For a play to be performed smoothly, costume management is particularly important. You have to race against time to change clothes and appear on the stage appropriately. Costumes are an image project, and you cannot make mistakes or mess them up. If you make mistakes while busy a

Stills from "The Decisive Battle of Tiance Mansion".

"The Decisive Battle at Tiance Mansion" is the first "online game + Cantonese opera" experimental drama.

Stills of the Cantonese opera "Zhang Jiuling".

For a play to be performed smoothly, costume management is particularly important. You must race against time to change clothes and appear on the stage appropriately. Clothing is an image project, and you cannot make mistakes or mess it up. If you make mistakes while busy and the costumes are missing, it will affect the quality of the play.

Therefore, the importance of the costume artist is self-evident. Although the costumers behind the scenes are not in front of the stage, they are always attached to the stage invisibly.

Recently, Nandu Entertainment launched the "Behind the Scenes" series of special topics, in-depth interviews with representatives of behind-the-scenes work in the entertainment industry. Nandu reporters interviewed Qin Zhili, the head of the costume team of the Guangdong Cantonese Theater. He is a senior costume designer with 30 years of experience.

In 1985, when Qin Zhili entered the society after finishing his studies, he was introduced to work in the props team of the Guangdong Cantonese Opera Theatre. He managed the props for almost ten years, and then transferred to the costume team to learn costume design from Master Qiu Xuemei, a senior of the Cantonese Opera Theatre. He was also responsible for the management and maintenance of costumes, and he worked there for 30 years.

Along the way, he has designed various large and small costumes for different Cantonese opera productions. He usually designs new versions of practical costumes for traditional Cantonese operas such as "Dongting Love". He has also boldly and innovatively participated in "The Decisive Battle". Costume design for new Cantonese operas such as "Mansion". Generally speaking, a play needs to design at least ten sets of costumes, as many as fifty or sixty sets, and there must be more than a hundred sets. "The Legend of Dongting" is a new classic play that the famous Cantonese opera artist Ding Fan has re-performed in recent years based on the representative play "The Legend of Liu Yi" by Law Jiabao, the founder of Cantonese opera "Xiaqiang". It has been performed for decades; "The Decisive Battle at Tiance Mansion" is directed by Produced jointly by the Guangdong Cantonese Theater and the "Sword 3" team, it is a new experimental drama that combines "online games + Cantonese opera".

Stills from "The Decisive Battle of Tiance Mansion".

Due to his rich experience in costume design and unique insights, Qin Zhili is quite influential in the industry. In 2017, the Guangzhou Library collaborated with the Guangdong Cantonese Theater to hold a "Cantonese Opera Knowledge Lecture", and Qin Zhili was invited as a guest speaker to explain "Cantonese Opera Costumes". In January 2021, he was also invited as an expert to write for the costume section of the "Cantonese Opera Performing Arts Encyclopedia". In April of the same year, he was commissioned by the Guangdong Cantonese Opera Theater to write relevant entries in the costume chapter of the "Cantonese Opera Special Topic" in the third edition of the "Encyclopedia of China".

After an in-depth chat with this senior costume designer, the reporter found that the calmness and elegance on the stage were actually "driven" by many people in the audience.

I first met Qin Zhili on June 20, 2023, the night before the premiere of the Cantonese opera "Zhang Jiuling". The troupe organized media people and theater fans to watch the rehearsal of the opera with makeup. Invited by a friend, the reporter came to the Guangdong Cantonese Opera Art Center more than an hour early. In the behind-the-scenes space behind the stage, he saw many busy workers, including directors, piano players, makeup artists, stage managers, etc.

At that time, the big play was approaching, and the stage manager in charge of the show held a walkie-talkie and eagerly urged the actors and behind-the-scenes workers to get into their positions. There is a narrow aisle in the behind-the-scenes space. It may seem a bit messy at first glance, but it is orderly in the chaos. Not only the costumes are placed neatly, but also the placement of other props is also very particular.

At this time, Qin Zhili happened to be concentrating on playing with a costume on a square table.

As a senior Cantonese opera costume artist, Qin Zhili has been working in this industry for 30 years. "This year is exactly 30 years!" He said that there are many staff in front and behind the scenes of a performance, which can be roughly divided into six departments: lighting, scenery, makeup, props, sound, and costumes. In the costume group, he is responsible for Design and manage these costumes.

For a Cantonese opera, costumes are the soul of the opera. Their styles, colors, and patterns all have their own symbolic meanings. Qin Zhili said that costumers not only need to cooperate with the drama to design outfits that can show the identity and personality characteristics of the characters, but also need to understand the characteristics of drama and opera culture, and try to embed the institutionalized characteristics of traditional Chinese costumes into it as much as possible, and Try to make it the highlight of the drama.

This requires costumers to have "a smart mind and skillful hands."In Qin Zhili's view, making costumes also has its own construction period, and it also requires slow work and meticulous work. But the reality is that the costumes of many dramas are often very urgent. From the idea of ​​​​rehearsing the drama, to polishing the script, to casting the actors, time is very tight, and there is not much time left for "costumes and props". many. Even if a skilled craftsman draws costume samples, he will often be rushed to meet deadlines.

When it comes to "rushing", Qin Zhili feels deeply. In fact, after the script is rushed out, the costumes will be required to enter the "rushing" state immediately.

"The Decisive Battle at Tiance Mansion" is the first "online game + Cantonese opera" experimental drama.

Qin Zhili told reporters that the most impressive and urgent time for him was designing costumes for "The Battle of Tiance Mansion". This is the world's first "online game + Cantonese opera" experimental drama jointly produced by the Guangdong Cantonese Opera Theater and the "Sword 3" team. It won the "2015 Chinese Traditional Opera Box Office" and "2015 China New Traditional Opera Box Office". 1. It is one of the best stage operas at the box office in the country in the past 20 years.

Because "Sword 3" is a relatively mature game, each major character has its own stable appearance and clothing accessories, but the game costumes are not completely suitable for the stage performances of Cantonese opera actors. How can we design costumes that are not out of touch with the game but also bring out the charm of Cantonese opera? This type of cross-border innovation is very difficult, and the costume design challenges are not small, and the task is urgent. Qin Zhili, a simple and down-to-earth man, led a small team of less than ten people to take over the job without saying a word. They first studied the script and then became familiar with the game. While digesting the content of the script and the game, they also rushed to make costume samples based on the actors' appearance characteristics. "We break down the costumes of each character, because animation is drawn by computer, and it is basically seamless. There is no need to design where to open and where to connect. But when it comes to the stage, if you want to make clothes for real people to wear, you have to design them. Where to separate and where to connect. Without changing the original style, every detail needs to be carefully studied."

In the end, Qin Zhili took the team more than ten days to complete the painting. Costume patterns needed for the play. "The decomposition drawings are prepared, matched with colors, and then the drawings are taken to the clothing factory to select materials, and then go to the clothing workshop to follow the tailor master to make the machine." He said with a smile that he had completed the difficult challenge and achieved something that no one else had done. Well, he was quite satisfied with his costume design this time. "The whole process was really completed in one go, and I feel a sense of accomplishment."

Traditional Cantonese opera costumes are very particular, mainly divided into python, rely on, Haiqing, small costume, and Peifeng , sea length and other categories. The python is similar to the official dress of the imperial court. It is the dress for formal occasions used by princes, generals, concubines and ministers in the play; the robe, also known as the "armor", is the robe used by male and female generals in combat situations; the "haiqing" is suitable for The poor, the rich and the noble, and the martial arts wear them. Small costumes suitable for young ladies. "Pei Feng" refers to the daily casual clothes worn by princes, generals, ministers and other officials in the play; "Haichang" generally refers to the daily casual clothes worn by male characters with martial arts or power.

Different from ordinary costume designers, costume designers tailor clothes to suit the needs and also need to know various knowledge of traditional Cantonese opera costumes. It can be said that these are also the basic skills of drawing and pattern making. In fact, for theater costumers, in addition to drawing costume styles, managing costumes and cooperating with performances to help actors quickly change makeup and costumes is also an important job.

Compared with designing costumes, managing costumes is more daily and trivial.

Take "Zhang Jiuling" as an example. Although Qin Zhili did not design the costumes of this Cantonese opera, he is responsible for managing the costumes and needs to assign costumes to the actors before they perform. "This play has more than fifty or sixty sets of costumes. Maybe the protagonist alone will have seven or eight sets. For example, how many sets of clothes are there for each person in a play? How to place them and how to wear them can make the actors change scenes. To be able to dress quickly and well at the same time, you need to have good clothing management order and straighten them out step by step."Qin Zhili's sharing suddenly brought the reporter back to the scene when the two first met.

Stills of the Cantonese opera "Zhang Jiuling".

On the stage, the Cantonese opera "Zhang Jiuling" was being performed. After the scene, the actors walked backstage, busy preparing for the next scene. Different from the leisurely dressing up on stage, off stage, the time given by the director to change is usually only 10 to 15 seconds. Some actors have to change from head to toe. Which one to wear first, pants or shoes? Qin Zhili will arrange them in advance and arrange them one by one in order.

He said that sometimes when the clothes are complicated, he will also study how to make them simple. Although dressing work is simple, time waits for no one. In order to make it faster, he has also tried many methods. For example, in order to make two or three pieces of clothing wear together, he will sew them together so that they can be worn at one time. Put them on; or replace the hard-to-unbutton buttons with Velcro or zippers.

"The director counts his time in seconds, so we must change his clothes as soon as he comes in." The steps should be organized step by step. "During the interview, Qin Zhili also shared some behind-the-scenes stories of dramas. For example, what should you do if an actor gets stuck in the dressing process and fails to meet the director's requirements, or can't catch up on time? At this time, the stage manager will remind the band When the audience doesn't pay attention, the music is lengthened.

These small episodes may not sound perfect at first, but judging from the presentation of a play, the off-screen episodes superimposed on the stage drama are also very interesting, which just proves it. That sentence: Every piece of chain and every screw is not simple, they are all interconnected.

The work of the costume artist is relatively simple and not mysterious. It only takes a few words to finish. But Qin Zhili chatted with the reporter for a whole afternoon, and what he talked about more was not his job as a costume designer, but his love for Cantonese opera.

He has been doing this job for decades. , he has witnessed the ups and downs of Cantonese opera, seen its peak moments, and its decline and decline, and accompanied it through the valleys and peaks.

As a Cantonese opera, Cantonese opera. It has a history of hundreds of years. On September 30, 2009, Guangdong Cantonese Opera was included in the "Representative List of Human Intangible Cultural Heritage" by UNESCO, becoming the first world-class intangible cultural heritage in the Lingnan region, even earlier than the Chinese Opera and Peking Opera. One year.

According to Qin Zhili, when he first entered the industry, it coincided with the peak period of the development of Cantonese opera. The Cantonese Opera Theater had four theaters in the Cultural Park. “There were no other entertainment activities at that time, and people often went to the Cultural Park to watch Cantonese opera. There are performances every night in the four theaters, and the same play is performed every week, but the audience is full every week. "

Later, the economy developed better and better, and there were more and more entertainment activities such as TV series, movies, and plays, which had an increasing impact on stage dramas. The Cantonese Theater also began to fall into a crisis of survival. Qin Zhili's Provincial Cantonese Theater also From the original four troupes in its heyday, it was merged into three troupes, and later it was directly changed into two troupes.

Fortunately, the mass base of Cantonese opera has always been good, with many fans, and Cantonese opera people have been very diligent in order to survive this downturn. During this period, they began to try to go out to perform more and send their plays to places where they like to watch plays. They have traveled through the Pearl River Delta and also visited mountainous areas in western and northern Guangdong, such as Dianbai and Wuchuan. They would often go there. Tour.

In Qin Zhili’s mind, “There is no off-season for Cantonese opera in Guangdong.” Although it has its prosperity and its dangers, Cantonese opera has always been a very important symbol of Lingnan culture. Wherever there are Chinese people, there is Cantonese opera. This is why it is so popular among different age groups. People with different backgrounds like Lingnan culture because it has its own unique characteristics. The people here are honest and simple, and the culture here is inclusive, which has given birth to Cantonese opera people who can absorb, learn from and learn from other art forms both inside and outside the theater. Used by oneself.

"This is the most charming thing about Cantonese opera. It has been constantly developing and innovating in the wave of history, and it has today's wonderful artistic style." During the interview, Qin Zhili also mentioned the Cantonese opera movie "White Snake: Love" and " The innovative creation of "Mrs. Qiao Guo". He said that he is a costume master and a Cantonese opera person. Cantonese opera people have always been on the road of exploration. The theater is always seeking innovation and change, and the costumes are the same. Sometimes, a little change is made to make the opera like more people and make the opera more popular. The play goes more smoothly, which is also a very fulfilling thing.

In addition, Qin Zhili also mentioned hidden worries about the inheritance and development of the opera industry. Take the costume industry he is engaged in as an example. Because managing costumes is one of the more laborious and cumbersome of the stage departments, no one is willing to learn it or do it. Every theater troupe faces this kind of situation. He said that the scarcity of talents has always been a problem that plagues the inheritance of opera. It is not just costumers and Cantonese opera. The entire opera industry is facing a difficult situation of talent shortage and lack of talent. If this problem is not handled well, it will also affect the inheritance and development of opera.

"Everyone in the audience walks by, but the old color is gone", as "Red Ling" sings, "When the play breaks, the sleeves rise and fall, singing joys and sorrows, and separation, it has nothing to do with me, the fans open and close, the gongs and drums sound and then fall silent, the emotion in the play Outsiders, who can tell?" The lyrics and music sang about the opera's "fire burning mountains and rivers", but what touched Qin Zhili was the diverse life paths in and out of the opera, with different highlights on and off the stage.

In Qin Zhili’s heart, he lives a simple and simple life, and keeps his clothes and shoes off the stage. When he is free, he retreats to the teahouse, “a cup of two things, drinking tea and watching a show”. He lives a simple life and does this one thing well in his life. That's enough, beautiful and simple.

Written by: Nandu reporter Wu Fengsi

Pictures: provided by the interviewee