A sonorous and powerful song "The Imperative" sings out Lady Macbeth's dark desires and strong emotional tension. The German-Austrian musical goddess Maya Hackford, as the main actor, unveiled the music to the Shanghai audience. The mystery of Lady Macbeth. This original Chinese

A sonorous and powerful song "The Imperative" sings out Lady Macbeth's dark desires and strong emotional tension. The German-Austrian musical goddess Maya Hackford, as the main actor, unveiled the film for the Shanghai audience. The Mystery of the Musical Lady Macbeth.

This original Chinese musical, incubated and produced by Shanghai Cultural Plaza and Xu Jun Drama with a Chinese team and performed in English by an international cast team, will be unveiled at the 1862 Fashion Art Center on May 9, kicking off its world premiere.

As a specially invited incubation work of Shanghai Cultural Plaza's "2022 Chinese Original Musical Incubation Program", "Lady Macbeth" carries the desire to create a Chinese musical for the world. Fei Yuanhong, deputy general manager of Shanghai Culture Square Theater Management Co., Ltd. and initiator of the "Incubation Plan" said, "The paths and methods of original incubation should be diverse and flexible. This world premiere in English hopes to attract outsiders. Based on the original, facing the future, we will further broaden the creative path of the cultural square’s original incubation."

As a result, we saw many international faces among the main creative and actor teams: script adaptor and songwriter James Beaney and Gina Georgia are both A young theater artist from the UK; Maya Hackford, known as the "Queen of German and Austrian Musicals", plays the lead role of Lady Macbeth; British actor Carl Queensborough, who played Hamilton in the West End version of the musical "Hamilton", is here Played Macbeth for the first time; Richard Carson, a very popular actor in the West End, played Macduff...

Among them, Carl participated in the workshop project of "Lady Macbeth" in the West End. He said: " I was deeply impressed by the music of the story, and now I have the opportunity to cross the border and come to China to create and perform. Through rich musical elements including rap, I can interpret this complex character and embrace different cultures. I am very excited."

Maya's relationship with the Chinese audience dates back to 2014, when she was invited to sing "I Only Belong to Me" with Roberta Valentini, who played "Elizabeth" and "Sissi" at the time. Later, in the "German Musical Stars Concert" in 2019, Maya even sang more than ten golden songs. Last year, she collaborated with American opera singer and musical actor Kevin Tartt on "The Maya Hackford Concert", reproducing more than 20 classic musicals she had performed in the past for two consecutive nights, and was well received by the audience. It received a good response.

"In the 35th year of my stage career, I met 'Lady Macbeth'. I cherish this opportunity very much. In China, a brand new work, a brand new life, and a brand new world are waiting for us to create together. "

At the same time, there are also many "old faces" who are very familiar to Chinese audiences in the cast: Xu Lidong and Miao Mengchu play Lady Macbeth, He Liangchen and Hu Chaozheng play Macbeth, Xu Zehui and Wang Zhiwei play Macduff, Zhao Weigang, Xu Jiaqiao plays Banco...

Musical actor Xu Lidong said in an interview that he and director Xu Jun have known each other for a long time and finally reached a formal cooperation in this work. "Creating such a character full of contradictions and complexity in a heavy tragedy is full of challenges."

Musical actor He Liangchen, who played the "Phantom" in the Chinese version of "The Phantom of the Opera", was even more excited: "With so many After partners from all over the world learn and grow together, they will start another life journey with new roles."

For director Seo Jun, this is his second association with Shakespeare after "Hamlet", and it is also the second time he has become associated with Shakespeare after "Hamlet". After "The Orphan of Zhao", he once again collaborated closely with British artists. Although "Macbeth" is the shortest of Shakespeare's tragedies, "Shakespeare, in an era of total chaos and against the background of war and turmoil, was able to tell the story through a small perspective from an abnormal, disordered, and uneasy perspective." The incision deeply explores and thinks about human nature, and has the dual aesthetic qualities of tragedy of fate and tragedy of character, which is very rare."

"In the original work of "Macbeth", Shakespeare left multiple mysteries for Lady Macbeth.The musical Lady Macbeth will weave its threads from this mysterious and complex woman. What's more worth mentioning is that the work will break through the frame-type stage and conduct experiments in open and multi-dimensional space, mobilizing rich metaphors and symbols to coordinate with the actors' performances to create the image of 'innocence is darkness, and darkness is innocence' in the play. "

As time goes by, the mystery of time has never been truly solved. The creative treatment of time and space in the whole play is also a highlight of the play.

Stage Designer Xu Xiaohuan said that this time, openness was incorporated into the stage design style design concept. “The audience will be introduced into a special space influenced by psychodynamics. Among them, the triple mirror design transcends mere visual effects and becomes a metaphor for Lady Macbeth's extremely tense inner tear, exploring the subconscious power that constitutes the complex emotions and contradictory behaviors of each of us. "

lighting designer Xiao Lihe is the chief lighting and multimedia designer for all musicals directed by Xu Jun. This time he also intentionally injects unique creativity, making light and shadow become the language of the subconscious in the plot of multi-dimensional time and space and multiple repetitions. She said , “I hope to use light and shadow to swim and snorkel in the folding and perspective of time and space, so that the many sides of the character’s face can unlock the answer to fate in the puzzle of light. "

Professor Shi Zhikang from Shanghai International Studies University, as the literary consultant of the play, has met with the director frequently over the past year or so to discuss many issues in "Macbeth" and deepened his understanding of this new film by constantly reviewing the classics. The depth of understanding of the work can help broaden the thinking background of creation. As Xu Jun's old partner, composer Jin Peida has devoted himself to serving as the music director of the whole play this time. He is also full of expectations for the presentation of the play:

"This is a drama An original work that combines Chinese and Western elements, it is performed in a sung-through style by an international team of actors from the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and China, which is quite challenging. I look forward to us working together to find the tension between music and drama, using singing to create characters, and using music to convey energy. "

Before the arrival of "Lady Macbeth", the Broadway classic play "Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812", also using an international cast and all in English, will soon come to its conclusion at Qiantan 31 Performing Arts Center . After purchasing the copyright, the musical "The False Princess" performed in English by Chinese actors will also be staged at Majestic Theater from March 1. More and more English musicals are born and premiered in China, which also It provides more directions for the production of Chinese original musicals.

looks forward to having more high-quality works with both 'international incubation' and 'Chinese original' attributes to meet Chinese and global audiences in the future. And this spring, let Let's first enter Shakespeare's world.