is adapted from the Chinese version of the classic movie of the same name, "The Shawshank Redemption" created and performed by Beijing Longma Society Cultural Communication Co., Ltd., the Central China version of "Les Misérables" jointly produced by China and France, and produced and performed by the Sichuan People's Art Theater American playwright Arthur Miller's classic work "Death of a Salesman"... Since this year, many foreign classic works have been put on the Chinese stage. These works either strictly pay tribute to the original work, or deconstruct the original work, or use modern theater methods Pioneer presentation, or the use of opera and other Chinese elements to mix and match... In such a stage presentation where a hundred flowers bloom, the "implementation" of foreign classics in China has also become a hot topic in the theater circle.
Since its birth, Chinese drama has always attached great importance to the translation, introduction and performance of foreign drama works. "When the west wind spread to the east in the early 20th century, the practice of cross-cultural drama in the theater world had already kicked off the 'new drama' movement in China. The introduction and absorption of a foreign culture always starts with translation and ends with creation. However, Between translation and creation, modern drama still has three different forms: translation, adaptation and imitation. From a practical point of view, adaptation is the catalyst for the birth of modern Chinese drama." Luo Li, Vice President of Guangzhou Institute of Literary and Art Creation writes in "East Meets West: Cross-Cultural Adaptations of Drama."
In Luo Li's view, cross-cultural adaptation is an important phenomenon in the history of Chinese dramas and has caused many discussions in the historical process of its development, in which the issue of conversion between foreign cultures and national cultures cannot be avoided.
"In the 1950s and 1960s, when Chinese theater circles performed foreign works, they had to raise their noses and wear curly wigs!" According to Song Baozhen, director of the Drama Research Institute of the China Academy of Arts, after years of exploration and practice , Chinese drama artists have long abandoned this formal "loyalty to the original work", and instead use the fascinating content, unresolved philosophical propositions, and common human emotions in foreign classics as the starting point to constantly explore interpretation methods and interpretations that are suitable for contemporary audiences. presentation form.
▲ Stills from the drama "The Count of Monte Cristo" Photo courtesy of the National Center for the Performing Arts
Adaptation means a reinterpretation of the original work. In the process of sinicizing foreign classics, Chinese drama art workers have done a lot of work, from the actual "implementation" of the text in line with the context of the times to the stage presentation that can not only reflect the creator's personal style but also be accepted by contemporary Chinese audiences. Useful to try.
In the drama "The Count of Monte Cristo" adapted from the novel of the same name by French writer Alexandre Dumas and produced by the National Center for the Performing Arts, director Wang Xiaoying designed a subversive ending for the work. "In the original work, the protagonist Dantès transformed into the Count of Monte Cristo, punished evil and promoted good, and finally achieved justice. The writer created a situation for him that was almost impossible in reality - he escaped from prison by wrapping his body in the sea, gained huge wealth, and finally became a People in upper-class society. The novel itself also has some religious overtones, and even God’s ultimate judgment on mankind is moved to the Count of Monte Cristo. But today, it is difficult for us to convey this message to the audience from a religious perspective, nor can we express it in the play. The film blindly shows the pleasure and revenge of the Count of Monte Cristo. If it is presented in this way, the audience may be satisfied when watching the play, but when they walk out of the theater and face real life, they will have doubts - if I am not the Count of Monte Cristo, Will we not get justice?"
Based on this thinking, Wang Xiaoying designed a "dialogue" that spans time and space for the end of this version of "The Count of Monte Cristo". The revenge of the Count of Monte Cristo is realized, and the prisoner Dantès But he said that this was just a dream of his, and asked the Count of Monte Cristo: "If you were not the Count of Monte Cristo, and had no wealth and status, could you still get justice?" With the stage presentation that is both real and imaginary, and even a little weird, Wang Xiaoying also posed this question to the audience.
In the drama "Cyrano" adapted from the masterpiece of French playwright Rostand and produced by the National Theater of China, the young creator combines Western classics with the excellent traditional Chinese culture.Tian Qinxin, director of the National Theater of China, believes that this is a time when "the classic romantic 'Love Bible' in the history of Western drama is translated into a modern Chinese context, exploring the emotional awakening and self-awareness of contemporary youth, and showing young artists' understanding of contemporary drama." Understand and deliver an innovative Chinese expression of world drama."
At the textual level, Wang Anne, the screenwriter of the drama "Cyrano", not only deleted and revised the original work to make the characters more concentrated and three-dimensional, but also worked hard to integrate the excellent traditional Chinese culture and Chinese classic stories into it, so that the integration of Eastern and Western aesthetics can be seen in the text. The layers begin to grow. In terms of stage presentation, young director Ding Yiteng adopts a "new program" drama creation technique that combines Chinese and Western elements. On the basis of realist performance, he incorporates Danish "Odin" drama methods and Chinese opera elements to combine traditional and contemporary, oriental and The essence of Western art is integrated across time and space, and innovatively adapted from a stylized and contemporary perspective, giving "Big Nose Lover" a modern new image with oriental aesthetic characteristics.
In addition to the creation of Beijing-style dramas, the adaptation of foreign classics is also an important part of the Beijing People's Art Theater's creations. In 2023 alone, many foreign classic plays such as "Hamlet" by British playwright Shakespeare, "The Firstborn" by Russian playwright Vambilov, and "Football Club" by Australian playwright David Williamson will be re-performed or re-released. The new arrangement was brought to the stage of the Beijing People's Art Theatre. Among them, the most discussed one is the small theater drama "Hamlet" directed by Yang Jiayin.
Just as there are a thousand Hamlets in the hearts of a thousand people, every creator who interprets this work also has his own perspective. The Beijing People's Art Theater's small theater version of "Hamlet" brings a modern expression of the classic work with an interpretation by an all-young cast. As a work of experimental exploration, this version of "Hamlet" changes from the traditional revenge story, and instead strives to project everyone's growth and confusion. Hamlet is no longer a distant prince, but a young man who faces his own inner hesitation and struggle and uses his courage to find a way out. "Young actors talk to Shakespeare in their own way," said Feng Yuanzheng, the play's artistic director.
"A hat, an umbrella, a turn, and a raise complete the transformation of an actor's identity." Yang Jiayin hopes that through this creation, he will lead the audience to "see the understanding and attitude of young people today towards life." In the stage presentation, there are not only the actors' retelling of this traditional story, but also the setting of "play within a play", as well as the surprise link of switching perspectives at any time, allowing the audience to become "actors". This interesting and experiential form is like leading the audience to play a "game" in the theater.
"The inheritance of drama art, the cultivation of drama teams, and the improvement of audience aesthetics are all inseparable from the promotion and demonstration of classic works. Rehearsing classic plays allows us to see the charm of drama, and more importantly, to feel the classic works Extraordinary artistic skills in character creation, plot structure, etc., as well as the creative ability of today's artists in understanding and interpreting classics. Although there are varying degrees of deliberateness and willfulness in some expressions or performances, their sincere perspective and persistent Enthusiasm, but it makes the audience feel the possibility of change. After all, looking at the country, there are relatively few theaters like the Beijing People's Art Theater that attach so much importance to classic plays and preserved repertoires, and always perform new and innovative performances. ." said young critic Xu Jian.
In addition to innovative and personalized adaptation models, Yu Tao, vice chairman of the Gansu Provincial Literary Critics Association, also saw changes in the market model during the sinicization process of foreign classics this year. "Different from the previous 'trade model' where Chinese performance companies introduced foreign works and performed them in the Chinese market, bought and sold them to earn the price difference, as represented by "The Shawshank Redemption" and "Les Miserables," Chinese companies introduced copyrights to produce Chinese versions in the Chinese market The new form of performance is a 'production and marketing model' in which patent fees are paid and profits are obtained through independent production, pricing, and sales. The latter is obviously a 2.0 upgraded version of the former.The leap in version is that under the guidance of new development concepts in the cultural industry, under the background of increasingly deepened international cultural exchanges, increasingly strong performance market demand, and continuously enhanced product development capabilities of market entities, operating entities have constructed a new development pattern and independently and actively developed new business formats. Important practices for producing new content. " Yu Tao said.
Yu Tao also believes that the distinctive commercial attributes of these plays determine their strong pursuit of profit maximization. "But no matter how many eyeballs have been attracted through marketing and publicity, and how much box office has been obtained, it is the quality that determines the vitality of the plays. . The core of the creation of Chinese versions of foreign works is to solve the problem of sinicization. This is a systemic problem. The difficulty and degree of each work are different and need to be treated specifically. However, there are two aspects that need to be noted: First, the original play must be analyzed in terms of Chinese context, Chinese interpersonal relationships, and Chinese psychology. To replace and excavate the emotional structure, the second is to identify and abandon the political, social, and cultural expressions that are full of Western ideologies that are carried or even hidden in the original play. "(End) (Original title: The "Sinicization" of foreign classic works)
Author/Liu Miao
Source: China Culture News
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