The Paper's reporter Pan Yu
Launch ceremony
Co-sponsored by the China Dramatists Association, Shanghai Xiqu Art Center, the Propaganda Department of the Huangpu District Committee of the Communist Party of China and Wen Wei Po, the "2021 China Small Theater Opera Exhibition" will be held from December 8 to 16 at the Yangtze River Theater and Wanping Theatre. At that time, more than ten small theater opera works from 11 genres such as Peking Opera, Kun Opera, Huai Opera, Sichuan Opera, Dian Opera, Pu Opera, Han Opera, Cantonese Opera, Huangmei Opera, Yu Opera, Liyuan Opera, etc., will take turns to appear in the Red and Black Boxes of the Yangtze River Theater and the Small Theater of Wanping Theater.
Gu spoke well
Founded in 2015, the Shanghai Little Theater Xiqu Festival is the seventh year and the third year that the "Little Theatre Festival" has been upgraded to a "national name". Over the years of accumulation and growth, the "Little Drama Festival" has gradually developed into one of the incubation platforms for young opera creation and performance talents, and this year, a total of 96 declared plays were received in the exhibition and performance activities, and the number of plays increased by 41% over last year.
These plays come from opera theater troupes, art colleges, non-governmental organizations and individuals in 20 provinces and cities across the country, including 73 original works, 39 premieres, 11 colleges and universities, and more than 40 plays. This year, as many as 20 dramas appeared on the declaration list for the first time, such as Han opera, Pu opera, Shangdang Luozi, Yao opera, Chao opera, Qingyang opera, qu opera, Gan opera, Mao cavity, bowl cavity, Tang opera, Linxian Daoqing, Chuanbei lantern opera, Lü opera, Sizhou opera, Tui opera and other local dramas.
The Death of the Little Official
The final repertoire included Peking Opera "The Death of a Little Official", "A Temple of Gold", Kun opera "Bai Luo Shirt", Huai opera "Xiu Cai Zhen Wife", Dian opera "Pink Waiting", Pu opera "Odi Wang", Cantonese opera "Golden Lotus", Huang Mei opera "Beauty", "Mr. Blue Robe", Yu opera "Nanhua Jing", Liyuan opera "Chen Sanwuniang", etc., all of which are newly created or adapted opera works in recent years.
Dian Opera "Pink Waiting"
Pu drama "Oedipus King"
"Mr. Blue Robe"
The participating dramas are all seeking breakthroughs in theme adaptation and artistic expression
Because the small theater provides a relatively free space, the different types of plays and troupes participating in the exhibition have made useful explorations in terms of theme adaptation and artistic expression.
Shanxi Pu opera is one of the ancient Zizi operas in China, and it is also the first time to appear in the small theater opera exhibition. The "Oedipus King" produced by the China Academy of Performing Arts is the first attempt of Pu Opera to try the theme of ancient Greek tragedy.
The Peking opera "The Death of a Little Official" is based on the Russian writer Chekhov's novel "The Death of a Civil Servant", which adopts the form of a one-legged play, in which the clown master Yan Gu plays multiple roles, portrays characters in a comedic way, and interprets classic literary masterpieces.
Cantonese Opera "Golden Lotus"
Starring The Plum Blossom Award winner and Cantonese opera master Jiang Wenduan, cantonese opera master Jiang Wenduan, this work highlights the characteristics of small theaters, using the combination of performance areas and audience seats to construct the "overall theater" mode of acting. In it, the audience is no longer a bystander of the traditional theater, but a co-experiencer of the theatrical event.
Yu opera "South China Classic"
The Yu opera "Nanhua Jing" comes from the three troupes of Henan Yu Theater, which uses the perspective of equality between men and women to describe the story of Zhuang Sheng and Zhuang's wife, but has made many changes in form that are different from traditional Yu opera. For example, in composition, there is no traditional opera gong and drum, but the traditional singing voice and avant-garde music collide and blend, through the modern style of artistic sound substitution, to adapt to the aesthetics of young audiences. Lead actor Wu Suzhen, who is also a winner of the Plum Blossom Award, said: "The small theater has lowered the threshold of opera, from script creation to stage form are more modern, the reinterpretation of traditional opera, modern theater viewing experience, relatively low ticket prices, for young audiences to build a bridge to understand opera." ”
Huang Mei drama "Beauty"
Young screenwriter Qu Caojie has participated in the exhibition for the third time with new creations, and each time a new creation has been selected, this time bringing the Huangmei drama "Beauty", which tells the plot and revenge between Sable Cicada and Dong Zhuo, Lü Bu and Wang Yun. The choreography is also a small theater style: the stage is paved with rice paper, five rectangular frames are connected, the four translucent veils are hanging, and the actors shuttle through the changing lights. In the words of the screenwriter, the use of bright and simple Huangmei drama to interpret the aesthetic love is more likely to resonate with the audience in the space of the small theater.
"Chen SanWu Niang"
In addition to the experimental small theater opera, the Fujian Liyuan Drama Theater, which has always been loved by Shanghai audiences, brought the traditional drama "Chen Sanwuniang", which is also a well-known love story in southern Fujian. This performance is a version of the younger generation bar, with Chen Luo and Lin Qiuhan, the inheritors of the 2007 class of Liyuan Opera, playing "Chen San" and "Huang Wuniang" respectively; Xu Youjuan, the inheritor of the 1997 class of Liyuan Opera, will play "Yichun".
Three original innovative works led by young people in the Shanghai Xiqu Center appeared
This year's performance also features three original works from the Shanghai Xiqu Art Center, all of which are new works by young Shanghai opera artists.
Peking Opera "A Pot of Gold"
The Peking Opera "A Temple of Gold" is based on Fan Zhongyan's famous allusions "Cellar Gold Donation Temple" and "Scratching Porridge broken", although it is the theme of the main drama, it interprets the story with a light comedy technique, and it is also zhuang and harmonious, and the work praises the Chinese virtues of honesty and honesty, light profit and heavy righteousness in a humorous and funny style. This drama also gathers the various trades of ShengDan Jing and the end of the ugly, with various genres, fan Zhongyan played by Lu Su, Juewen played by Chen Shengjie, and Xie Shi played by Cai Xiaoying will show the singing charm of Qi Pai, Yan Pai and Zhang Pai respectively. The mouse spirit played by Zhu Heji (Ah Rat) and the altar of gold (Jin Wu lord) played by Xie Tianci are the "comedy bearers" in the play, showing the character characteristics with various figures such as ugly deeds and flower faces.
Kun opera "Bai Luo Shirt"
Kunqu opera "Bai Luo Shirt" is a drama with an ancient copy of Kunqu opera, and it is also a representative official drama, telling the complex story of the male protagonist Xu Jizu who learned of the mystery of his life eighteen years ago after high school, thus facing the complex story of ethical family affection. The Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe's "Bai Luo Shirt" is a one-hour long small theater version, played by young actor Ni Xuhao as Xu Jizu, co-starring Hu Gang, Yuan Bin and Zhou Yali, the new version takes "redemption" as the theme, deeply explores human nature and human feelings, and in addition to inheriting the traditional Kunqu performance, it also explores the experimental spirit of Kunqu performance.
Ni Xuhao
Huai Opera "Xiu Cai , Trial Wife"
The Huai opera "Xiucai And Wife Judgement" tries to combine tradition and innovation in both text and performance. The whole drama is composed of two folds of "Forced Rest" and "Trial wife", "Forced Rest" is adapted from the traditional Kunqu opera repertoire "Rotten Keshan", and "Trial Wife" is the original repertoire of Huai opera. Young actor Qiu Haidong plays Zhu Maichen and Ma Xiucai, two characters, through the presentation of opera performances, to explore the inner spiritual world of Chinese intellectuals in ancient and modern times, which is also a unique attempt at Huai opera themes.
Cui Wei, secretary general of the China Dramatists Association, believes that holding a small theater opera exhibition can release the creativity of young opera talents and meet the aesthetic needs of young audiences.
Gu Haohao, president of Shanghai Xiqu Art Center, said that one of the major significances of the chinese small theater opera exhibition brand is to let young opera artists and young audiences become the main practitioners and promoters of the development of opera.
"Opera Baby"
It is reported that after the exhibition, a special seminar will be held, and experts and scholars will discuss the current situation and development potential of small theater opera with the main creators of the theater group. At the same time, the "Xiqu Baby" WeChat emoji produced by Shanghai Xiqu Art Center was also launched, making the way of xiqu dissemination and expression more vivid and three-dimensional.
Editor-in-Charge: Liang Jia Photo Editor: Chen Feiyan
Proofreader: Ding Xiao