Beijing News (Reporter Liu Zhen) On April 3, "Spring Peach and Yellow Skin - National Peking Opera Theater 2024 Spring Press Conference" was held at Beijing Mei Lanfang Grand Theater. At the same time, the theater's 2024 annual repertoire creation was released. Key tasks and plans in scheduling, performance broadcasting, and industrial development. Among them, in terms of newly created plays, the modern Peking opera "Old Auntie" and the new historical drama "Return to the Hometown" focus on realistic themes and historical themes; the Peking operas "The Peony Pavilion" and "The History of Women" give classic works a different flavor; the situational concert " "Spring and Autumn" forms a chord of literature and music in the stage performance.
Wang Yong, Director of the National Peking Opera Company, introduced the theater’s 2024 play creation and arrangement plan. Photography Li Chunlai
Wang Yong, director of the National Peking Opera Company, introduced that in recent years, the National Peking Opera Company has further developed the "two aspects" of adapting classic works and classic plays on the basis of adhering to the repertoire policy of "three simultaneous plays" of modern plays, newly adapted historical plays and traditional plays. "Change" thinking, follow the laws of art, respect the laws of ontology, realize the inheritance and development of Peking Opera art through repertoire creation, and respond to the people's expectations with excellent works. We have successively created, transplanted and adapted Peking Opera "Five Girls Pay Birthday", modern Peking Opera "Protagonist", and new He wrote the historical drama "Returning to the Song Dynasty" and revived classic plays such as "The Romance of the West Chamber", "A Strange Wrongful Retribution" and "Xie Yaohuan". In 2023, the National Peking Opera Company performed 316 performances throughout the year, with the number of performances and income hitting record highs. The performance matrix continued to be upgraded, brand awareness was significantly improved, and good social and economic benefits were achieved. In terms of talent training, the "100-day training" initiative was implemented, a "one person, one policy" training plan was developed, and special performances were arranged. Zhang Jiachun, a candidate for leading talent training, won the Plum Blossom Award for "Spring Grass in the Hall".
Among the newly created plays in 2024, the modern Peking Opera "Old Auntie" is based on the 4th National Moral Model and "The Most Beautiful Struggler" Gong Quanzhen. It is jointly produced by the National Peking Opera Theater, Pingxiang Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, Pingxiang Municipal People's Government, Lianhua County Committee of the Communist Party of China, Lotus Co-produced by the County People's Government, written by Chen Yongquan, directed by Yang Xiaoqing, and starring Wang Runjing and Tian Lei, it tells the story of Gong Quanzhen's life story of always maintaining his original mission as a Communist Party member, working hard and conscientiously, teaching and educating people with love, and serving the people.
Poster for the new historical drama "Return to Homeland".
The new historical drama "Return to the Homeland" is jointly produced by the National Peking Opera Company and Urumqi Peking Opera Troupe (Xinjiang Peking Opera Troupe). It shows Zuo Zongtang's arduous recovery of Xinjiang, governed Xinjiang with benevolence, consolidated the people's livelihood, and strived for long-term peace and stability, expressing his profound feelings. Patriotism and love for Xinjiang vividly illustrate the great significance of forging a strong community of the Chinese nation. "The Peony Pavilion" is a representative work of Tang Xianzu, a dramatist and writer of the Ming Dynasty. It has become a milestone in the history of Chinese opera with its timeless artistic charm. "Love never begins but grows deeper." On the basis of retaining the essence of Ming Dynasty legends, the National Peking Opera Company has created a Peking Opera version of "The Peony Pavilion" to interpret classical elegance and achieve a dialogue between traditional aesthetics and contemporary art. "The History of Women" tells the story of Ban Zhao, a historian and writer of the Eastern Han Dynasty who wrote books and history throughout his life and completed the imperial masterpiece. It shows the ancient responsibilities and responsibilities of Chinese literati, explores the contemporary value of China's excellent traditional culture, and interprets the role of Peking Opera in National style and national charm in the cultural context of the new era. The situational concert "Spring and Autumn" selects poems, lyrics, songs, and poems with ideological depth, historical thickness, and aesthetic height, and forms a chord of literature and music in the stage performance. The concert adopts a dramatic split-act system, with spring, summer, autumn and winter as the scenes. The overture and ending are "renewed", using the 24 solar terms and traditional festivals as the sub-themes, reflecting an elegant and fresh artistic style. In terms of
's repertoire, the theater's leading talents and top talent training candidates are starring. Excellent plays such as "Meng Lijun", "Su Xiaomei", "Red Mushroom Lady of the North Country", "The Flower Gun" and "Hate in the Palace of Chu" are full of vitality. Through the frequent performances of classic works and the "pass-on and mentoring" of famous artists, the art of Peking Opera will be passed down from generation to generation.
In order to deeply develop the two major performance brands of "Sound of Spring" and "Rhyme of Autumn", the National Peking Opera Company will launch the 2024 "Sound of Spring" performance season during the "May Day" holiday and the 2024 "Rhyme of Autumn" performance season during the "National Day" holiday. , presenting the quintessence of Chinese Peking Opera to the 75th anniversary of the founding of New China.In addition, the National Peking Opera Company’s “July 1st Celebration” red-themed performance season will debut during the July 1st period, and will stage a number of classic plays praising the Party, the motherland, the people, and the heroes. In September this year, the National Peking Opera Company will once again cooperate with the Xicheng District People's Government to launch the second National Small Theater Peking Opera "Meeting of Heroes", allowing more plays with the qualities of integrity, exploration, experimentation, and innovation to take to the stage and stimulate new vitality. Expand new positions.
In order to commemorate the birthdays of Zhang Chunhua, Cheng Yanqiu, Mei Lanfang and Ye Shenglan, the theater will launch "Wu Yue Chunhua - Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Mr. Zhang Chunhua and the Fourth National Peking Opera Theater" in May, June, October and November respectively. "The first martial arts show", "One process of music, one process of love - a series of performances to commemorate the 120th anniversary of the birth of Mr. Cheng Yanqiu", "Peerless splendor - a series of performances to commemorate the 130th anniversary of the birth of Mr. Mei Lanfang", "Deep roots and luxuriant leaves - to commemorate the 110th anniversary of the birth of Mr. Ye Shenglan" "Anniversary Series Performance" reproduces the classic works of Peking Opera masters, remembers the lofty artistic virtues of the ancestors and inherits the exquisite skills in the performance.
With the support of the Communication and Promotion Funding Project of the National Arts Fund, the "2024 Excellent Peking Opera Repertoire Exhibition" hosted by the National Peking Opera Theater will bring together the outstanding repertoires of Peking Opera troupes from all over the country and carry out the "Invite in + Go Out" model in Beijing Mei Lanfang Grand Theater performance and national tour. The National Peking Opera Company will also take this opportunity to establish a database of outstanding Peking Opera repertoires and create an ecosystem for the coordinated development of Peking Opera troupes across the country. In 2024, the National Peking Opera Company will insist on serving the overall diplomatic situation of the country, continue to promote cultural exchanges with the outside world and with Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and carry out Peking Opera performances and exchange activities in Brazil, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and other countries and regions. While
creative performances are developing in an all-round way, the theater has taken advantage of its artistic resources to create a digital and intelligent art platform and launched the "Mei Lanfang Grand Theater Live Theater". With the "Twenty-Four Solar Terms" as its logo, 24 Peking Opera plays have been launched to meet the needs of online audiences. Meet the audience’s aesthetic needs.
editor, Huang Jialing
proofreader, Chen Diyan
