Meet in Beijing explores how theatre responds to a fast-moving world

With the rise of various forms of entertainment culture and the global pandemic, how does the theatre industry respond to the fast-moving outside world? At the "Meet in Beijing" Olympic Cultural Festival and the 22nd "Meet in Beijing" International Arts Festival Art Forum held from January 14 to 16, many theater experts exchanged views on this theme.

Cao Lusheng, a professor at the Shanghai Theater Academy, said: "The epidemic cannot be forever. The biggest feature of the stage play is to communicate directly with the audience, which is the biggest charm, so there will definitely be a rebound in the future. Speaking of the creation of dramatic content, Cao Lusheng believes, "When a big era comes, when a big change comes, it is the easiest time to produce dramatic works, because everyone will encounter various problems in this change, and they all have their sadness, joy, love and hate, which is the eternal theme of drama." Now many young people like the national style, to let young people like, it is necessary to creatively inherit and transform, so that traditional things have a sense of the moment, a sense of modernity, so that young audiences can feel empathy, causing empathy. There are more and more crossover performance forms now, which is a trend and I am very much looking forward to it. ”

Zhang Haijun, chairman of beijing performance co., ltd. and president of the Beijing performance industry association, took "shouzheng innovation" as the foundation and talked about the relationship between the four "changes" and four "unchanged" of literary and artistic creation in response to the development of the times. He believes that "literary and art workers and art creators should take the initiative to seek changes in ideology and cognition, accurately identify technological innovation, respond scientifically to performance scenes, and change with the trend in communication media." At the same time, it is necessary to ensure that the original intention of artistic creation cannot be changed, spread the truth, goodness and beauty, flogg the false and the ugly, and serve the people; the observance of artistic creation cannot be changed, it must come from life, and it is higher than life; the ontological law of artistic creation cannot be changed, and forms and technologies cannot be blindly abused; the pursuit of artistic creation cannot be changed, and we must attach importance to stage performance skills. We must have a reverence for art and a professional heart, work hard, practice real skills, and seek truth and people's livelihood. ”

National first-class screenwriter Lin Weiran believes that "no matter how the times change, only with the unchanging thinking and concentration of ever-changing ideas and concentrations, can creators maintain the heart of a child, can they constantly refresh themselves, and cope with the ever-changing environment." ”

"The epidemic has completely destroyed the main traditional field on which the theater depends, and the theater has to look for online possibilities. Online communication, as a popularization and popularization, has a very important significance. "International theatre producer and former Royal Shakespeare producer Weng Shihui introduced the two "firsts" produced in the UK after technology and artificial intelligence intervened in creation: one is that the Royal Shakespeare Company cooperated with Intel in 2018 to use performance capture technology to render digital characters, presenting a completely virtual character on stage. "In the "The Tempest" performance, the actors hid behind, with more than 100 touchpoints on their bodies, and the entire character was created in a virtual avatar. This play is a new attempt in the theater industry, a combination of technology and drama, so that everyone feels fresh and possible. The other is that the Royal Opera House did a play adapted from "The Tempest" before the epidemic. It's a VR scene where the audience enters the arena wearing VR equipment, and at the end, it's a 15-minute experience of opera, vision, and music. Weng Shihui believes that "the combination of drama and technology is not a new thing, all kinds of attempts are beneficial, if this technology touches your senses and heart, it is beneficial." The combination of technology and drama, if you can find the core point, is very interesting, if you can't find the core point, it is to burn money. ”

Song Zhige, director of the International Cultural Exchange Teaching and Research Office of the China Academy of Performing Arts, concluded: "We must seize this era and conform to the changes brought about by technological progress, and on this basis, we must return to the ontology of theatrical art, grasp the ontology, grasp the ontology, and at the same time can cross-border and innovate, seize the progress brought by science and technology, plug in the wings on the cloud, and better help the development of the theater industry." ”