Beijing News (Journalist Exhibition Sheng Sheng) "To survive or not to perish, this is a question worth considering." On the evening of August 16, another small theater production "Hamlet" by the Beijing People's Art Theater held its premiere on the stage of the China Millennium Monument Theater. The performance will continue on the 17th and 18th. The small theater brings an immersive performance experience to the audience and further enhances interactivity. During the performance, young actors on the stage asked questions from the audience from time to time, and their witty and humorous expressions made the ancient works rejuvenate.
It is reported that the joint cooperation between Beijing Gehua Cultural Center and Beijing People’s Art Theater aims to enrich the cultural content in the western part of Beijing city and create a new consumption scene integrating culture and tourism.
In the more than four hundred years since Shakespeare wrote "Hamlet", a prince's revenge story has been told countless times in different cultures. The phrase "to be or not to be" has been given a different meaning in different contexts. Countless meanings. "Hamlet" has become a symbol and a symbol, entrusting the deep thoughts and expectations of readers and audiences.
The Beijing People's Art Theater "Hamlet" is staged at the China Millennium Monument Theater with Dean Feng Yuanzheng as the artistic director, Yang Jiayin as the director, and actors Wei Jiacheng, Zhang Yezi, Wang Junqi and Fang Yangfei co-starring. As Shakespeare's world-famous work, Beijing People's Art Theater takes exploration and innovation as its main pursuit when reinterpreting "Hamlet". The stage presentation full of metaphors and symbols allows the audience to see the modern side of the classic play and also brings a lot of thinking.
Beijing People's Art Theater production "Hamlet" performance scene. Photographed by Beijing News reporter Pu Feng
The drama went to Macau in April this year to participate in the "Fourth Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Chinese Drama Culture Festival" and received high praise from Macau audiences. The youthful cast, creative interpretation, and interesting interactions make this ancient work closely connected with the current audience.
Hu Wei, professor of the Department of Drama Literature at the Central Academy of Drama, commented on the play: "The strategy followed in this Beijing People's Art Youth Edition rearrangement of classics is intended to closely adhere to the essence of the original work while showing its own artistic independence. It attempts to use the current situation The eyes of young people re-examine Hamlet's inner hesitation and struggle, and give him the courage to find a way out, and use his own personalized expression to dialogue with the original work. "
The play explores and interprets Shakespeare's original work in a new way. In the text with a strong classical flavor, the complex is eliminated and simplified, the dramatic and poetic expression is explored from the complexity, the moment of soul connection is sought from the characters, and from seeing "others" to seeing "self". In the eyes of a thousand people, there are a thousand Hamlets. As Dean Feng Yuanzheng, the artistic director of the play, said: "A Hamlet full of youthful tension, young actors talk to Shakespeare in their own way. Youth is not impossible. It's great to be young!"
It is worth mentioning that, The four actors who appeared in the play each played multiple roles and assumed many roles. On the stage, there is Prince Hamlet who has a sense of life, Ophelia who is emotionally delicate and the queen who is full of contradictions, King Claudius who is struggling in his heart and funny actors, and father and son Polonius and Laertes who have their own missions. These role transformations do not rely on external costumes, but are completed through a symbolic prop in the actor's hand, or a turn or head in the actor's actions. The audience can be brought into new characters through the emotional changes of the actors on stage.
editor, Liu Mengjie
proofreader, Fu Chunmin
