A father and daughter who have severed their relationship, a choice between love and family. Yanghua's annual drama production "How Are You" recently concluded at the National Center for the Performing Arts. The play is written by Wan Fang, directed by Wang Keran and Zhang Rui, and stars Tao Hui, Li Zonglei and Fan Yinshan. In an exclusive interview with a reporter from the Beijing News, Wan Fang said that although the play ends with the heroine He Zhuo leaving her troubled marriage, she still has no answer to what He Zhuo will look like after she "runs away".
Director Wang Keran and screenwriter Wan Fang (right) of "How Are You".
was very surprised by director Wang Keran.
The drama "How Are You" focuses on three groups of daily relationships: father and daughter, husband and wife and son-in-law. Through the questioning of "How are you?", the surface of life is revealed. Under the calm water, a series of suspended but sharp contradictions emerge.
On the stage of "How Are You", the combination of three triangular structures changes, forming new spaces from time to time, just like the relationships in the play, which are intimate and sometimes alienated. Regarding the arrangement of time and space and the construction of the narrative in the play, Wan Fang admitted that director Wang Keran surprised him. When he was writing the script, the tone of the play was more realistic, "but Keran made the whole stage more realistic." It has become more agile, and many of the places that should be brightened up and can strongly touch people's hearts are more prominent in Keran's director's version."
On the stage, the combination of the three triangular structures of the devices changes from time to time. Create a new space.
The only thing that can make you feel safe is to be independent.
In the play, He Zhuo, who is both good in character and academics, was raised by his father (Lao He) alone and had high hopes for him. Her father was her guiding light, and she never failed to live up to his expectations. Living like this for many years, until the big star Yu Longqi (Dayu) who "lives for fun" appeared. Young He Zhuo chose love between family and love. His father, who "lives for meaning", was extremely disappointed with this, and the two severed their relationship in the next 18 years. During the long period of transition from daughter to wife, He Zhuo wanted to find opportunities to repair the relationship between father and daughter more than once. After learning that her father was seriously ill, she decided to face the problems from 18 years ago, and finally made up her mind to break up with her philandering husband, hoping to find her strong and independent self again. In Wan Fang's view, the only condition that can make oneself feel safe, whether it is He Zhuo or a woman, is self-reliance, "first of all, material self-reliance, and then spiritual self-reliance."
"How Are You" stills.
Wanfang said that whether you are a woman or a man, as a person, how to live, gain a sense of security, or live out of yourself, these are the topics that she hopes to explore in "How Are You". At the end of the play, the play is based on American poet Walt Whitman's famous work "O Captain!" My captain! 》 as the lyrics, the image of the captain appears in the stage vocabulary in a visual form. "The voyage is over, and our ship has overcome every difficulty." Whether on stage or in life, the "captains" all face the truth of life and still hold their heads high and overcome the difficulties of life.
Wan Fang said that as a drama screenwriter, what he writes about is people and the relationship between people. At the same time, there is a more important relationship, which is the relationship between the dramatist and the audience. All the screenwriters have to do is to make the relationship between the people in the play real, vivid, profound, and emotional, and at the same time have a close connection with the audience.
Wan Fang said that all the screenwriters have to do is to make the relationship between the people in the play real, vivid, profound and emotional, and at the same time have a close connection with the audience.
Dialogue:
The beauty of drama is that it can constantly change
Beijing News: As a screenwriter, after watching the last performance at the National Center for the Performing Arts, do you have any different feelings along the way?
万方: The beauty of drama is that it can constantly change. In particular, as the actor's understanding and experience of the character becomes more and more empathetic, the character will become more and more full-bodied and layered.
Beijing News: When watching a play as an audience in the audience, which scene made a particularly deep impression on you?
万方: When I was watching the final quarrel scene between Lao He and Dayu, Sartre’s words came to mind: Hell is other people. There is really nothing one can do, two individuals cannot truly communicate with each other.
Beijing News: In the play, He Zhuo's husband "Dayu" has always been a playboy, and may also be simply defined as a "scumbag". Why can He Zhuo still maintain this kind of relationship as husband and wife after so many years?
万方: To be honest, this situation is not very rare. Marriage is largely about compromise, a compromise between each other. Especially in "How Are You", their situation is actually a constant compromise on themselves. Many people have standards when they enter society and lead their own lives. It would be great if this standard could be reached upwards, but in fact, standards are often lowered, and the process of lowering is a process of compromise.
In "How Are You", the situation between He Zhuo and her husband Dayu is actually a constant compromise with themselves.
Beijing News: "What happens after Nora leaves" has long been a widely discussed topic. (Editor's note: "What happens after Nora leaves" is a speech written by Lu Xun. It mainly talks about the major social issue "What happens after Nora leaves" and reveals Nora's fate: either degeneration or Come back.) The ending of the story of "How Are You" does not show He Zhuozhen's life after leaving the marriage relationship. Have you ever imagined what her future life will be like?
Wanfang: I actually thought about it for her. If a person is really desperate and cruel, as long as you still have the strength, you can actually start over. But it is very difficult to be cruel, because what you have to fight is the inertia of life, or the force of habit. This is not only for women, I think it is the same for men. What kind of life will He Zhuo eventually lead? In fact, this is also a confusion in my heart. I don't have an answer either. I can think very well of her. In reality, it is not difficult for her to survive. She can live a good life, she can get over the shadow of her husband's betrayal, and she should be able to gradually build a relatively complete personality. But can her inner world, that true self-realization, be achieved? I really don't have an answer. Life is so long, but the past nearly 20 years have passed. This is the helplessness or sadness of life.
Beijing News: This drama is also the first time that the female lead Tao Hui has appeared in a stage drama. Has she completed the He Zhuo in your heart?
万方: Tao Hui is a particularly good actor. I told her yesterday that I felt very lucky to have met her in the role of He Zhuo. She has the qualities of a good actor, natural and sincere. Not many actors have this quality. Tao Hui is explosive on stage, but all her feelings are so plain and natural, which is particularly difficult. In fact, explosive power is not the most difficult thing for an actor, just a quick burst of strength is enough, but that kind of realism is very rare, and it particularly impresses me. Tao Hui really understands this character, so she can empathize with him, and her performance is great.
"How Are You" actress Tao Hui.
Beijing News: Do you still remember the first time you saw her perform on stage?
万方: I was impressed by her in the rehearsal venue. Of course, she is even more brilliant on this stage. Many parts of Tao Hui's performance made me feel sad, especially the scene at the end where she and her husband broke up. He Zhuo is actually a person with a very strong heart. Her father's education from an early age also cultivated her tenacity, so in the end she went on with tenacity and strength. Even if she chose love at the beginning, she really loved the other person, and she felt it was worth it.
Beijing News: But in the current context, might He Zhuo be labeled as a "love brain"?
万方: To be honest, I still think that it is a great shortcoming for a person to live, especially as a woman, to never truly love once in this life. When you have true love, you will have a different experience in life.
Beijing News: There is indeed a trend nowadays. People who pursue pure love and even put themselves and their career after love are not worthy of being promoted?
Wanfang: is indeed like this in reality. But I will always be moved by that kind of pure love. Whether it's in drama or in life, I think this is the only way to truly live.
Beijing News reporter Liu Wei
editor Xu Meilin
proofreader Li Lijun
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