Meng Jinghui's new work "Red and Black" has attracted attention, and the adaptation of classics is awakening the "volcano"

As the opening drama of the Wuzhen Drama Festival, Meng Jinghui once again adapted the classic, and "The Red and the Black" received a lot of attention and received a lot of praise. On the 17th, Meng Jinghui, Shi Hang, Chen Minghao and Bai Modi, cultural commissioner of the French Embassy, discussed the adaptation of the classic book "Red and Black" in the "Town Dialogue" activity of the Wuzhen Theatre Festival.

Bai Modi from France said that "The Red and the Black" is a very complex literary work, with a complex political and social background, and can also experience the joy and pain of love, and on the stage directed by Meng Jinghui, these can be seen to be strongly displayed, bringing shocking feelings to the audience, which can be said to be a very successful adaptation.

In Meng Jinghui's theatrical career, French literary and artistic works have had a great influence on him, "bringing me a lot of nutrition and shock, as well as lingering feelings, and finally contributing to today's adaptation of "The Red and the Black"." When Shi Hang asked him why he chose "Red and Black" to adapt, Meng Jinghui's answer to the first reason sounded a bit ridiculous, "Because the name is easier, when it comes to red and black, these words are definitely not family trivia, chai rice oil and salt, but a big thing." Another reason is that I was deeply impressed by "The Red and the Black" as early as when I was in college, when I thought it was a romance novel, and then I found out that it was a work about love but beyond love, about politics and beyond politics, about you and me beyond you and me. ”

"The Red and the Black" is a rare work of Meng Jinghui that is faithful to the original work. In his view, the director is like a chef who understands various cooking methods, just to find a suitable method in front of different works, and the creation of "Red and Black" chooses to be loyal to the text and loyal to the original, "This is a texture embodiment of the spiritual power of the original that has been continued." Such a choice is not unrelated to the enormous inner power that Red and Black itself contains.

Loyalty to the original is not only to be loyal to the text, but also to the mental state of the original. From the beginning of the nineteenth century to the middle of the nineteenth century, the whole world was in a particularly turbulent moment, and people's hearts were also fluctuating, and in many great literary and artistic works, in addition to emotions, there were things of different dimensions. "We have to be faithful to the mental state of the original book, and you must first find out whether the mental state at that time is anxious or romantic, whether it is smooth or obstructive, whether it is necessary to pass a state, or the painful pleasure after being cut by the blade, some of these things should be hidden, and some should be clearly expressed." 」 Meng Jinghui said.

When Shi Hang asked Modi Whether the French still wanted to watch "The Red and the Black", he smiled helplessly and said, "I hope someone else will watch it!" In Shi Hang's view, literary masterpieces actually need to be adapted on the stage, otherwise they are often shelved to the ashes, when the stage has been adapted, the shock brought to the audience will remain in the heart for a long time, "These literary masterpieces are like peaks, but what kind of peaks are beyond the volcano, the height of the silent masterpieces is fixed, only when they are adapted and awakened like volcanoes will there be higher heights." ”

Meng Jinghui believes that for the audience to see the repertoire of famous works, the threshold is not too high, watching "The Red and the Black" only needs to roughly understand the plot and the background of the times, and the love, growth, change, and self-knowledge presented on the stage will also have many emotional resonances for modern people.

Beijing Evening News reporter Niu Chunmei