Why do young people fall in love with listening to plays

【Cultural Commentary】

Author: Li Guangchun (Special Researcher of Yangzhou University Base, Research Center for Theoretical System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in Jiangsu Province)

According to guangming network reports, the recently released "2021 Douyin Intangible Cultural Heritage Drama Data Report" shows that as of November 2021, Douyin covers 98.83% of the national intangible cultural heritage drama projects, with a total of 12.92 million videos played, 60 billion times, and 2.2 billion likes, of which young people have become the main force of listening to plays, and the post-90s and post-00s account for 52% of the total audience. Douyin has become an important platform for netizens to watch intangible cultural heritage dramas and learn drama knowledge.

At one time, the inheritance of traditional drama was difficult, a large number of local dramas were on the verge of extinction, and people of insight shouted "rescue drama". People in the theater industry have spared no effort to bring drama into the campus and into the community. Many famous celebrities put down their bodies and went to the community to carry out public welfare performances of opera, doing everything possible to expand the coverage of drama; entering the campus to open drama lectures, trying to make children fall in love with drama from an early age; going to the theater to perform in the theater all year round, trying to retain the roots of drama... The theater industry measures the survival of drama by theater performances, often thinking that society does not need drama, and young people do not love drama.

If you simply look at the theater inheritance from the theater performance, the conclusion is indeed not satisfactory, many theaters are tepid, and the attendance rate of many performances is not high, which is an indisputable fact. But does theatrical heritage stop at theater? The exuberance of the vitality of traditional drama is unexpected, the temporary cold silence of the theater does not represent the crisis of theatrical inheritance, in another space, the network provides unlimited possibilities and richness of styles for theatrical inheritance. In the past year, the number of intangible cultural heritage drama videos has doubled, drama has become a trend on short video platforms, and Huangmei opera has jumped to the top of the list with 238 million hits, and together with Peking Opera, Yu Opera, Yue Opera and Qin Cavity, it has become the most popular drama among netizens.

It is not unreasonable to worry that social transformation has lost tradition, but every iteration of traditional culture has created miracles. People who are afraid of the loss of drama should not worry, classic drama is still the favorite of young people. Huangmei opera "Female Horse", "Tianxian Match", Yu opera "Chaoyanggou", "Playing Jinzhi", Yue opera "Dream of the Red Chamber", "Liang Zhu", and many plays of Peking Opera have been warmly welcomed on the platform, with continuous praise, non-stop forwarding, interactive comments are even more wonderful, there are three words and two words from the heart, excellence in picking and choosing, and there are also short words and long words with high hopes. The beauty of the national essence is passed on in the subtle and disseminated in the living protection.

Grasping young people is grasping the future of theater inheritance. Today, it is certainly unrealistic to let young people with fast-paced lives and diversified consumption go to the theater to see the theater, the key lies in being close to the needs of young people and spreading traditional drama in a way that adapts to the lives of the young generation. You can use short videos to turn drama into zero, use wonderful clips to stimulate young people's enthusiasm for exploring dramas; cooperate with cultural elements such as cross-dressing, comics, rap, calligraphy, etc., make drama more fashionable, let young people involuntarily fall in love with drama; start with famous characters with their own traffic, and gather new online communities with unforgettable classic bridge sections... So and so, why worry that young people don't like to watch drama?

In fact, this interaction has become more and more vocal, and a group of young and powerful drama elites are trying to break the circle. Mao Weitao's "Butterfly Theater" of "Three Laughs" makes "Tang Bohu Dian Qiu Xiang" closer to the psychology of modern people, once launched, the offline theater is hot, and the online video screen has become an introductory drama that young fans are talking about. Wu Qiong of Huangmei Opera, Bian Jingting of Peking Opera, Ah Long of Qin Cavity, and Opera Celebrity of Yu Opera have all become popular figures for young people to follow opera.

The temporary slump of theater performances is certainly one of the reasons for the epidemic prevention and control, but the depth is because the external conditions of theatrical inheritance have changed. These two points force us to explore a new way of inheriting drama. Drama network communication this road is good, the formation of benign interaction, in time, "young people become the main force of listening to the play" is no longer news.

Guangming Daily (11th edition, December 16, 2021)

Source: Guangming Network - Guangming Daily