Actors Ma Yili (left) and Zhang Ruihan play Ling Wen and Chen Qianli respectively in the play. (The picture shows the character poster, both courtesy of Shanghai Dramatic Art Center)
"A thrilling story, but expressed quietly. I use poetic imagery to show the brilliance of the inner life and feelings of ordinary Communists." Famous Theater director Wang Xiaoying said. The drama "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" produced by the Shanghai Dramatic Art Center and directed by Wang Xiaoying has entered the countdown to its premiere and will be revealed on March 23. "An elegant ode to ideals and heroes. Revolutionaries hold high the torch to break through the darkness with faith, innocence and courage." The award speech for the 11th Mao Dun Literature Award describes the novel "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" written by writer Sun Ganlu. What are the similar and different artistic features between the original work and the stage presentation? Yesterday, a week before the show, Wang Xiaoying took the lead in "spoiling" this secret and great legend.
Actors alternately "enter the play" and write a three-dimensional novel
"It is very important for a drama adapted from a literary work to maintain the characteristics of the literature itself." For this goal, Wang Xiaoying and screenwriter Zhao Yan It was agreed on the direction of the script adaptation. Instead of "wrapping" the story in a closed dramatic style, we would do the opposite and adopt a narrative form, combining deduction and narration to present a "three-dimensional novel" on the stage. Sun Ganlu's novels are generally narrated from a third-person perspective, with layers of foreshadowing, details, and details. Multiple clues lead to multiple mysteries: Who is the central correspondent in the secret meeting? The meeting was disrupted, who was the traitor? What is the content of the "Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" plan? Is Ling Wen's husband Long Dong alive or dead? As the plot develops and multiple narrative threads intersect, the truth will emerge.
According to Wang Xiaoying, the play opens with a group of young people reading "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" together. During the reading process, the actors alternately "enter the play" and take turns becoming the characters in the play, jointly completing the sense of form set in the early stages. The background of the characters will be explained in sequence at the beginning. Therefore, viewers who have not read the original work can quickly understand the relationship between the characters. The drama "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" begins with the opening chapter of the novel, and the closing lines fall in the final paragraph of the novel. The clear text structure runs through the performance. In Wang Xiaoying's view, such an open approach enriches the performance. Stage content, "The organic combination of reading and dramatic performance can convey a broader connotation beyond character performance."
The story echoes the city, outlining the close-up of the times
The conference room above the Sima Road vegetable market, the Shanghai Underground Party Action Group of the Communist Party of China Just as the secret meeting was about to begin, spies surrounded the venue and everyone present was arrested. Who leaked the news? The Party Central Committee urgently dispatched Comrade Chen Qianli to Shanghai to investigate the traitor and complete the "Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains Map" plan. Against the grand background of the times, "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" captures an aspect of social life at that time. The story takes place in Shanghai in 1933. From the fifteenth of the twelfth lunar month to the eighteenth of the first lunar month, in just over a month, it records a group of ordinary people living at that time who, for the same ideals and beliefs, jointly completed a project called "Thousand Miles". The secret plan of "Jiangshan Tu". The author uses this secret plan to closely connect the characters and outline a heroic close-up of the times.
The unknown heroes fighting on the hidden front are the worthy protagonists of "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains". The 15 actors in the play, including Zhang Ruihan, Ma Yili, and Han Xiuyi, all come from the Shanghai Dramatic Art Center. In order to adapt to the structure of the work, the actors need to let go of their linear immersive performance habits, brew emotions in a short period of time, try to jump in and out, and switch identities flexibly. "In this play, the emotions and psychological activities of the characters are relatively complex, and the challenges are great, but the actors have done a good job, accurately and quickly connecting the narrative and performance." Wang Xiaoying said, "They used rich emotions and emotions. Powerfully expresses the determination of the revolutionary ancestors without hesitation."
Chinachem Hotel, North Sichuan Road and Bridge, Post Office Building, Gujiazhai Park... In the novel, Sun Ganlu uses real landmarks to restore the rich and detailed style of Shanghai.In the drama, the audience will also see the scenery and architectural details with urban characteristics. Through the stage design, Wang Xiaoying also looks forward to showing a volume of "flow of thoughts". "At a specific time and external environment, people's thinking activities and sublimation of thoughts in the storyline will be closely related to the Shanghai style presented on the stage using various means. , forming an echo relationship."
Author: Wang Xiaoli
Text: Wang Xiaoli Editor: Fan Jing
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