Zhejiang Xiaobaihua Yue Opera Theater was invited by the Shanghai Magnolia Theater and Performing Arts Award Organizing Committee to perform the modern Yue Opera play "Qiantang Li" in Shanghai this month. As the first modern Yue opera drama performed by the Zhejiang Xiaobaihua Yue Opera Troupe 40 years ago, the play has received enthusiastic response. The tides in the Qiantang River rise and fall, and there are many stories along the Qiantang River.
Shanghai audiences are no strangers to Zhejiang's "Little Hundred Flowers", whether it's its groundbreaking work "Five Daughters", or its ever-popular performances of "Lu You and Tang Wan", "The Romance of the West Chamber", "The Legend of Chunqin", and the new version of "Butterfly Lovers" and other high-quality plays can always set off a "Hundred Flowers" whirlwind and heat wave. When he tours various places, many theater fans follow him to see the theater. When he gets off the high-speed train, he drags his suitcases and goes straight to the theater. This time I came to Shanghai to perform "Qiantangli" was no exception. As soon as the performance information was released online, it attracted a large number of audiences across the country, and a thousand tickets at the East Theater in Pudong New Area were sold out. Before the show started, there was a long queue of suitcases of all sizes at the entrance of the theater, becoming a unique sight.
"Qiantangli" is a rare Yue opera that reflects real life themes, and it is also expected to become another landmark work of modern Yue opera.
The play is written by Xie Lihong, directed by Wang Yansong, and stars Li Yunxiao, Li Xiaowen, and Zhou Yan. It tells the story of an ordinary person who is "accompanied by love and embraced by kindness" due to a car accident.
The story takes place during the evening rush hour in a rainy city. High school graduate Fang Xiaomi and her husband Chen Yunhe contracted an orchard in the village. After the fruit shop they opened lost money, they went to work in the city. After get off work, Fang Xiaomi was eager to go home and breastfeed her baby. She hurriedly rode her electric bicycle in the rain and accidentally hit Teacher Jin who was crossing the road. Fang Xiaomi fled the hospital in panic, and under the condemnation of her conscience, she weaned her six-month-old child from breastfeeding. She returned to the hospital early the next morning and surrendered to Teacher Jin's husband and daughter. Teacher Jin's daughter, Lu Yafei, out of compassion, helped her pay for her medical expenses and, without telling her mother, asked Fang Xiaomi to stay with her mother as a caregiver. Under Fang Xiaomi's meticulous care, Teacher Jin gradually recovered. She also regarded Fang Xiaomi, who took good care of her, as her daughter. However, by chance, Fang Xiaomi's identity as the perpetrator was exposed. Teacher Jin, who felt deeply deceived, angrily drove her away. Later, Teacher Jin learned Fang Xiaomi's true feelings from the accounting book she left behind, and finally forgave this kind and pitiful girl.
A car accident brought two families from completely different classes together; a good person led to the consideration of kindness and love in human nature, from suspicion to recognition, to the final sympathy. In the self-game of predicament, the release of Showing the touching light of humanity of "the best" and "the most loving". Embracing each other with kindness is ordinary and extraordinary; treating each other with love is easy no matter how difficult it is. According to the author, the characters and stories in this play come from real life. No wonder the audience appreciates the play on stage, just like watching their own neighbors and what is happening around them. It is so real and cordial, and they will naturally have empathy.
Yue Opera is a type of drama that is good at expressing female themes. Its traditional repertoire has created many unforgettable female images. However, for a long time, female images in modern Yue opera plays have often been portrayed as "de-gendered" revolutionaries or "strong women", making the audience feel that there is a big distance between the characters in the play and real life. However, "Qiantangli" has made a true return in shaping the image of women, especially the protagonist Fang Xiaomi, who is simply a working girl who lives in real life, and the audience has developed deep sympathy and love for her. Screenwriter Xie Lihong tortured human nature through the collision of life events and the inner struggles of the characters, and performed the plight of ordinary people and the beauty of humanity with kindness and warmth in a deeply touching and touching way. The famous director Wang Yansong, who is familiar with the characteristics of various types of operas, accurately grasped the real, simple, life-oriented, and extraordinary tone of this play, gave full play to the characteristics of Yue opera actors who are good at lyrical singing, and incorporated elements of musicals, adding to the ensemble cast. The scene of the play.This small story that happened between two families and several people has a solid and broad foundation of social life inside and outside the theater and in the alleys.
The picture shows a still from "New Dragon Inn",
Li Yunxiao (right) plays Jin Xiangyu.
Fang Xiaomi is played by Li Yunxiao, a young first-class actor and "Lu Pai" Huadan. This is the first time Li Yunxiao plays the leading role in a modern drama. The character Fang Xiaomi is an ordinary working girl, an ordinary member of all living beings. In the play, she experienced the joy of being a mother for the first time and the hardship of failure in starting a business, and was overwhelmed by unexpected blows; but she was lucky. She finally gained people's understanding and acceptance with her honesty and kindness. . She injured someone while riding her bicycle and caused a major disaster. She was so frightened that she once thought of running away. However, she was condemned by her conscience and stayed up all night. She went to the hospital early in the morning to confess her guilt to the injured person's husband and daughter, and after getting forgiveness Finally, it was agreed that Fang Xiaomi would conceal his identity and take care of Teacher Jin. She not only served the injured meticulously and considerately, but she was also always frightened because she could not tell the truth in front of Teacher Jin. Her singing must combine the melodious Yue opera singing with plain spoken vernacular, and must also adapt to the physical movements of modern dramas that look like real life. For Li Yunxiao, this is a brand new challenge. Li Yunxiao used to be known as the "Princess of Water Sleeves", but now that she has no water sleeves and wears the shorts of a working girl, she can't walk and has nowhere to put her hands. Due to her love for this role, Li Yunxiao quickly became familiar with the character's external and inner world. She was not bound by traditional formulas, boldly innovated, and pursued new life-oriented Yue Opera performance forms. Under the guidance of director Wang Yansong, she successfully performed It creates the image of a simple, sincere, fresh and natural working girl. She believes: "The performance of modern operas should not pursue traditional opera performance methods too much. It is even more inappropriate to be pretentious. Truth and nature are the most important." When Fang Xiaomi decided to wean the child, Li Yunxiao hugged the "child" tightly and hugged her. Reluctantly pressing her "child's" cheek; when she and her husband were worried about the medical expenses of the injured, Li Yunxiao squatted on the ground, cried bitterly, and beat himself. Li Yunxiao accurately captured Fang Xiaomi's soft but not weak, kind and tenacious character. Through her emotional singing, this girl-next-door image was vividly presented to the audience.
A good script and a good director provide actors with the foundation to create a vivid artistic image. "Embracing each other with kindness makes the ordinary and extraordinary" the keynote of Fang Xiaomi's character. Li Yunxiao said: "I have gained a lot from creating the character Fang Xiaomi. It is not just about breaking the original formula of opera to create a modern character, but more importantly, in the process, returning to the original essence of human beings." Every collision with the character is a purification of my own soul. Every performance is also a new reflection on the meaning of life. "This kind of purification of my own soul makes Fang Xiaomi perform better on the stage. The image is true, accurate and touching. She retains the characteristics of the Lu style in her singing, with clear timbre and tactful singing, which is not separated from the performance. In the process of the character regaining confidence after experiencing confusion, she expresses her inner voice through a long section of singing, which is clearly layered. This is the lingo of the theater world "the theater patron".
At present, the play has received many encouragements and honors. It was selected into the New Era Realistic Theme Creation Project of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and won the Outstanding Play of the 18th China Drama Festival. In addition, Li Yunxiao won the "New Protagonist Award" at the 32nd Magnolia Awards for his successful performance as "Fang Xiaomi", and Zhou Yan, who played "Teacher Jin", won the "Supporting Actor Nomination Award" at the 32nd Magnolia Awards. A good actor makes this play good to watch and listen to, exciting and moving. It can also be said to be a "people's protection play".
The reason for the success of the Yue opera "Qiantang Li" is that the roots are rooted downward and the flowers are blooming upward. Downward rooting is the basis and prerequisite for upward flowering, and upward flowering is the extension and expansion of downward rooting. Only by taking root deeply downward can we lay a solid foundation for the flowers of modern opera to bloom; only by continuously blooming upward can the stage be filled with fragrance.
When I watched "Little Hundred Flowers" in the past, I saw a perfect inheritance of traditional drama; when I watch "Little Hundred Flowers" today, I see a modern drama that is equally exciting. It is worth noting that some theater groups pursue "short-term traffic", while "Xiaobaihua" pursues "continuous retention" and "continuous increase" in the theater. To ensure the "continuous growth" of a theater, the key is to continuously produce viable shows. As deputy director Cai Zhefei said: "Because this is the best era. If Xiaobaihua Troupe does not have modern dramas, then people in the future will not be able to see the lucky us and this best on the stage of Xiaobaihua." of the times.” Therefore, Xiaobaihua and realistic themes are an inevitable meeting. Its success is also inevitable.
Director Wang Yansong also put a lot of effort into the music of this play. "Qiantangli" incorporates elements of opera and national orchestral music, making it particularly beautiful. Like the opera "Jiang Sister", the music melody highlights the national style, and the singing method mostly uses "accent" and "drawing accent", which is exciting and lyrical; the structure is mainly banqiang, absorbing elements of Western arias and opera creations , strengthening the rhythm of the drama. The composer of "Qiantangli" is Liu Jiankuan, a national first-class composer. He was the party secretary of Zhejiang Xiaobaihua Theater and is currently the director of the Drama Department of Zhejiang Conservatory of Music. Another composer, Zhong Haige, also has a master's degree in composition and soundtrack from the Ecole Normale Musique in Paris, France. They are familiar with Yue Opera music, as well as folk music and the soundtracks of foreign musicals. In the background music and the singing of the characters in "Qiantangli", the introduction, allegro, clear board, etc. in the structure of the musical are used for reference, which greatly enriches the melody of the entire play, heightens the drama of the storyline, and makes the music of the play It sounds better.
The success of "Qiantangli" once again proves that "theaters protect people and people protect dramas" promote and complement each other. Good dramas provide fertile opportunities for actors to develop and improve their talents, increase their visibility and soar in popularity. Soil; a good actor, and adds luster to the stage performance of the play.
In the history of opera, the superimposed and promoting role of theater sponsors and people protecting operas is often said to be a good talk. In 1946 of the last century, the famous Yue opera performing artist Yuan Xuefen created and performed the modern Yue opera drama "Xiang Lin's Wife", which is called "a milestone in the new Yue opera". This is a typical example of "people protect the theater, and people protect the theater". The same goes for "Five Daughters' Birthday Wishes". At present, the good script "Qiantang Li" is performed by good actors such as Li Yunxiao, Li Xiaowen, Zhou Yan, etc. The combination of the two has exerted the superimposed effect of "the play protects the people, and the people protect the play". We can expect that the Shaoxing opera "Qiantang Li" 》You can definitely go higher and further.
A good script and a good director can make an 80-point actor bring out a 100-point value; a good actor can also make a 100-point good script show a 120-point value.
Author: Dai Ping
Text: Dai Ping (the author is a professor at Shanghai Theater Academy) Picture: Picture provided by the performer Editor in charge: Huang Qizhe
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