"Apricot Blossom Village" (written by Wu Zhi, Nan Huairong and Yang Shuqin) is a modern Meihu drama performed by the Mei Bowl Troupe of the Shaanxi Provincial Academy of Opera. In that year, it caused a "apricot blossom" fever in the ancient city of Xi'an.
"Apricot Blossom Village" condenses the vast rural real life on a small stage, and integrates the activities of various classes and characters in the countryside and their joys and sorrows into the development of the drama plot in the process of implementing and improving the production responsibility system. The author chose a village in the splendid Qinchuan River where the spring breeze of the Third Plenary Session of the CPC Central Committee was gently blown, arranged the specific contradictions and struggles among the members, cadres, brothers, concubines, sisters-in-law, sisters-in-law, newly married couples, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, nephews, and neighbors, and emphasized the rural masses' urgent hope for realizing the production responsibility system and their cheerful feelings for the implementation of the production responsibility system. After smashing the "Gang of Four," China's rural areas have gained a certain vitality and turnaround, but due to the influence of the "Left" ideology and certain ills in the management system, coupled with the improper work style of some cadres, this has affected the peasants' enthusiasm for production and the rapid recovery and development of the rural economy. Production captains like Feng Erqiang do not catch five times a year, but the work subsidies are very much: what meeting workers, negotiators, mediators, worries, there are all kinds of things. His "lady" is in charge of the key to the bullet cabinet, and when he opens a lock, he sees a ten-day division of labor, a sewing machine, a watch, a new fashion furniture, and a brick to the roof of the new house Lan Yingying. And a hard-working and simple peasant like his brother Feng Daqiang, a family of three laborers, no black and no clear work, pay off debts, eat relief grain, children get married three times and four times to ask for a house. In the apricot blossom village, "the spring is full of busy work, the cotton field has not been ploughed, the wheat field is barren and grass is formed into vines, the fertilizer and other manure are on the shoulders, the spring irrigation is unattended, and the agricultural machinery is damaged on the side of the road.", a swarm of bees on the ground, working and grinding foreign workers, eating big pots of rice, coarse oil and big twisting point "official lamps", the whole countryside appears to be poor and backward, and lacks the vitality it deserves.
If agriculture is to develop, it is necessary to implement a responsibility system for agricultural production in the management system. Although there is fierce opposition from the captain and the captain's wife in Xinghua Village, and the provocation and obstruction of the cowbell, this profound and complex social change that has affected hundreds of millions of people is the trend of the times, the desire of the people, and the irresistible. This drama vividly and truly reflects the scene of the peasant masses warmly welcoming the production responsibility system, showing the scene of our party members, new and old cadres enthusiastically propagating the party's policies, actively throwing themselves into the torrent of life and advancing together with the masses, and reflecting the inevitability, complexity, and profoundness of this change. The painstaking efforts and tears of the Daqiang family in implementing the production responsibility system are a vivid portrayal of the peasants' deep support and need for the responsibility system. Xinghua Village has become active again and jubilant in the implementation of the party's new policies, which is a microcosm of China's rural economy starting from stagnation. The content of this play is new, the ideas are new, and it is a passionate hymn of the new life in the countryside.
Most good dramas are not limited to the painting of the appearance of life, but focus on the internal heat flow of life and the excavation of the character's soul. The drama "Apricot" expresses the new life in the socialist countryside so full and abundant, full of heat and brilliance, and deeply excavates the inherent implication of life and the beauty of the spiritual world of new characters. Da Qiang's wife, the former women's captain of Xinghua Village, and the sister-in-law of the Communist Party member Wen Ying is a moving image of women in the new era. She is a Chinese woman who spent her childhood in the old society and grew up in new China, quiet and virtuous, deep and simple, and devoted to the cause of socialism. Although she was once dismissed from her post as a women's captain for resisting pompous style, the twists and turns of her life continued to be her love and vision for the party, the motherland, and the socialist collective cause. The child got married and did not have a house, she was not very anxious, she was anxious about the "big pot of rice" in the production of Xinghua Village, if not changed, how to build socialist modernization? She was anxious to find the second strong instead of asking for subsidies for herself, but seeing the beautiful scenery and steaming scene after the implementation of the co-production responsibility system in the neighboring villages, she asked Xinghua Village to do it in accordance with the spirit of the Third Plenary Session. Wen Ying told Er qiang about his personal experience, which was also the cry of the peasant masses from the bottom of their hearts. She is not a housewife who revolves around the pot, her husband, and her children, but a new woman who takes the construction of the countryside as her responsibility, is full of a sense of ownership and the sense of responsibility of the times, and actively participates in the construction of the four modernizations; she is not a "tide watcher" who wanders and wanders leisurely on the shore, but a "tide maker" who dares to jump into the era of riptide fighting wind and waves; she is not a house bird hiding under the eaves to seek comfort, but a petrel that breaks through the clouds and fog. She adheres to the principle of unremitting struggle against the second strongest, cowbell and so on. In order to develop collective production, she exchanged wheat seeds and delivered grain to the five aunts of the poor households under the condition of her own poor livelihood, showing a high degree of revolutionary nature and concern for the suffering of the people as a female Communist. She not only has the traditional virtues of a Chinese woman who respects her mother-in-law, pity husband, and beloved son, but also has the characteristics of a woman in the new era who is pungent and enthusiastic, who dares to fight against all kinds of unhealthy trends and evil tendencies, who dares to step on the "jujube thorns" and cross dangerous shoals. Her character is full of beauty, her image is vivid and vivid, and she has the value of stage art and life education. Other figures in Xinghua Village, such as Da Qiang, mainly portray his sincere support for the party's new policies and his deep hatred for the "big pot of rice". At the same time, he also wrote about his diligence and kindness, honesty and generosity, and the character of Chinese peasants who loved the country and the collective. Apricot Blossom is not only smart and strong, but also she has a reluctant pursuit and beautiful ideals for the new countryside and collective cause. She has an unconventional view of love, and her heart is like a clear stream! Neda, although he was a little impatient, he was fiercely emotional, industrious and simple, devoted to socialism, and had the vigor of a young man in the new era. In the play, it is the two strong couples with the biggest problems; on the one hand, they criticize their selfish and backward ideas, but also write that they love life, have the courage to accept new ideas, dare to take up their own "baggage", and keep up with the pace of the times.
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The spirit of the times is strong, the atmosphere of life is strong, and the language is lively and funny, which is an important feature of the "Apricot" drama art. On the basis of the good foundation provided by the script, the actors carefully recreated the art from the perspective of life. Such as Yuqin, Niu Ling, county party committee adviser Han Yunting, Feng Daqiang, Wen Yingjie, etc. all played with sound and color, had distinct personalities, and had great inner passion. Starting from the character, the actors carefully pondered the role's pitcher, a foot, a look, a smile and a rage, and strived to be personality and artistic. "Apricot Blossom Village" has carried out a bold reform in the musical singing voice, from a relatively simple set of local small dramas to a set of expressive singing voices; on the basis of using the basic mode of Meido, a large number of musical singing voices such as Qin Cavity and Shanxi Zizi are absorbed to express a variety of character personalities and rich and complex character feelings. Although there are still some blunt points in this regard, this spirit of innovation and experimentation is welcomed by the masses of the people and is invaluable. In stage art, a new style was also explored, imaginary writing in real scenes, realistic in virtual scenes, and depicting the new socialist countryside as warm, full and open, prosperous, idyllic and sensual, rich in the characteristics of the Guanzhong Plain.
The predecessor of the Xiqu Research Institute was the People's Theater Troupe of the Yan'an Period, and it was a new literary and art group nurtured by our party under the spirit of the "Speech at the Yan'an Literary and Art Forum." They have always maintained close ties with the times and the masses of the people, maintained a glorious revolutionary tradition, and persisted in acting in modern dramas. In recent years, although due to the influence of bourgeois liberalization ideas, some people have raised doubts about their path, and there have been different comments on their achievements. [But they didn't waver in their direction, they didn't slow down. They went up to the mountains and the countryside to rehearse modern plays, and although they had difficulty in walking, they were warmly welcomed and helped by the people, especially the peasant masses. The drama "Apricot" is the product of their in-depth life and the combination with the peasant masses in the new period. In order to write and perform this play well, the author, director, actor, and comrades of stage art and music design have all gone to the hancheng countryside on the banks of the Yellow River to familiarize themselves with life and understand the situation. The "Apricot" drama is not only the crystallization of the hard work of the comrades of the Mei Bowl Troupe, but also the artistic flowers watered by the peasant masses with painstaking efforts and love. The peasant masses' love for it, and the authors' and cast members' obsession with it, all contain a deep affection for the party, for the new era and new life of socialism, and for the cause of socialist drama!
(Text/Han Wangyu)