With its deep and moving themes, sincere and delicate emotions, and witty and humorous expressions, on August 23, the Beijing People's Art Theater's acclaimed work "Old Fashioned Comedy" once again appeared on the stage of the Cao Yu Theater of the Beijing International Drama Center. This year's performance schedule coincides with the line "Cheers to August" in the play. Li Youbin and Shi Lanya met with the audience in August to spend romantic time in the theater. This round of performances will last until September 6th.
"Old-fashioned Comedy" poster
"Old-fashioned Comedy" was created by the Soviet playwright Albuzhov. With its unique artistic style, it expresses the brilliance of human nature hidden in daily life. As Benzan, the late director of the play, once said, this play has "a grandeur hidden beneath the plainness." With a profound historical background, the work tells the story of Rogion and Ligia, two elderly people who had experienced the trauma of World War II, who met in a nursing home and collided with each other to create "the light of life and the fire of love." The two actors in the play have a total of nine scenes, telling the story of the two people's spiritual collision and mutual communication layer by layer. "The beauty of love in the play ignites people's hope, and also explores the richness of life in love." Actors Li Youbin and Shi Lanya said, "Such a theme can transcend time and space and warm us today."
Performance stills (photo by Li Chunguang)
According to reports, the play premiered in 2019 and was upgraded from the Experimental Theater to the Caoyu Theater in 2022. In 2023, it made its first appearance out of Beijing at the Shanghai International Theater Festival, and was selected second place with the highest number of audience votes. The 12th China Shanghai International Arts Festival Influence Index Award Winner List. Over the past few years, the reputation of this work has continued to increase, and it has received enthusiastic support from audiences in Beijing and Shanghai. The audience's enthusiasm for the new round of performances continued unabated, and all tickets were sold out before the show started. Since
was staged, this play has received a large number of comments from the audience - "Two actors, nine acts, and a simple set, vividly show two old people with different personalities but the same loneliness, from the budding to the development of this twilight love. After reading it, I didn't feel boring at all, but it was very interesting. I felt warm and warm. It's never too late to fall in love. "The rhythm of the nine-act drama is clearer, based on the details of life, interspersed with the fate of the times, but the character performance is very restrained. It's full of poetry. "I like the texture of the whole play. The restrained expression is full of strong emotions. The pain of war and the lost feelings are expressed lightly and forbearing in the words, which is particularly delicate." They each expressed their love for the works from different perspectives.
"This year is already the fifth round of performances of "Old Fashioned Comedy". At the end of the performance round at Cao Yu Theater last year, Lao Li and I calculated that it was the 65th performance." Shi Lanya told The Paper. Famous for her role as Tang Xiaofu in the TV series "Fortress Besieged", Shi Lanya joined Beijing People's Arts in the early 1990s. When talking about how to bring her husband, the well-known actor Li Youbin, into the creative atmosphere of the theater, so as to achieve "a good fit" in the arts, Shi Lanya smiled and said that she was not worried. "Actually, our family, Mr. Li, was originally a drama actor. He played many roles in the Changchun Repertory Theater in the 1970s and 1980s. Later, he was 'electrically shocked' and began to act in movies and TV series. He has always cherished good drama works. There is a yearning."
Li Youbin plays Luo Jiang and Shi Lanya plays Ligia.
"Old-fashioned Comedy" is a two-hour and fifteen-minute play, but there are only two characters on the stage. Li Youbin and Shi Lanya have to play the whole show without leaving the scene. The whole audience. "Yes, this drama not only requires intense emotions, but is also a test of physical strength for both of us. Lao Li usually likes swimming, and I like jogging and walking." Shi Lanya said that we are husband and wife, and there is no need to mention the tacit understanding on stage, but to In the play, two old people are portrayed from not knowing each other to secretly falling in love, and they also have arguments in the rehearsal field. "Before each performance, half a month in advance, we will review the lines at home. When we arrive at the rehearsal hall, we sometimes have different opinions on how to deal with some details. We remind each other that we are anxious, and we will also argue.It’s all for the good of this drama. I hope that every performance can be improved, and some new insights can be injected into it, so as to continue to dig deeper into the psychological level of the characters. "
After further adjustments to the stage lighting and other dance elements last year, "Old-Fashioned Comedy" will undoubtedly pay more attention to polishing the details in the face of this year's new round of performances. "After the play is familiar, the actors still have to calm down. Be more relaxed, focus on communication with your opponents, and reflect this change in every detail. "Starring Li Youbin said that this year's performance will still carefully sort out the historical background behind the characters, put the characters' experiences into the historical background, and truly get into the characters' hearts.
Performance stills
""Old-Fashioned Comedy" was previously a small theater The play was performed in the Grand Theater last year, so adjustments must be made to the audience-performing relationship. "Rehearsal director Tang Ye told The Paper that the audience will see corresponding changes in the proportion and scale of the two actors' performances. "The scheduling of the small theater is basically horizontal, and the depth space of Cao Yu Theater is not small. , so the vision and level of the stage should be expanded in front and back scheduling. For example, in the scene where Logion and Lygia meet under the bus station sign, we moved the actors' performance area forward. For this reason, the orchestra pit in front of the stage had to be lowered by 25 centimeters to allow the audience to process the actors' subtle performances. See more clearly. "
" Another aspect is the understanding of this play. Albuzhov wrote this play to reflect the emotional healing of two old people who had experienced war trauma after World War II. When we rehearsed it in 2019, we did not define it as a healing play. Everyone has experienced a lot in these years, and their mood will change accordingly. Some of the lines in this play, such as Luo Jiang saying that he was a surgeon during the war, seem ordinary. Teacher Li Youbin may not have any special feeling when he originally said this line, but his current handling of it is It will also show the sadness of a tough guy. "Tang Ye said.
