In 2021, under the repeated impact of the epidemic, opera creation and performance still went to a high point in terms of artistic practice in response to the concerns of the current era. As an important node in China's social development, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China is an important theme in 2021, and is the cultural focus of all industries in China, including the opera industry, which is the focus and praise of acura. As General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, "the great road opened up, the great cause created and the great achievements made in the past hundred years will surely be recorded in the history of the development of the Chinese nation and the history of the development of human civilization", in the process of realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, the inheritance and development of Chinese opera art is deeply immersed in the party's practical ideological guidance and artistic orientation to Chinese culture in the past hundred years. In 2021, the mainland has won a comprehensive victory in the battle against poverty, which is a key year for the party to lead the people to achieve the first centenary goal and build a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way, and the role and influence of revolutionary culture and advanced socialist culture have been more fully demonstrated. The "Seminar on Red Literature and Art Classics in the Centenary of the Founding of the Party" sponsored by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, the China Appraisal Association and other units comprehensively observed the profound influence of revolutionary culture on China's culture and art from the theoretical level, and also deeply responded to the fundamental role of the party's literary and art policies on the inheritance and development of literature and art, which is an important prerequisite for rational understanding of the 2021 annual opera creation and performance.
Hot phenomenon 1: "One Hundred Years" opera fine creation
In 2021, the opera industry focused on the creation and performance of revolutionary cultural themes and realistic themes, which deeply revealed the guidance of the party's policies on the art of opera in the past hundred years, and constituted the cultural background of Chinese opera seeking modernization. Organized and compiled by the Chinese Dramatists Association and published by the Writers Publishing House, the "Collection of 100 Excellent Plays" includes 58 opera works as much as possible based on the principle of one playwright per person and one play. In the "National Treasures - 100 Kinds of Outstanding Repertoire of Chinese Ethnic Minority Opera", organized by the Xiqu Research Institute of the China Academy of Arts and edited by Wang Kui, 101 fine repertoire of ethnic minority opera are included as much as possible, and the representative works of Chinese opera in the past century are collected. These creations constantly present the specific practice of the Communist Party of China in reforming the art of opera in the past hundred years, and also prominently present a diversified path that conforms to the law of the creation of opera art, whether it is the genre of creation based on the theme of "three simultaneous moves" or the different creative personalities of playwrights, which are the creative guarantees for promoting the prosperity of opera art.
"Collection of 100 Excellent Plays"
In 2021, the "100 Years and 100 Works" stage art creation project promoted by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism has made an artistic presentation that responds to the concerns of the times in order to greet the centenary of the founding of the Party with more abundant and diversified creations. On this basis, the Propaganda Department of the CPC Central Committee, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles combined with the repertoire foundation of the "100 Years of 100 Works" to absorb a total of 140 outstanding works from relevant provinces and cities, and held the "Excellent Stage Art Works Exhibition and Performance celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China", combined with the exhibition and performance activities of relevant provinces and cities to celebrate the centenary of the founding of the Party, forming a tribute of opera art to the centenary of the founding of the Party. In particular, the "100-year-old 100-part" project includes a 100-part creation plan based on originals in recent years, a 100-part traditional boutique rearrangement plan based on fine works from previous years, and a "100-year 100-item" creation plan based on small works, and 100 stage art masterpieces are selected each. The first two major drama works have attracted the most attention, involving 38 drama genres, a total of 72 opera works, of which modern themes account for 2/3.
In the "100 Years and 100 Works" works, in addition to the traditional fine product rearrangement plan to include a large proportion of the classic works that have been performed on the opera stage for decades, the "Creation Plan" is basically based on revolutionary and realistic themes, and many works are newly created and outstanding works that have been focused on on the art platforms at or above the provincial level since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, including the Yu opera "Jiao Yulu" and "Chongdugou" that won the Wenhua Award and the "Five One Project" award, the Gannan tea picking drama "Eight Sons Join the Army", the Huai opera "Town", the commentary drama "Mother", the Qin Cavity "The Army", the Qin Cavity ". The Sound of Flowers", "Wang Gui and Li Xiangxiang", Su Opera "Guoding Soul", Fujian Opera "Life", Burlesque Drama "Chen Yisheng's Eating Problem", Hebei Zizi "Li Baoguo" and so on. These works vividly outline the dynamic century-old history of China with their strong drama personality and local personality, and publicize China's historical development laws and social progress achievements over the past century through vivid artistic images and works. Among them, it also includes new creations in the past two years, especially the works that have just premiered and accepted in 2021, such as the commentary drama "Revolutionary Family", the Gannan tea picking drama "One Man's Long March", the Qiong opera "The Red Flag Does Not Fall", the Huangmei opera "Immortal Sun", etc., although these works have different artistic qualities, they all show a strong atmosphere of the times because the theme is in line with the theme of the era of the centennial celebration.
Gannan Tea Picking Drama "One Man's Long March"
As a practical practice of Chinese opera to closely grasp the pulse of the times and promote artistic creation to a peak, the creation and performance of "One Hundred Works in a Hundred Years" is not only a manifestation of the achievements of opera artists following the party in the past hundred years, but also a law that conforms to the artistic tradition of nearly a thousand years. For example, commentary is a mature drama that accompanies the transformation of Chinese society, modern drama is one of its areas of expertise, "Revolutionary Family" is another masterpiece of creative transformation of the creator on the basis of previous creative experience, based on the prototype of film and reportage, and its singing and performing arts can well reflect the contemporary style of the art of drama criticism. The Gannan tea picking drama has long been a folk local drama, good at two small and three small dramas, with the change of the aesthetic needs of the times, the drama is positioned in the tea picking song and dance drama and has obtained the expansion of the artistic body. "One Man's Long March" enriches and develops traditional artistic means such as short steps, three-cavity and one-tone, and Gannan blowing with mature works of art, effectively expands the performance ability of dramas with practical artistic construction, and highlights the characteristics of the personality of the dramas and the characteristics of the dramas that are good at performing the themes of the Red Revolution. Through the unique character image of the mule, the play prominently shapes the ideological awakening of the general public in the revolutionary theme, and becomes a unique new creation of this year.
Hot phenomenon two: the institutionalization and protection of opera art
2021 marks the 20th anniversary of Kunqu art being declared by UNESCO as one of the world's first "masterpieces of oral heritage and intangible heritage of mankind", and the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Suzhou Kunqu Opera Institute, which has had a major impact on preserving the classical remnants and restoring artistic traditions in the history of Kunqu. As an important representative of China's excellent traditional culture, the inheritance, protection and development of Kunqu opera art has always been an important model for Chinese opera to learn from, whether it is the promotion of the vigorous growth of many local operas by the development experience of "Kunqu as a teacher" in modern times, or the overall protection of Traditional Chinese Culture driven by the experience of the protection of Kunqu Intangible Cultural Heritage since the new century, all of which have been better promoted by the unique development rules of this ancient drama genre that cross the boundaries between classical and modern, cross the traditional national art and share the cultural form with the world.
The protection of Kunqu art in the past 20 years has provided an experience and path of universal significance for the overall development of Chinese opera in four aspects: institutional protection, professional protection, academic protection and ecological protection. With the input of the concept of "intangible cultural heritage" and the convergence of traditional cultural protection experience, ecological protection is regarded as an important position to solve the effective inheritance and orderly development of intangible cultural heritage projects. In the more than 600 years of history of Kunqu Opera, based on the ontological aesthetic principles of Kunqu opera that deeply carry the ontological aesthetic principles of classical Chinese opera, it is also deeply infiltrated into the cultural life of China's diverse ethnic groups, especially the artistic achievements of Kunqu opera in the fields of literature, music, song and dance, which are most mainly reflected in the poetic literary realm and classical performance system, showing a strong tendency of specialization, academicization and ecology. The formation of these empirical models and the normative requirements for kunqu inheritance groups, ontological content, cultural quality, etc., have ensured that this ancient drama has been alive and well for hundreds of years.
The achievements in the protection of Kunqu opera since the new century first come from the great importance attached by the party and the state to kunqu art. Based on the guidance of national projects such as the "National Kunqu Art Rescue, Protection and Support Project Implementation Plan" and "Famous Family Opera - Contemporary Kunqu Famous Artists Receiving Apprentices and Passing On Art Project", Kunqu Opera Protection connects contemporary national protection with the management of the official system in history under the principle of government leadership, laying a solid foundation for the inheritance and development of Kunqu Opera. Although the "institutionalized" protection of Kunqu opera cannot completely change many problems that have arisen in the reform of the opera system, stable policy guarantees have also made the overall development of kunqu opera troupes tend to be benign. In 2021, "Qu Qiubai", created by the Kun Theatre of Jiangsu Performing Arts Group, attracted hot reviews at the 8th China Kunqu Opera Arts Festival, and the Kun opera style and Nankun personality adhered to in his art, as well as the modern stage rhythm and aesthetic taste pursued in his creation, all made this revolutionary theme play written about Qu Qiubai, the early leader of the Communist Party of China, gain wide attention. This work is an important masterpiece in the field of modern Kunqu opera creation on the basis of the theater's long-term traditional accumulation, on the basis of the creation of various types of plays such as "Drunken Heart Flower", "Six Memories of Floating Life", "ShiShu Xinyu", "Mei Lanfang Meilang", "Jujiang City" and other types of plays in recent years, and together with "Sister Jiang", "Half a Quilt", "Own Descendants" at this Kunqu Opera Art Festival, it proves that ancient Kunqu opera can successfully control modern opera creation. Behind the continuous success of the original works of Kunqu Opera in Jiangsu Province, the script literature-led creation and performance mechanism formed by playwright Luo Zhou, Kunqu art inheritors Shi Xiaomei and Zhang Hong and the fourth generation of young people of Kunqu Opera in Jiangsu Province has become a unique mechanism guarantee in the development of the academy and troupe, which is in harmony with the institutionalization, specialization, academicization and ecological protection of Kunqu opera as a whole.
Kunqu opera "Qu Qiubai"
The hot phenomenon of Kunqu opera "Qu Qiubai" and Kunqu modern opera is a reflection of the extensive performance of modern opera in the field of Kunqu opera this year, and it is also a concentrated reflection of the creative breakthrough of Kunqu opera under the guidance of institutionalized protection in the past 20 years. This has further triggered our expectations for the institutionalization of opera. In 2021, local opera regulations such as the Regulations on the Protection of Fujian Opera in Fuzhou City, the Regulations on the Protection of Huai Opera in Yancheng City, the Regulations on the Protection and Inheritance of Qin Cavity Art in Shaanxi Province, the Regulations on the Protection and Inheritance of Chao opera in Shantou City, and the Regulations on the Protection of Traditional Local Drama in Nanchong City have been introduced, and it is worth waiting to see whether the experience of Kunqu opera protection combined with the unique development path of local opera genres can achieve a new breakthrough in opera creation and performance.
Hot phenomenon three: the creative diversification of theater troupes
After the Cantonese opera film "The Legend of the White Snake" was successfully transformed from stage to film in 2021, it quickly exceeded 20 million at the box office, which can be called the most successful work of the opera film box office in recent years. This "circle-breaking" Cantonese opera film is in stark contrast to the snubbed situation of many previous opera films, and many young audiences are attracted by the ink-painting style scenes in the film. Those imaginary imaginations of the immortal world paved with the help of film stunts accommodate the vocal cavity rhyme of Cantonese opera and the creation of techniques such as "water sleeves hitting hands" on the stage, so that the principles of opera performance and the narrative method of the film can be intertwined and integrated. Especially in cities outside the Cantonese opera streaming area, young audiences who have come into contact with Cantonese opera for the first time through movies have gained a new artistic experience in the theater. The film uses the dark tone presented by ink to show the poignant color of the "White Snake" story for "love", highlighting the tragic breakthrough of "love" external bondage; while the theater highlights the sound and light color of opera, especially in scenes such as "Stolen Immortal Grass" and "Water Bucket", which has a wonderful and confusing effect in Cantonese opera stage art, synthesizing the art of opera poetry, music, song and dance, forming a beautiful audio-visual image. Two different aesthetic environments and appreciation perspectives have enabled "White Snake Romance" to gain a diverse audience with different media spaces.
The "breaking of the circle" of the drama is actually the result of Cantonese opera seeking marketization. In the history of the development of Cantonese opera, it has always marked the personality of the drama genre with a distinct urban cultural personality, especially in modern times, the Cantonese opera class society with the provincial And Hong Kong University class as the carrier is deeply active in the commercial environment of Guangzhou, Hong Kong and other places, and has long tried to cross the carrier of Cantonese opera films. In the era of sound films, many Cantonese opera actors were stage and film amphibians, which promoted the production of nearly a thousand Cantonese opera films in Hong Kong in the 1950s and 1960s. Since the new century, Cantonese opera has not given up the exploration of marketization, in recent years, "Decisive Battle of TianceFu" will combine online games with stage performances, the rearrangement of southern martial arts opera has made traditional martial arts opera a hot spot in the development of Cantonese opera, and the economic benefits of traditional spring class performances that have become more prominent in the epidemic have echoed the aesthetic demands of Lingnan's commercial and cultural environment, so that Cantonese opera has always maintained a rational pursuit in the commercial market in the promotion of intangible cultural heritage protection, which is also an important insistence of Cantonese opera in continuing the personality of traditional commercial culture.
This kind of commercialization and marketization appeal similar to Cantonese opera is actually the long-term pursuit of many opera genres after many theater and troupe system reforms in the reform and opening up for more than 40 years.
Color tune drama "New Liu Sanjie"
For example, the "New Liu Sanjie" created by the Guangxi Drama Theater has been polished many times in 2021, and the color tune drama "Liu Sanjie" premiered in 1958 and the film of the same name shot according to it will transform the classic tunes and styles into emotional stories with the texture of contemporary life by expressing the theme of new rural construction, highlighting the connotation and extension of "Liu Sanjie culture" for contemporary life and the ideal of the new era. Six generations of color artists have promoted the "Liu Sanjie culture" in half a century, realizing the compatibility and transformation of Lingnan's "Liu Sanjie" from classical meaning to realistic quality. This kind of "Liu Sanjie Phenomenon", which is promoted based on the creation and performance of "New Liu Sanjie", has also become an important brand for Guangxi Drama Theater to promote performance fashion. The Fujian Xianyou County Lisheng Theater Troupe is an important heritage theater of Puxian opera, the oldest in China, and has created a large number of excellent original works in the more than 60 years since its establishment, such as "After the Reunion", "Spring Grass Breaking Into the Hall", "New Pavilion Tears" and other works. In 2021, the troupe will rearrange the traditional famous drama "Mu Lian", which brings together a rich traditional Science and Technology Drama, and rearrange and sort out according to the version of the old artists at the end of the 1980s, which will undoubtedly have important significance in restoring the artistic tradition of Puxian opera and expanding the artistic influence of Puxian opera as an ancient drama. In addition, after the successful interpretation of Shanghai opera in 2012, "Woman Picking The Mountain" was transplanted to the Stage of Huangmei Opera in 2021, and the drama currently has 5 versions of Shanghai Opera, Yu Opera, Zhuang Opera, Pu Opera and Huangmei Opera. The transplantation and adaptation of contemporary masterpieces has enabled the creation of drama genres to obtain the classicity of works of literature and performance, and has also become an important guarantee for drama genres to maintain artistic ecology and expand artistic influence.
The above-mentioned drama practices either adopt the IP of classic works, or turn tradition into fashion, or learn from successful creative examples, showing the desire to break through the living space of drama genres and seek greater market effects. This is exactly the same as the practice of "White Snake Love" across artistic media. In particular, the actors Lou Sheng, Peng Qinghua, Huang Qifeng, etc., who were highly concerned in the judging performances of the 30th Chinese Drama Plum Blossom Award, have won the enthusiasm of contemporary young audiences with their amazing martial arts skills and martial arts traditions, so that the construction and inheritance and development of important representative theaters and troupes such as Zhejiang Wu Theater, Guangdong Cantonese Theater, and Tianjin Peking Opera House have attracted more attention. At present, modern theme performances are flourishing, and many opera troupes are breaking through many problems such as conceptualization and superficiality in previous creations in a more rational way, and exploring a more ideal and successful development path. The hot phenomenon that appeared in the creation and performance of opera in 2021 is enough to make the opera industry pay more attention to reflecting on whether the current creation is compatible with the tradition of drama art, whether it is compatible with the audience's usual artistic aesthetics, and whether it is compatible with the effective law of stage art creation.
(The author is the director of the Institute of Xiqu of the China Academy of Arts and the president of the Chinese Opera Society)