Beijing News (Reporter Liu Zhen) On July 25, the National Center for the Performing Arts' original children's opera "Afanti: The True and False Afanti" had its premiere. The catchy melody and colorful stage were lively and interesting. The story line brings a night of fun to the children. The play is not only the sequel to the previous hit children's opera "Avanti", but also serves as the opening play of the 2024 National Center for the Performing Arts International Children's Theater Season, kicking off a series of rich children's performances.
The National Center for the Performing Arts’ original children’s opera “Afanti: The True and False Afanti” premiered. Photography: Wang Xiaojing
As the overture played, Avanti, played by Wang Hongwei, sang "I'll ride the donkey backwards" and came to the stage relaxedly and happily. He heard that the people of Sun City were having a hard time and wanted to go see it. look. The little donkey, played by Major, tells him bad news: there is a bad guy in Sun City pretending to be Avanti.
Sun City is dreamy and beautiful, but the people are sad. They sing the melancholy song "Sun City, Sun City". It turned out that the king imposed excessive taxes and heavy taxes, and they could only barely make ends meet through hard work. At this time, the king's messenger came to everyone with a portrait and asked Afanti to join the palace as a tax officer. Parida, played by Wang Ziyin, was worried about her sick mother and was so sad that she cried. But unfortunately, she met the fake Afanti played by Guan Chijing. This bad guy only wanted to defraud money from the poor. Liang Yufeng plays the role of a little donkey who has suffered a lot of grievances with the fake Afanti, and uses the song "There is no master worse than you" to expose the master's crimes. The fake Avanti defrauded Parida of her silk, and the poor girl was still waiting for the money from selling the silk to treat her mother's illness.
The costumes of the characters are exaggerated and cute, full of cartoon feel. Photography: Wang Xiaojing
When the real Afanti arrived, the angry people regarded him as a liar and refused to let him leave. The wise Afanti thought of a good way to spread the news that he was going to join the palace as a tax officer, so as to attract the fake Afanti. The common people sang "This is a absolutely true news" and spread it to ten, and the bad guys took the bait. When two Afanti and two little donkeys met for the first time, it was like looking into a mirror. A duet here sings out the different psychological activities of the two people, and the two little donkeys are also secretly competing. Afanti used a clever trick to expose the counterfeit in front of the people.
The music of this drama adheres to the creative concepts of "nationality", "audibility" and "interestingness", and uses a large number of speed and rhythm changes, combined with ethnic minority instruments, to lead the audience to appreciate the beauty of national music. The costumes of the characters are exaggerated and cute, full of cartoon feel, and the stage scenery is colorful while retaining national characteristics, creating a dreamy fairy tale country. The citizens of Sun City played by members of the NCPA Chorus are full of emotions and sing out the joys, sorrows and joys of life, which has become a highlight of this performance. Conductor King Kong and the Beijing Symphony Orchestra escorted the musical presentation of the show. The children enjoyed the performance and even hummed a few words after leaving the theater.
sang the "emotions, sorrows and joys" of life with his singing voice, which became a highlight of this performance. Photography: Wang Xiaojing
This round of "Afanti: The True and False Afanti" will be performed until July 28. Tomorrow night, Jin Zhengjian, Wang Hexiang, Li Junxian, Sun Shibo, Chen Yingzhu, Fan Rong and others will take over the performance. Continue to bring joy to children. From August 2nd to 4th, this play will also go to the Beijing Art Center, the "Cultural Granary" on the bank of the Grand Canal, to light up the children's summer vacation with beautiful singing.
editor, Wu Longzhen
proofreader, Wang Xin
