"Comedy +" explores more possibilities for the "Art of Laughter"

Source: Wen Wei Po

Wen Wei Po News (reporter Tong Weijing) "Shanghai is really my blessed land, from the premiere of "Childcare" at the Shanghai Grand Theatre in 2001 to the present 20 years, every time I come here I am extremely nervous! Chen Peisi said. Last night, his new work "Frightening Dreams" premiered at the Shanghai Grand Theatre, and as the opening play, it officially kicked off the prelude to the "Performing Arts World • 2021 7th Shanghai International Comedy Festival".

"The starting point of comedy creation is good characters, good stories." As a well-known "master of comedy", Chen Peisi has been active in the road of original stage plays in recent years. "Frightening Dream" is the second part of its "Theater Trilogy", which continues the creative direction of the previous work "Drama Stage" to integrate drama and opera, and integrates Kunqu opera, which is known as the "living fossil" of Chinese opera art, into the play, and the fold of "Shocking Dream" selected is the core of the entire work. The drama adopts the story structure of combining traditional culture and wartime and chaos, telling the fate of a Kunqu opera class in a specific era, and Chen Peisi and Chen Dayu father and son performed on the same stage for the first time.

Chen Peisi said that from movies to TV series, stage plays, and dramas, he has been "sharp" in drama all his life, which is a kind of complex. "It is necessary for the audience to understand what the essence of art is and to be able to feel its beauty." Therefore, the expression of Kunqu art on the stage must be 'true'. ”

In fact, Kunqu opera in "Frightening Dreams" is not just embellishment, but deep integration. To this end, Chen Pest invited Kunqu performance artist Wang Xiaoyan to conduct on-site training and action design guidance for the actors. Even if the Kunqu opera singing section is not performed in the play, it must "carry the charm that a person in that industry should have."

Liu Tianchi, who plays Chen Peisi's wife and the "inner master" of the Spring Society, was born in a family of opera and is a teacher in the acting department of the Central Academy of Drama; He Yu, the actor of "Qin Xiangcheng", now gets up early every day to listen to Kunqu opera; actor Lang Ling often comes to the rehearsal hall early to practice, carefully polishing one move at a time...

According to reports, the "Performing Arts World • 2021 7th Shanghai International Comedy Festival" lasted for more than a month. From November 18 to December 31, there will be more than 300 comedy performances and interactive activities covering the city, lighting up people's lives with laughter. Affected by the epidemic, overseas comedy troupes failed to participate in the comedy festival, but the number of activities this year still set a record in the past year, showing the vitality of local comedy original works and comedy talents. At the same time, the special exhibition of the Shanghai International Comedy Festival will also "spread its wings" to many cities across the country, radiating Shanghai's comedy power to more regions.

"Comedy Plus" is a highlight of the year, exploring more possibilities for the "art of laughter". For example, the year-end drama "Low IQ Crime" of the Maggie Theater is based on the suspenseful mystery novel of writer Zijin Chen, playing the collision of "comedy + detective", which has both brain-burning reasoning and full of laughter. The closing drama "Baoxingli" (tentative name) is also the premiere of the new work, which is a comedy work with realistic themes jointly created by Shanghai Wenguang Performing Arts Group and Shanghai Burlesque Troupe, focusing on the changes of the times in Baoxingli, telling the legendary story of the "First Neighborhood Committee" of New China, showing the original "Shanghai tone".

In addition, the Shanghai International Comedy Festival talk show section has been comprehensively upgraded to a "new wave of comedy", from point to point, gathering 12 Shanghai talk show and improv comedy teams such as magic capital improvisation group, hardcore comedy and Hahaland to form a "talk show comedy alliance". At that time, the Talk Show National Club League will be held at Duoyun Academy Drama Shop, and the domestic talk show labels will meet head-on and compete head-on.