"The sea enlightens the stars and the light, and slowly sails far in the east." Walk through a hundred years of silver Hanguang, illuminating the night of a thousand years. "Planning and preparation that took more than two years,
After more than four months of landing rehearsals, the first audition of the Yue opera "Sea Guangqi" launched by the Shanghai RuyiYue Opera Troupe was held on the evening of January 26, and the works told the main achievements of Xu Guangqi from youth to his later years through stories such as "curing locusts", "translating foreign books", "planting sweet potatoes" and "revising the calendar", as well as his innovative spirit of "looking at the world" and the noble feelings of "initially being for the people".
Yue opera "Sea Guangqi" is the first original drama launched by Shanghai Ruyi Yue Opera Troupe, which originated from the 2020 Shanghai Ruyi Yue Opera Troupe rehearsed the Yue Opera small drama "Initial Heart as One", which reproduced the main achievements and personality brilliance of Xu Guangqi's life through the form of memories, and received unanimous praise after the performance. During the rehearsal process, Tong Lijun, the leader of the Ruyiyue Opera Troupe, continued to deepen her understanding of Xu Guangqi and germinated the idea of rehearsing a big play and bringing Xu Guangqi's life to the stage. In "Sea Guangqi", Shen Xinwen played Xu Guangqi, Xiao Xueying played Xu Guangqi's wife, young Wu Qijun, and Tong Lijun played Wu Qijun in his later years.
The reason why she is determined to put Xu Guangqi's story on the stage, in Tong Lijun's view, is because a sense of responsibility as a Shanghainese is pushing her. "Middle school knew the name Xu Guangqi in the textbook, but if it wasn't for the rehearsal of "The First Heart", I always had only a vague impression of Xu Guangqi. Many people around are in a similar situation, knowing Xu Guangqi as a person, but not understanding what he has done. As a sage in Shanghai, he should not be forgotten. She told reporters.
From a small drama of more than ten minutes to "expand" to a big drama of more than two hours, it is not an easy task. Founded in 2016, although the Ruyi Yue Opera Troupe had rehearsed Yue opera classics such as "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai", "Jade Hairpin" and "Xi Xiang Ji" before this, and also rearranged the Masterpieces of Yue Opera Jin Pai and Lu Pai "Splitting The Mountain to Save The Mother" under the guidance of Jin Caifeng, it was the first time that "Sea Guangqi" had been created completely from scratch. From the creation of the script to the landing rehearsal, and then to the final presentation, the troupe is "crossing the river by feeling the stones".
Humor and humor are the main tone of "Light on the Sea", and in the four scenes, the first three are witty and humorous comedic styles. The young creative team re-examines Xu Guangqi with the current vision, trying to enter the heart of a great man who drank the same Pujiang river water and spoke with a similar accent as a Shanghainese more than 400 years ago. In the end, they found the word "optimistic", which also determined the style tone of "Sea Light". At the same time, "comedy" was once one of the important stylistic forms of the Yue opera stage, and the "Wang Tiger Snatching Relatives" and "Double Lion Treasure Map" left by the previous artists were all popular plays for the audience. Ruyi Yue Opera Troupe also looks forward to exploring the development path of the current Yue opera comedy through the rehearsal of "Sea Light Revelation".
It is worth mentioning that "Sea Light Qi" is the first project landed by Shanghai Yue Theatre and Ruyi Yue Opera Troupe since the signing of the co-construction agreement in 2020. Director Wu Jiasi, "Xu Guangqi" actor Shen Xinwen and a group of behind-the-scenes personnel are all from Shanghai Yue Theatre. In the process of running-in rehearsals, the support of the professional team also brought a lot of confidence to the small troupe.
As one of the important activities to commemorate the 460th anniversary of Xu Guangqi's birth, the audition of "Sea Guangqi" will be further polished and improved on the basis of extensive listening to the opinions of experts and audiences, and it is expected that in April this year, on the occasion of the 460th anniversary of Xu Guangqi's birth, it will meet the audience again with a better appearance. In the future, RuyiYue Opera Troupe also plans to bring "Sea Guangqi" into schools and communities, so that more Shanghai citizens and young people can understand Xu Guangqi and Yue opera.
Author: Wang Xiaoli
Image: Courtesy of the organizer
Editor: Xu Luming