Beijing News (Reporter Liu Zhen) In 2014, the drama "Red" produced and performed by the National Theater of China and directed by Wang Xiaoying made its debut on the Chinese stage. This play, which won six Tony Awards and is known as the companion piece to "Copenhagen", received a warm response once it was performed and has been deeply loved by the audience for ten years. Now this world classic will return to the Mandarin Pioneer Wisdom Theater from September 25th to 29th. This round of performances will star Yu Yang and He Hongyu, actors from the National Theater of China.
The drama "Red" directed by Wang Xiaoying is about to return to the Mandarin Pioneer Smart Theater.
"Red" is written by the famous American playwright John Logan, and the script was translated by Hu Kaiqi. The play has won six awards including the 2010 Tony Award, the highest award in the American theater industry, including Best Play and Best Director. It is a high-quality work with high ideological level and artistic quality. The play tells the story of Mark Rothko, the master of abstract painting, and a "little worker" who wanted to become a painter. Although there are only two actors in the play, it is a good play with rich connotations and philosophical thoughts.
The story of "Red" takes place in Rothko's Studio at 222 Bowery Street, New York City from 1958 to 1959. Rothko, the master of color who was working on the Seagram murals, hired a young painter named Can as his assistant. Thus, amidst the sound of classical music from the gramophone and surrounded by Rothko's oil paintings, a fierce dialogue about art and society began. The stage is a pure white canvas and blood-red oil paint; the focus of the debate is Rothko's painting art and its social significance. In a coherent ninety minutes, Rothko's tragic fate as an artistic personality and the artist's choices and dilemmas between serious art and commercial entertainment, artistic pursuits and money society were profoundly and vividly presented on the stage.
Stills from the drama "Red", Photo courtesy of China National Theater .
Director Wang Xiaoying also had his own creative pursuits when creating based on John Rogen's script. His pursuit of the presentation of "poetic imagery" refers to his pursuit of exploring more complex and rich emotions and more enlightening philosophical thoughts through dramatic conflicts. As Cassirer said in "On Man", "Art allows us to see the deepest and most diverse movements of the human soul." "Red" is an important poetic image in this work. Director Wang Xiaoying hopes to use a stronger audio-visual effect to intuitively display the life information contained in "red" on the stage. He poured more emotion into the image of Rothko, taking red to the extreme as the ultimate fusion of life and art, and thus created a highly visual, shockingly red ending for this work.
Looking back at today's Chinese society, director Wang Xiaoying believes, "We are also facing the same problem that Rothko faced back then: Should we insist on the purity of art or follow the commercial nature of society? Should we stick to ourselves and pursue profundity, or should we face the public and go towards the future?" Popular? Although there is no right or wrong in this, it reflects the different qualities of art and the different choices of artists. Rothko finally made his own choice, but the road for us to stick to our artistic personality is confusing and long."
Director Wang Xiaoying. Pursue the display of "poetic imagery". Photo courtesy of China National Theater
Mark Rothko is an American abstract painter. He pioneered the color field painting style in the late 1940s, which had a profound influence on American post-World War II abstract expressionist paintings. He created more than 800 oil paintings and 2,000 works on paper throughout his life. He is regarded as the leading painting master of the 20th century. And his legendary experience has also become the creative material of American playwright John Logan. He used the thinking and debate about art between Rothko and his young apprentice Kan as the latitude, allowing the master and the "little worker" to have a sincere dialogue, outspokenness, and collision with each other in the wanton arrangement of colors and the contemplation of creation... Two generations of painters Sometimes he paints with oil paint on the canvas, sometimes he engages in intense Socratic dialogues, leading the audience to appreciate a great artist's philosophical thoughts and psychological struggles about art.
In this round of performances, the legendary painter Mark Rothko and the apprentice Kan are played by actors Yu Yang and He Hongyu of the National Theater of China respectively. Yu Yang is well-known to the public as the actor who played Lin Ruofu in the first and second seasons of "Celebrating More Than Years". Young actor He Hongyu played in "Let's Fall in Love!" Chekhov" and "The Taoist of Virtual Images" have also been recognized by a wide audience.
editor, Wu Longzhen
proofreader, Wang Xin
