2021 marks the 111th anniversary of the birth of Cao Yu, the founder of modern Chinese drama. In this year, the Beijing International Drama Center CaoYu Theater of Beijing People's Art Theater was officially put into use, and the opening of the theater staged three new rehearsals of "Thunderstorm", "Sunrise" and "Wilderness" 3 Cao Yu classic works. In addition, the Tianjin People's Art Theater has also rearranged two plays, "Thunderstorm" and "Sunrise"; the continuous stage plays "Thunderstorm" and "After Thunderstorm" produced by Yanghua Theater have toured the country...
Over the years, Cao Yu's classic works have been continuously put on the stage in various art forms, and people's attention and research on Cao Yu have never stopped. In the face of the audience of the new era, how should we inherit these classic works?
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Condensing the zeitgeist and connecting the emotions of the moment
On September 24, 1910, tianjin Xiaobailou Wanjia ushered in a young son, and his grandmother named him Jiabao, nicknamed Tianjia, which was Cao Yu. Cao Yu spent his adolescence by the Haihe River, although he had no worries about food and clothing, but the repressed family environment and the grief of losing his mother since childhood made his young heart full of bitterness.
Cao Yu has loved literature and drama since childhood, and at the age of 23, his bitterness came out with his words, and he wrote "Thunderstorm", a landmark work in the history of Chinese drama. After that, he created many plays such as "Sunrise", "Wilderness", and "Beijinger".
These plays are not only popular among the population, but also have an enduring artistic charm, not only translated into English, French, Russian, German, Italian and other languages, but also performed in various theaters and Chinese and foreign stages. His plays have also been adapted into films, television dramas, dance dramas, operas, Peking operas, local operas and other art forms.
"Cao Yu's theatrical works have a very prominent position in the history of modern Chinese drama, and have had an unprecedented impact on the establishment and development of modern Chinese theater. Because of Cao Yu and his works, Modern Chinese Drama has been greatly created and developed, and the influence and vitality of Cao Yu's works have surpassed the times and are a remarkable existence. Ren Ming, president of the Beijing People's Art Theater, said.
Song Baozhen, director of the Drama Research Institute of the China Academy of Arts, said in the article "Commemorating the 110th Anniversary of Cao Yu's Birth" that starting from the reality of existence, Cao Yu felt helpless and sad about the weakness and fate of human beings, but he unconsciously used dialectical thinking methods to see the richness and complexity of human existence and human nature connotations, and showed deep compassion for unfortunate people. Therefore, a series of characters he wrote formed a distinct group portrait of that era and that society, and they not only had the texture of life and the connotation of human nature, but also the brand of the times and the charm of philosophy. "The people in Cao Yu's drama and today's audience can still have a certain spiritual connection and emotional resonance. Excellent creators are the life of the times acting on the mind and forging in the furnace of art. Song Baozhen said.
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Dig inward into the script and transform the expression outward
Cao Yu's plays not only have a deep humanistic spirit, but also have a meticulous depiction of human profundity and complexity, and their realism has a strong openness. In many of Cao Yu's theatrical works staged in 2021, the creators have carried out more in-depth excavations in theatrical texts and made various innovations that conform to the aesthetics of today's audiences.
▲ Stills of the new row of "Sunrise" (Courtesy of Beijing Renyi)
Cao Yu Theater's opening drama "Sunrise" uses projection to show the audience the two performance areas at the same time, so that characters from different time and space meet on the stage and fully display the characters' mental journey. "What's new is not just the form on stage, but more in the content. In this new rehearsal, the crew retrieved the abridged parts of the original performances in the original versions of Cao Yu's 80,000-word script, and strengthened the expression of some characters. We strive to be faithful to the original, excavate the original, and then express a modern sense, so that the younger generation of audiences can more easily resonate. The director of the play, Feng Yuanzheng, said.
▲ Stills of the new version of "Thunderstorm" (Courtesy of Beijing Renyi)
Beijing Renyi's new version of "Thunderstorm" is based on the original uncut script in 1934, redesigning the prologue and epilogue, the prologue is interpreted behind the curtain, the traditional, tame waiter and the prosperity of the times and resistance have left Zhou Puyuan; and at the end, those young people who were killed stand up from the dead ground and walk towards history with umbrellas. Ding Mingyong, a professor at the Drama Research Institute of the China Academy of Arts, believes that this version of "Thunderstorm" meets the audience's expectations for reshaping the classics and injects new vitality into Beijing Renyi. The cloudy sky, the curtain at the end of the prologue, the light and dark contrast, the death of the three young people and the attendant Ping in Zhou Puyuan's memories have all been moved to the front of the stage, expanding the hidden space and time of the original work, giving people great impact and shock.
▲ Stills of the new version of "Wilderness" (Courtesy of Beijing Renyi)
In the creation of the new version of "Wilderness", the artists of Beijing Renyi hope to combine the symbolism, expressionism and oriental aesthetics in the works, present a concept and relationship of "heaven, earth, and man", show a space connecting heaven and hell on the stage, and the emotional actions and behavioral psychology of the characters are constantly struggling and searching, and they can become angels and demons. To this end, the new version of "Wilderness" will find another way in terms of stage, lighting, music, or actor shape and modeling performance, not only in the form of dolls, but also in the form of a trio of live bands, from the visual, auditory and other aspects to achieve a sense of integration of psychological feelings and stage environment.
Yanghua Drama invited French director Eric La Casscade to bundle "Thunderstorm" with "Thunderstorm" created by Cao Yu's daughter Wan Fang as a "liantai play", deeply interpreting the subtleness of human nature in "Thunderstorm" and finally reconciling the living Zhou Puyuan, Fanyi and Lu Shuping. Eric La Cascade gives Thunderstorm a marbled canopy, and After Thunderstorm is poetically presented, making the former the most visually modern and fashionable version, while the latter becomes an emotional interpretation of humanity and warmth and optimism.
For the continuous performance of new Cao Yu plays in recent years, bai Ying, a critic and director, said metaphorically: "The difficulty of rehearsing classic works is like brushing away the dust that has covered the classic works over the years, and soaking the negatives of classic works in the developer fluid." ”
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Only by abiding by integrity can we innovate and conform to the spirit of the times
Classic charm can span time and space. Like "Thunderstorm", some people are obsessed with its dramatic structure, and some people love its depiction of human nature. Its themes have been interpreted differently in different eras, from the original social problem drama, to the later anti-feudal, anti-patriarchal, and then to today's Eric La Casscade dissecting five layers of connotations - about desire, love, soul mate search, despair, death; there are women under the patriarchal family, the vision of wanting to live freely; and the struggle between father and son.
In recent years, adaptations of Cao Yu's works have emerged in an endless stream, and some adaptations have even caused a lot of controversy. For the adaptation of classics, experts and scholars agree that we should adhere to the principle of innovation, keep the attention to the dilemma of human existence in Cao Yu's works, reveal the diversity and complexity of people, show compassion for humanistic care, profound philosophical depth, and excavate the spirit of realism. On this basis, with new technologies and new means, we will stimulate creative inspiration, enrich cultural connotations, express ideas and emotions, and make creations present a new realm with more connotation and more potential, which is an adaptation that conforms to the spirit of the times.
January 13, 2022 China Culture Daily
Special reports were published on the 5th edition
"Facing the Audience of the New Era."
"Goodbye Cao Yu": How should the classic works be passed on? 》
Editor-in-charge: Chen Xiaoyue