During this year’s National Day, the Shanghai Opera Art Center launched the seven-day National Day performance season of “The Rhythm and Fragrance of Drama”. During the National Day holiday, more than 40 performances of 9 operas by six opera troupes will be performed at Tianchan

During this year’s National Day, the Shanghai Opera Art Center launched the seven-day National Day performance season of “The Rhythm and Fragrance of Drama”. During the National Day holiday, more than 40 performances of 9 operas by six opera troupes will be performed at Tianchan Yifu Stage and Wanping Theater. There is also a brand series of resident performances "Beijing and Kunming Heroes Meeting", which gathers Beijing and Kunming famous artists and traditional famous actors. There are also two popular dramas, Huai Opera "Fire" and Shanghai Opera "Chen Yi in Shanghai".

Among them, the Huai opera "Fire" will be performed at Wanping Theater on October 1st and 2nd. The play is based on the three workers' armed uprisings that took place in Shanghai from 1926 to 1927. It depicts the working class uniting to fight bravely, sowing the revolutionary fire and opening a new chapter for the Chinese Communist Party to independently lead the revolutionary struggle and seize power with arms. The audience saw not only the twists and turns of struggle in the revolutionary era, but also the hard-won process of giving birth to a new life for the great motherland. It is particularly meaningful to review this period of history at this special moment of the 75th anniversary of the founding of New China.

html On September 13, starting from the 1908 Granary No. 8 Bridge Art Space by the Suzhou River, the Shanghai Huai Opera Troupe planned a unique and innovative Shanghai red-themed citywalk.

908 Granary No. 8 Bridge Art Space

908 Granary, this century-old building that was once the second warehouse of China Commercial Bank and later became Du Yuesheng’s private granary, has now become a landmark art space on the banks of the Suzhou River. Starting from here, we go to the former site of Shanghai Chongwentang Printing Bureau, the first printing agency founded by the Communist Party of China in Shanghai, and then to the former site of the Fire Fighting Bell near Xiaonanmen. These are all scenes that appear in the play. It also carries the historical memory of the revolutionary struggle in the city of Shanghai. Although things and people have changed, we can vaguely trace that history.

After the ruins of the Guohua Printing Office (Chongwentang Printing Bureau)

, we walked along the Bund to experience the great changes in the past and present on both sides of the Huangpu River, and all the way to the Sanshan Guild Hall in Shanghai South City, where the third armed uprising of Shanghai workers was carried out and workers of the Shanghai Federation of Trade Unions were picketed The headquarters of Teamnan City is located here. The audience followed these urban memories of Shanghai, searched for the past city history, and also experienced multiple plots and scenes in "Tinder". The red memory of Shanghai was reawakened during this short visit.

Shanghai Sanshan Guild Hall

The last stop of this trip is the former site of Xiao Wenyan of the Shanghai Huai Opera Troupe in People's Square, where excerpts of the Huai Opera "Fire" were performed. The route we just walked also connects the plot. At the Chongwentang Printing Office, the workers in the play secretly gathered here after get off work to learn literacy and revolutionary principles from a Communist named "Qiu Dan"; the sound of the fire-fighting bell ignited the fighting spirit of the entire Shanghai working class; As a hidden revolutionary command center, the Sanshan Guild Hall gathers workers from all over Shanghai, where they wait for the fateful moment...

Stills of Huai Opera "Tinder"

Before the departure of citywalk, including the Party Secretary of Shanghai Opera Art Center, Guests including President Zhang Jie and the creators of the show gathered at the 1908 Granary No. 8 Bridge Art Space for a dialogue.

Conversation scene

Gong Xiaoxiong, director of the Shanghai Huai Opera Troupe and one of the screenwriters of "Tinder", believes that for Huai Opera to gain a foothold in a metropolis like Shanghai, it cannot avoid the issues of transformation and breakthrough. "Faced with the diverse forms of drama in Shanghai today, we need to proactively seek innovation and change. "Fire" is a collective survival breakthrough for us."

To this end, we will create an opera and musical drama and become "Fire". This was an idea from the beginning of the creation of "Tinder". For this purpose, 40 actors were prepared for the whole play. There are a large number of group performances, group singing, and group dancing in the play, showing the group scenes of workers and showing great momentum. On the basis of retaining the stylized performance of opera, it incorporates various elements such as song and dance dramas and musicals.

During the National Day, the Huai Opera "Tinder" will be re-appeared after modification

It is reported that this National Day performance will be the Huai Opera "Tinder" again after modification. Since its premiere at the Shanghai Oriental Art Center in October 2023, the play has been continuously refined and adjusted through expert discussions. In May this year, the Huai Opera "Fire" was staged again at the Wanping Theater Grand Theater.