In the play, Zhang Ruihan plays Chen Qianli, Han Xiuyi plays Yi Junnian, Ma Yili plays Ling Wen, Feng Hui plays Ye Qinian, and Du Ruoxi plays Ye Tao. Including the above actors, the fifteen actors in this play are all from Shanghai Drama. art Center.
The drama "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" adopts the narrative form and presents a "three-dimensional" novel on the stage. The structure of the novel runs almost throughout the play, and the narrative of the play starts from the first sentence of the novel and continues until the end. In the play, novel reading and dramatic performance are organically combined to produce a special performance effect. At the beginning, actors dressed in modern costumes, holding novels in hand, read "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" on the stage. During the reading process, the actors alternately "entered the play" and became "people in the book" by turns, and began to interpret the plot of the novel. . When the story switches to another perspective, the actors will change their costumes and "act out" and become readers again. This method of expression can bring a strong sense of immersion to the audience, symbolizing that the audience can understand this secret and great history through reading.
In order to realize the rapid conversion between "narration" and "performance", in the stage design, through the combination of virtual and real, multimedia design is used to enhance the atmosphere, focusing on the historical sense of props and the detailed depiction of costumes. The design of the turntable also provides a convenient way for the switching of scenes and the stage. Moving lines provide more flexibility in time and space. In terms of costume design, there are a total of fifty-seven looks in the play. Taking the little Phoenix in the play as an example, from a Cantonese opera actress on the stage to a reader in modern life, the entire makeup change process only takes ten minutes. Finish. In stage performances, actors face difficult challenges. They not only have to connect narrative and performance at the fastest pace, but also quickly complete emotional adjustments when performing their roles, showing the complex emotions and psychological activities of the characters in the book. Director Wang Xiaoying said that the original novel is very distinctive and sentimental, so it must be brought to the stage in a distinctive and sentimental way. I hope this feeling can be conveyed to the audience in this form.
The story of "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" took place in Shanghai in the 1930s. It is not only a history of revolution, but also a chronicle of scenery.Sima Road Food Market, Chinachem Hotel, Zhejiang Grand Theater, Gujiazhai Park...the Shanghai in the novel is fictional and real. The original author Sun Ganlu used real landmarks to restore the style of old Shanghai. In order to better present the urban memory in the original work, in the drama "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains", the audience can feel the scenery and architectural details with urban characteristics; see cheongsams, gowns and other clothing combinations with the characteristics of the times; and hear Shanghai dialect , Yangzhou dialect, Cantonese and other local dialects. At a specific time and external environment, the thinking activities and sublimation of thoughts of the characters in the story will echo the urban style on the stage.
In order to restore the "soul" of the novel, the drama "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" also inherited the literary characteristics of the original work. The literary style of the original work affects the style of script adaptation and stage interpretation. The drama "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" continues the characteristics of the novel's delicate, meticulous and restrained expression, transforming the restrained and implicit "feelings" in the novel into "poetic intentions", focusing on amplifying the specific glory of human nature, and condensing the great and tragic spirit of sacrifice into a scene. A dinner party, a farewell, a hug... On the soundtrack, Shostakovich's Second Waltz runs throughout the play. When it appears as the background music for Chen Qianli and Ye Tao's dance, it makes people feel even more. Revolution is a kind of romance, so revolution plus love is the biggest romance in the hearts of young people of that era. In the last scene of the drama "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains", all the actors alternately recited "An Unsigned Letter" from the original novel against the starry sky background. History and modern times echoed each other between fiction and reality, as the letter said: "Sometimes , I seem to see myself in the dark night. See me looking at you, anywhere in this world, always looking at you, looking at the happy and charming stars in the night sky."
There is this in "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" A secret phrase: "If you open the window and look outside, these people are the country." The country stretches thousands of miles, and the revolutionary faith is passed down from generation to generation. The first round of the drama "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" will be performed at the Shanghai Dramatic Art Center until April 14. April 26 will be the opening play of the 2024 Shanghai Jing'an Modern Drama Valley at the Majestic Theater. In addition, there are more performances about to start, and we look forward to the audience entering the theater and getting closer to this hidden and great history.
Author:
Photography: Zhang Ting Wang Jingcheng Editor: Wang Tianci Editor: Wang Wei
Please indicate the source when reprinting this article.
