"Su Dongpo, Happy 985th Birthday", on January 8, the 985th birthday of "Xueba" Su Dongpo was on the hot search of major social media, and the Capricorn "Treasure Boy" was "out of the circle" again as a cultural idol of many young people today. Five days apart, the large-scale original tin drama "Su Dongpo" was amazingly premiered at the Phoenix Valley Grand Theater in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province on the evening of January 13, recreating the legendary story of "Su Shi became Su Dongpo" on the theater stage, once again paying tribute to this ancient literary hero.
The tin opera "Su Dongpo" is jointly created by the Xi Opera Troupe of Jiangsu Performing Arts Group and the Tin Theater of Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province, with Zhang Hong, associate professor of the Department of Drama and Literature of Shanghai Theater Academy, as the screenwriter, directed by Han Jianying, a national first-class director, starring Zhou Dongliang, winner of the Plum Blossom Award, Wenhua Award, Shanghai Magnolia Protagonist Award, and contemporary tin opera performance artist Zhou Dongliang, the president and secretary of Changzhou Tin Theater and a national first-class actor, as the female number one, and many big names in the industry have joined in. The drama has received strong support from the Propaganda Department of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee and the Propaganda Department of the Changzhou Municipal Party Committee, and was selected as a special funding project for the development of publicity and culture in Jiangsu Province in 2020. On the night of the premiere, the relevant leaders of the Propaganda Department of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee, the Jiangsu Performing Arts Group, the Propaganda Department of the Changzhou Municipal Party Committee and other departments attended the live performance and gave high praise.
A drama to understand: "Why did Su Shi become Su Dongpo"
The 985-year-old Su Dongpo has received a number of birthday posts on the Internet, and some netizens have counted that the "hehe" in his writings has appeared more than forty times. Su Shi's life was bumpy and rich, stumbling and affectionate. However, he is free and optimistic, even if life is really hard, he always pays "huh" a smile. The tin drama "Su Dongpo" intercepts his life experience from the ages of 44 to 54, of which the four years of being degraded to Huangzhou become the top priority of the entire play: in the second year of Yuanfeng, Su Shi was imprisoned in Wutai for more than 100 days for criticizing the new law, and was pardoned and exiled to Huangzhou. At the low tide of life, Su Shi unexpectedly found the freedom of "unknown people" and the happiness of being supported by the people, and he became a farmer who ploughed the fields with peace of mind, calling himself "Dongpo". After that, I personally tasted the sweetness and bitterness of the harvest, and gradually realized that the new Fa also had merit. Later, Emperor Shenzong invited Su Shi to return to the temple, and in the midst of the dilemma, Su Shi sailed through Chibi, dreamed of the Three Kingdoms, realized that "the heroes of the wind and currents are all in the past, and the yang yang is eternal", and decided to put the people of the world first, take the gain and loss of oneself as the light, and return to the north...
"This is a very flavorful drama that needs to be slowly tasted", as director Han Jianying said, the tin drama "Su Dongpo" did not choose the "Wutai Poetry Case" with great dramatic conflict and intolerable between the two factions as the main plot focus, but focused on describing Su Shi's exile life after being degraded to Huangzhou, through the interaction with the local people, Taishou, Chaoyun... Even in the dialogue with themselves, they gradually realized many understandings of being a person, an official, and a politician, so that the audience could feel empathy and give birth to a deeper thinking space after "watching the play". "'Su Dongpo' begins with Su Shi in prison to be degraded in Huangzhou, taking the audience to know and feel little by little, how he changed from the literati Su Shi in the past to the 'Su Dongpo' who reclaimed ten acres of slope land to live a life of farming, writing poetry and cooking, and the profound changes in his outlook on life, values and aesthetic tastes brought about by this change in identity," said Zhou Dongliang, a tin opera artist who played Su Dongpo. This is also the original intention of screenwriter Zhang Hong, "From the Wutai poetry case to the Huangzhou decade, this experience is Su Shi's transformation and nirvana." Before this, he was Su Shi, who came to Huangzhou to cultivate his land and call himself the eastern slope, and also entered a broader realm of life."
The details are invincible: Su Zi Song painting literati bamboo, all into the stage
Su Shi Zengyun: It is better to eat without meat than to live without bamboo. why? Because: no meat makes people thin, no bamboo makes people vulgar. Bamboo not only represents the high quality of Su Shi's life, but also has an indissoluble relationship with the literati of chinese dynasties, who love bamboo since ancient times. The ingenuity of the tin opera "Su Dongpo" is also reflected in the careful polishing of the work in many details, such as the first thing that enters the audience's field of vision is a huge circular device suspended in the middle of the stage: up to ten meters in diameter, can be rotated, can be lifted and lowered, with the change of lighting and music, it can play a variety of magical roles in promoting the plot with the stage. What is it? It is a careful and bold design made by Ni Fang, the stage design of the play: a diagonal section of bamboo, "it represents Su Shi's lifelong pursuit, living without bamboo, the drama can not be without bamboo." In addition to the role of imagery, this "bamboo curtain" can also achieve stage effects such as dividing time and space and interpreting "play within a play", "He represents Su Dongpo's spiritual universe, and after the performance begins, this stage is the audience's, and you can have more explanations and imaginations."
The tin drama "Su Dongpo" is everywhere "Su Dongpo", and the drama can be described as full of details. Before seeing the huge surprise of the "bamboo curtain", the "second curtain" of the stage slowly presented the title of "Su Dongpo" of "Su Body", these three words are indeed derived from the original handwriting of Su Dongpo, and the crew decided to adopt the way of "collecting characters" in Su Dongpo's calligraphy works after many discussions, and find the most suitable three words to spell out the most "sincere" title. In addition to the Su word and more Su words, Su Shi left many masterpieces in his life, in the play "The boat has passed away, Jiang Hai has sent the rest of his life", "the great river goes east, the waves are exhausted, the ancient wind and current characters" "This peace of mind is my hometown" and other famous Su Shi works have been integrated into the plot, "Water Tune Song Head · When is the Bright Moon" is even more re-composed and sung as a theme song, the melody is from elegant to gentle, and then to the excitement and exuberance, both dramatic and quite ancient temperament, in advance after the "Tin Drama" public number platform spoilers, fans have said that this song "has great explosive potential" 。
In addition, Song painting is considered to be the peak of a minimalist aesthetic in the history of Chinese art, on the stage of "Su Dongpo", "Night Tour chibi" and other key plots, idyllic and poetic Song paintings are used in the stage background, a simple, elegant Song Dynasty scene, the city jumped on the stage. As an extremely rare masterpiece in Song paintings, Su Shi's "Dead Wood Strange Stone Diagram" was also made into props to appear on the stage, which shows the intention of the creator.
Realizing the dream of Changzhou: Inside and outside the drama, this peace of mind is my hometown
"Go to the purple silk, wear cloth, enjoy the late scenery of Changzhou", at the end of the whole play, between the rivers and rivers of Changzhou, the voice of Su Shi and the people in his later years was transmitted to the sky... Su Dongpo's biggest dream in his life is that he can "end up in Changzhou" in his old age without worry, because the folk customs here are simple, the landscape is beautiful, and the culture is magnificent. However, although he grew old in Changzhou in his later years, he could not help but be turbulent, and he tasted hardships and people's livelihood all over his life, and finally achieved the unique Su Dongpo. On the stage, the director and screenwriter helped him realize a complete "Changzhou dream" with such a combination of virtual and real, and Su Dongpo issued an exclamation that "my heart is at peace is my hometown".
At the same time, outside the play, Zhou Dongliang, the "prince of tin opera" who played Su Dongpo, also fulfilled his "Su Dongpo dream". Who doesn't love Su Dongpo? Su Dongpo is a household name and has countless fans of ancient literature, but how to present a flesh-and-blood Su Dongpo on the stage that makes the audience identify is a difficult task. The creation of "Su Dongpo" has always been a stage dream of Zhou Dongliang, for why the first performance of the tin opera troupe in 2022 was set as "Su Dongpo" and premiered in Changzhou, Zhou Dongliang said that Su Dongpo has a fondness for Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, 13 times in his life, 13 times through Changzhou, of which there are 5 times clearly recorded in historical records, leaving behind the feeling of "poor provenance for thirty years, not a day to forget Wuzhou", and finally died in Changzhou. "Tin opera, formerly known as Tan Spring, originated in Wuxi and Changzhou. It is very appropriate to use the drama genre of tin drama to reflect Su Shi's open-mindedness and optimism. "The singing voice part of the tin opera "Su Dongpo" follows tradition, presenting a tin opera taste in addition to the original taste. In terms of character shaping, Zhou Dongliang played the talented and optimistic Su Dongpo. In fact, in order to better enter Su Dongpo, during the creation of the platoon, Zhou Dongliang read a large number of Su Dongpo's works and text and video materials, and also had a deeper understanding of Su Dongpo, "Going with the flow is Su Dongpo's attitude towards life." But it should be seen that everywhere he goes, he can take root, sprout, blossom, bear fruit, and burst into new sparks. ”
Yangzi Evening News | Purple Cow News reporter Shen Zhao
Source: Purple Cow News