Did the Mei Lanfang Theater Company perform in the United States in 1930 have an impact on the American theater industry? In this regard, the academic community does not agree. Qi Rushan, Mei Shaowu, and others held a positive attitude toward this. Some researchers hold a negative attitude, such as Liu Lu believes that after Stanislavsky's visit to the United States to perform, his performance system blossomed in the United States, forming a variety of genres of American theater system; while Chinese opera is rarely known in the United States, and it is also extremely superficial to know, that is, "as soon as people leave, tea is cold." This article argues that it is incorrect to completely disregard the impact of Mei Lanfang's visit to the United States on the American theater industry, mei Lanfang's Peking Opera art performed in the United States in 1930 has had a certain enlightening effect on the American theater industry's attention to the "narration" technique, the use of virtual movements, and the change of stage design; some theater creators such as Thornton Wilder have extracted their own needed forms of expression from Peking opera art to express the theme of the play. Of course, we must not exaggerate the impact of Mei Lanfang's visit to the United States on the American theater industry, but must be seriously and in-depth studied and objectively and specifically evaluated.
First, the American theater industry's attention to the "narration" method
In May 1930, the Los Angeles Censorship published an article titled "China Heard 'Narration' Hundreds of Years Ago," which read:
Eugene O'Neill's novel use of narration in Bizarre Interludes has sparked a buzz craze in contemporary theatre to emulate. Mei Lanfang, a great Chinese actor, explained that this method of clarifying the plot, as one of the main components of Peking Opera, has existed for hundreds of years. Narration is a means used by actors on the Western stage to reveal the emotions and secrets of the characters; in Chinese drama, when the actor is suddenly over-emotional, such as excessive excitement, nervousness or sadness, he will express himself through facial and pantomime, and if the emotions are so complex that they cannot be expressed in this way, the actor will raise his water sleeves, read white, sing under the cover of the sleeves, or quickly walk to the side of the stage. This kind of action is used to show that no one else on stage can hear you.
O'Neill himself said: "The 'narration' I used in the play "Strange Interlude" two years ago has existed in Peking Opera for hundreds of years! In contrast, our performances seem to have no tradition. Our theatrical form is rigid and rigid, and in terms of imagination, it is far less free than Peking Opera. ”
Why did the Los Angeles Times and O'Neill invariably express this sentiment? "Bizarre Interlude" was released in 1928 and quickly gained widespread attention. It premiered in New York on January 30, 1928, and was staged for 6 consecutive months, which not only brought O'Neill great economic benefits and more far-reaching fame, but also won him the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the third time. The enthusiastic echo of "Strange Interlude" also made his artistic innovations sprout in the hearts of audiences, or even, as the Los Angeles Times put it: "There is a frenzy of imitation in contemporary theater." O'Neill's monologue and narration in this play is very long, and the narration is twice as long as the dialogue, "this is the first time he has used a lengthy narration in such a large length." This is the first in the history of American theater.
The monologue is that there are no other characters in the play as listeners, and the characters themselves recite or confess themselves; the narration is a line that a character in the play directly says to the audience under the assumption that other characters are not present or cannot hear. In Bizarre Interlude, the narration is in which Nina suddenly confesses and pours out her inner thoughts, while the other characters are all calm and unmoving, as if they had not heard the other character's narration. The object of the monologue and the narration is the audience, thus breaking the internal circulation system that has always been presented in realist drama, that is, there is only dialogue between actors and actors, the audience is only an observer, and the stage is presented as a complete "illusion".
O'Neill's "Bizarre Interlude" was a great success, and a large number of narrations and monologues added a lot to it. The heroine Nina's ups and downs, combined with her stories with different men, give her an extremely contradictory personality. O'Neill uses narration and monologue to express Nina's secret inner world. While expanding the inner thinking information space, let the audience know what Nina really thinks under such an environment and plot advancement. Although O'Neill's 1920 "Jones Yellow" also has Jones's personal monologue, and the 1921 "Hairy Ape" finale also has a jank monologue to pour out lonely despair and longing for understanding, but it is the first time that such a large-scale use of narration and monologue like "Strange Interlude" is still the first. This is enough to attract the attention of the theater industry and the audience. Indeed, as the researchers say: "This is the magic of "Strange Interlude" that attracts the audience, and this alone is enough to make people shoot the case." ”
Liao Ben pointed out: "This 'novel' theatrical technique even appeared on the stage of classical Chinese drama! The Los Angeles Censorship published a report on May 1, 1930, titled "China Heard 'Narration' Hundreds of Years Ago," which looked into the inner surprise of Westerners. "Mei Lanfang's performance does not have the complete dialogue in Western realist drama, and the chanting and doing the reading is the characters in the play who appear to the audience to confess, such as who is the surname, family history, and inner thoughts. In "Guifei Drunk", when Yang Guifei heard Tang Xuanzong move elsewhere, she expressed her dissatisfaction and anger in the form of an inner monologue: "Ah, yesterday the Holy Lord ordered me to set up a banquet in the Hundred Flowers Hall. Hey, how did you turn to the West Palace today? Oh, forgiveness must be the meaning of this slut! Cough, let him go. In "Fenhe Bay", Xue Rengui even shot Ding Shan, and his heart was flustered: "Oh and live, I really hope to shoot the tiger to death, I don't want to hurt the naughty boy by mistake, this is a place that can't be stopped for a long time, wait for me to pull the horse away." "When watching the play, such monologues and narrations can just analyze the inner world of the characters in the play, and the audience can know the different emotional experiences of the characters in the play at this moment, such as guilt, weakness of heart, fear, etc. American audiences saw his bold innovations in O'Neill's plays, and experienced the same rules of stage art in watching Mei Lanfang's Peking Opera art, so it is not surprising that they feel that they see each other and hate each other.
In particular, we must point out that O'Neill's use of "narration" for his theatrical creation cannot be attributed entirely to Mei Lanfang's influence. Eugene O'Neill was not influenced by Mei's performances before Mei Lanfang came. Its origin lies in the emergence and development of American Expressionist drama at that time. After the end of the First World War, the cruelty and scars of the war could not be swept away, and the extreme materialism under the Western capitalist industrial society made the American people have a "disillusionment" mood, and some people began to criticize and question the core ideas of the bourgeoisie and the rationality of capitalist industrial society. At this time, various new literary trends of thought happened to ripple from Europe to the other side of the Atlantic, and many American writers attacked the traditional moral concepts of Puritanism that prevailed at that time. In the American theater world in the 1920s, avant-garde artists began to rebel against tradition, and a few playwrights intended to make bold innovations to break through the mold of realism and find another way out. Artistic expression bore the brunt of it, and they wanted to learn from and experiment with novel writing techniques and methods from Europe. In 1902, the Swedish drama master Strindberg first used the expressionist method in his play "A Dream Play", that is, frequently using the intersection of reality and dreams, crushing the sequential concept of time and space. The most important point is that the play also features the author's monologue. Expressionist theater then gradually spread from Europe to the United States, and O'Neill's series of comedies were influenced by Strindberg, providing some inspiration for those who wanted to break the mold of realist drama at that time. Therefore, in the American theater industry in the 1920s and 1930s, new theatrical arts have begun to sprout, expressionist and symbolist dramas have begun to receive widespread attention, and "narration" techniques have also been widely used. It should be said that this is the more direct reason why O'Neill adopts the "narration" method, and it is also the internal motivation for his artistic innovation. However, Mei Lanfang's visit to the United States to perform has undoubtedly made the "narration" technique more concerned by the American theater industry, so that they realize that the "narration" that was originally used as a new technique in American theater has actually existed in Chinese Peking Opera for a long time, which on the one hand has found evidence for the use of "narration" in the American theater industry, confirmed confidence, and promoted the widespread adoption of this artistic technique, on the other hand, it also provided conditions and soil for Mei Lanfang's Peking Opera art to be accepted by the American theater industry and the audience.
Therefore, the feelings expressed by the Los Angeles Times and O'Neill himself actually represent the attention of some audiences and O'Neill to oriental art after watching Mei Lanfang's Peking Opera art, as well as their own enlightenment. After 1930, O'Neill composed a series of plays such as the "Mourning Trilogy" and "The Long Journey into the Night", which made extensive use of narration and monologue. Mei Lanfang's Peking Opera art has undoubtedly contributed to the extensive use of this technique in American theater.
Second, the adoption of virtualized action in the American theater industry
The virtualized dramatic actions replace the actions in life with the transformational actions after induction, selection and processing, forming a series of action programs, which is a distinctive feature of Chinese opera art. On the stage of Chinese Peking Opera art performance, in addition to the simple "one table and two chairs" equipment, other physical installations almost do not exist, and the actors need to use freehand movements to express, such as going out and entering the door, the actor simulates pulling the door and pushing the door with both hands; walking, writing, painting, walking horses, boats, etc. all rely on the virtual performance of the actor's hands and feet. Mei Lanfang's rowing action in "Fishing and Killing The Family" relies on his gestures and similar range of movements.
American soloist master Ms. Ruth Draper has watched Mei Lanfang's performance many times and is also deeply inspired. She often communicates and interacts with Mei Lanfang, inviting Mei to watch her performance. Ruth Draper was thinking that the drama could not be set, and there should be virtual actions in the play, that is, to open and close the door with the hand, to use the body as a posture to enter and exit the door, and the action of getting on the car was also expressed by the body. After watching Mei Lanfang's performance, she said with surprise: "When I first created the 'one-man show', I made up my mind not to use the set, and all plot accidents must be performed in an abstract way; but there are many places where the abstract method alone cannot be done, and I can't think of a good way." After watching the Chinese opera this time, I suddenly realized that the Original Chinese Opera had already completely used this method, and it was arranged very properly and beautifully everywhere. There are many places I can't do, and I will have a way in the future, what a pleasant thing, push the original, I have to thank Mei Jun; if Mei Jun does not come, where will I go to see such a good play. Since then, Ruth Draper has added more virtualized movements to the show to represent actual scenes in life.
Born in the late 1920s, the American Workers' Live Drama also adopted a virtualized approach. American dramatist and director Hayley Flanagan said that as an art form, American workers' live newspaper drama is borrowed from greek aristophanes comedy, Italian improvisational comedy, shakespeare's play monologue and Mei Lanfang's ideographic actions. Explaining the nature of the workers' theatrical movement at the hearing, Ms. Flanagan, who performs a number of short plays adapted from current affairs news in a concise and agile sketching style, said: "Workers' theater is very different from other arts that have existed in the United States recently, and aims to portray the life of the people of this country from three aspects: social, political and corporate. "Workers' live newspaper drama staged workers' strike events, reflected the life of the lower society, showed the decline of the middle class, criticized the government with current affairs news, and the real-time life of society is fluid and not suitable for real props to perform, so they borrowed Mei Lanfang's ideographic action form or virtual action, which not only omitted a large piece of authenticity on the stage and props, but also solved the problem of time and space.
Thornton Wilder also borrowed some basic rules of Peking Opera art in stage practice. In 1931, Wilder created The Long Christmas Dinner, in which the characters have been eating with virtual programs, assuming that the knife is forked. In "Our Town" staged in 1938, the daily behavior of the characters in the town, such as eating, cooking, drinking water, delivering milk, weeding, boarding books, reading, and studying, these actions are all interpreted by virtualized actions. For example, in order to show that they are talking while eating at the dinner table, Rebecca will take a spoon in her mouth and use the action of eating, but there is actually no meal. There is also a scene of Mrs. Tibbus and Mrs. Weibo peeling beans, and Mrs. Weibo says, "I'll rest and rest, peel the beans." Mrs. Tibbs responded: "Let me help you, this year the beans are good." "Through the conversation between the two, the audience knows that the next thing they are going to do is peel the beans, but there are no beans on the stage, only their virtual action of peeling the beans. Thornton Wilder himself once said, "Drama requires tradition to be as involved as possible." The so-called tradition is a recognized falsehood, an accepted lie. It can be seen that he is very sure of the virtual action of Chinese Peking Opera art.
Third, the American theater industry in the field of stage design changes
The sets and props of Western realist drama, in order to strive for realism, as far as possible to move the real scenes of life to the stage. In contrast, Mei Lanfang's stage is bare, at most, a table and two chairs, in order to express various scenes. After Mei Lanfang's visit to the United States, Thornton Wilder also practiced this form of expression in terms of sets and props.
In "The Happy Journey to Trenton and Gamdon," the furnishings inside the car and the changing scenery outside the car are only informed by the performances of 4 chairs and actors on the empty stage. In "Our Town", there is the following stage description at the beginning: "There is no curtain, no set." When the audience arrived, they saw an empty stage that was half bright and half dark. "Since there is no stage set, the visit of the two families, the stove, the pool, and the two-story house in this scene are all informed to the audience through virtual actions. Despite the lack of sets and props, "Our Town" completes the transformation of multiple scenes, from the theater to the church, and even in the third act, emily's conversation with the undead in the cemetery is immediately transformed into her childhood home. Not only is the space transformed freely, but the time span is also large, and the events that occurred in 1901, 1904 and 1913 are presented on the stage for several hours. In "The Long Christmas Dinner", 99 Christmas dinners that lasted in 99 years were completed in 30 minutes, which is undoubtedly a blessing without a set.
In fact, the stage arrangement without sets and props provides a way for dramatic expression to break the coherence of time and space. Time is originally sequential, but here it can be freely combined, and space is inherently restrictive, but here it can be converted at will. It gives the drama eternal and infinite artistic effect, which can better stimulate the creative imagination of the drama creators, and can also infinitely stimulate the imagination of the audience, which will not be the same in the hearts of every audience, and the chinese opera freehand art law sticks out.
Stage supervision in Wilder's plays was also special, and before that, it did not appear on the stage of American theater. Du Wenwei introduced the origin of the term "stage supervisor", "the Frenchman Bazin introduced the role of vice-finalist when translating the Pipa Book, and the 1920s American translation of the Pipa Yin translated this role as stage supervisor."
Stage supervisors have the following roles in Thornton Wilder's plays: First, like the Chinese opera "Self-Reporting Home", the appearance is introduced, "The name of the play is 'Our Town', the author is Thornton Wilder; produced and directed by A. In the play, you will see Miss C, Miss Ding, Miss E...", which is obviously different from the direct opening of realist dramas, such as the self-introduction of Chinese opera actors when they appear. Second, introduce the characters of other characters. When Mr. Weber appeared, the stage supervisor said: "Mr. Weber is the publisher and editor-in-chief of the Sentinel newspaper at The Corner glover. This is our local newspaper, you know. "Third, introduce the background of the plot, that is, the basic situation of the town." This is the main street. Behind that is the train station; the railway is in this direction. On the other side of the railroad tracks is the town of Poland. This is the Congregational Church, and across the street is the Presbyterian Church. "This time, after nine years, friends—summer, 1913." Glover's Point gradually changed, and horses became less and less common." Fourth, the scheduling of theater characters. For example, he can call Professor Wei Rad out at any time: "I invited Professor Wei Rad from the State University to come over and tell us a brief story about the local history." Is Professor Wellard there? Then Professor Wellard appeared. Fifth, the stage supervisor comments on the audience as a commentator. "When you're twenty-one or twenty years old, you make up your mind to get into marriage and then be hopeful about it! At the age of seventy, you've been a lawyer for fifty years, and an old woman with white hair has eaten five thousand meals with you..." The stage supervisor is like the author's voice, expressing opinions based on the plot of the play, and even telling the audience very clearly what kind of thoughts the author wants to express. Sixth, talk to the audience. For example: "Right now, does anyone in the audience want to ask Editor Weber anything about the town?" "Seventh, the stage supervisor can also change his identity at any time and play other roles at the same time. Like the vice-finalists in Chinese operas, cameo appearances in minor roles, such as the pharmacy owner Mr. Morgan, who is also the pastor who officiates the wedding of George and Emily. Eighth, like the Chinese inspectors, help to set up props.
In his book Broadway Chinese Themes and Chinese Opera, Du Wenwei argues: "The main role of stage supervision is that of narrators and commentators... As a commentator, the stage supervisor steps out of the plot and tells the story of the town from a historical point of view... These commentaries, which have nothing to do with the plot, have gone beyond the traditional techniques of Chinese opera. Du Wenwei's summary is not unreasonable. Sandton Wilder in addition to learning from the characteristics of Chinese opera performance, but also his own innovation, he gave the stage supervisor so many identities, and even the props and characters united, the self-reporting door and the commentary on the plot of the play, the characters are a reference, undoubtedly increase their own more ideas.
Fourth, seriously look at the influence of Mei Lanfang's Peking Opera art on the American theater industry
Has Wilder been influenced by Mei Lanfang's performance? In fact, many scholars have discussed this issue, and Wenwei believes that Thornton Wilder's plays were influenced by Mei Lanfang's performances in American Peking Opera. The American scholar Burbank argues that Wilder found "support in the tradition of Chinese theater." Scholar Haberman believes that the symbolism of Mei Lanfang's art may have had a potential impact on Wilder's use of pantomime in drama. Chinese scholar Chen Xiaomei also believes that Thornton Wilder was more or less influenced by Mei Lanfang's performance. Of course, the domestic scholar Zhang Jinliang questioned Du Wenwei's statement, arguing that Mei Lanfang's Peking Opera performance did not directly affect Thornton Wilder, and the statements in Du Wenwei's book were subjective speculations.
This article argues that Thornton Wilder's theatrical practice must have been related to Mei Lanfang's 1930 performance in the United States. First of all, he must have seen Mei Lanfang's performance. Donald Haberman, a well-known scholar of Thornton Wilder, the author of The Drama of Thornton Wilder, was warmly received by Wilder and his sister Isabelle Wilder, who said: "Wilder, as an invited guest, had the privilege of witnessing mei Lanfang's stunning beauty. Wilder himself wrote in a letter dated June 25, 1961, about seeing Mei Lanfang perform in New York. Du Wenwei also stressed that Wilder watched Mei Lanfang's performance. Second, he once admitted to using the artistic rules of Chinese opera. He said in 1937 that there was a precious tradition in the opera program, that the ritual of riding a horse, without the use of sets, could stimulate the imagination, was symbolic, and could reveal the universal truths within. Although Wilder denied being influenced by traditional Chinese opera in later years, he said he himself was influenced by ancient Greek and Shakespearean plays. We don't know why he retorted, but in light of the characteristics of his plays, the laws of Chinese opera are evident in them. Or it could be said that the influences of ancient Greece, Shakespeare and Melanfang were all present. Third, Wilder's own life experience has been associated with China since childhood. Because his father was a diplomat, he lived in China as a child, living in Hong Kong for half a year at the age of 9 and studying in Shanghai at the age of 14. He knows chinese culture better, and may have been exposed to opera before watching Mei Lanfang's performance. Mei Lanfang's performance may have inspired some of his creative ideas and practices, which is the result of a comprehensive influence. We have reason to speculate that Wilder's "Our Town" has endured after being staged, widely acclaimed, and accepted by the public, and it is also related to the fact that the audience has more or less known and been exposed to Chinese opera art.
Thornton Wilder borrowed the stage performance rules of Chinese Peking Opera art, the purpose of which is to serve his own theatrical theme with some forms of expression, absorbing some nutrients to achieve his own goals. Zhu Xiaojian said in The Post-Reading Era: "Wilder created this play in 1937, in which the stage manager was both an omniscient narrator and an actor, which has a modern nature in American theater. "The ups and downs of the dramatic plot of "Our Town" describes an idyllic and ordinary town, and Wilder, who juxtaposes time and space, borrows Emily's identity to express his will, that is, when Emily, who died due to difficult childbirth, talks about her life before her death in the cemetery after death, she is full of nostalgia and regret, making people feel: daily life seems ordinary, but it contains beauty and wonderfulness. This is Thornton Wilder's reflection on how everyone treats life itself and normalcy. On her 12th birthday, Emily said, "Is there anyone who realizes the meaning of life while they are alive?" - Realized every minute? "When the author expresses the meaning of life, a seemingly ordinary but grand theme, it is necessary to cross the boundaries of time and space, and this effect can be achieved by borrowing virtual schematic actions and non-realistic sets. We might as well say that the main reason why Wilder uses virtualized action and non-realistic sets is that this artistic means from Peking Opera can better serve his own theme of expression. This is also the internal reason why Mei Lanfang's Peking Opera art exerted its influence.
Mei Lanfang's Peking Opera performance is not "geese passing without a trace". In the 1930s, a series of plays appeared on the American stage, using empty stages or no-set creations, such as Orson Wells' Dr Faustus (1937) and Julias Caesar (1937). In the 1974 Broadway musical Candide, the actors used fictitious movements to show a large ship sailing in the sea, and they were traveling on the boat. Since then, some American actors such as Julian Malina in Paradise Now (1968) and Richard Schechner in Dionysus in 69 (1969) have followed the process of incarnation. All this, although it cannot be said that it is entirely the result of Mei Lanfang's visit to the United States, at least it can be proved that his performance did not "as soon as people leave, the tea is cold", but played a lasting influence.
Many years later, Mei Lanfang's Peking Opera performance still has a lingering afterglow in the United States. Mei Shaowu has pointed out that in "American Clock" (1981), Arthur Miller let each character appear in a monologue to introduce his name and background. When asked about the origin of this technique, Miller replied, "I learned it from the Meta Qu. When he came to Beijing in 1980 to direct "The Death of a Salesman", there was also a commendable incident. In a fight scene, the actors realistically imitate the fighting movements, but do not achieve the satisfactory effect, Arthur Miller said: "Suddenly, I remembered the wonderful dance scenes in Peking Opera, in which no one lost the center of gravity, no one really fought, but the effect of fighting and war was fully expressed." Another thing, Miller repeatedly persuaded Chinese actors not to necessarily wear wigs to show the appearance of foreigners, but the actors in the rehearsal hall always liked to wear what looked like Russian wigs on their heads, he looked at the scene strangely, walked up to an actress and asked the actress to remove the wig, he shook the actress's real hair, praised the beauty of her hair, and then turned his head to praise the hair of the other three male actors. In fact, he pays more attention to the virtualized movements and programs in China's local Peking Opera art.
In the late 1970s, Wei Lisha was one of the first exchange scholars sent by the United States to study at Nanjing University, and formally studied under Mei Lanfang's disciple Shen Xiaomei. Although he had not personally seen Mei Lanfang's performance in the United States in 1930, she had been "out of control" since she came into contact with the art of Peking Opera. In 1980, "Guifei Drunk" starring her was performed in Nanjing, and this "Yang Guifei" also caused some repercussions. After returning to China, she taught Asian theater courses at the University of Hawaii, and trained a large number of outstanding theater workers, and all those in the United States who direct Asian theater in Asian theater troupes and in various places can find students who have graduated from this theater department. After the 1980s, the University of Hawaii performed four Peking operas, namely "Feng Hui Chao", "Yutang Spring", "Sha Jiabang", and "Shilang Visiting Mother", which caused certain repercussions in the academic community and society. From this point of view, Wei Lisha has made great contributions to the overseas dissemination of Peking Opera.
It can be seen that the impact is not only overnight, but also the potential, intangible, niche, and partial impact. Mei Lanfang's visiting performance in the United States in 1930 was a sensation, but it was an introduction, helped to open a curtain, opened the process of learning from the performing arts of Chinese Peking Opera on the American stage later, and also inspired the different creations of many American theater workers, and let more and more people pay attention to and understand the art of Peking Opera, and stimulate their interest and love, which is a series of events marked by the flow of time. Therefore, it is believed that Mei Lanfang's Peking Opera art in the United States is "as soon as people leave, the tea is cold", which is indeed biased.
About the Author:
Li Tongwei (1992-), female, from Xinzhou, Shanxi, is a master's student at Beijing Language and Culture University, whose main research direction is comparative literature and world literature.
Li Qingben (1965-), male, from Laizhou, Shandong, Doctor of Literature, Distinguished Professor and Doctoral Supervisor of "Qianjiang Scholar" of Art Education Research Institute of Hangzhou Normal University, mainly research direction is literary and artistic aesthetics.