On the evening of February 25th, under the guidance of the Propaganda Department of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee and the Department of Culture and Tourism of Jiangsu Province, the drama "Xinhua Front" jointly produced by Xinhua Newspaper Media Group and Jiangsu Performing Arts Group was unveiled for the first time at the Jiangsu Grand Theatre, with thunderous applause on the spot and a great success for the premiere.
Luo Zhou, the screenwriter of the "Xinhua Front", locked the 84-year history of "Xinhua Daily" in the nine years from 1938 to 1947, intercepting several important historical moments, four fictional characters and a number of real historical figures as the main structure, and constructed this epic masterpiece.
Li Bonan, a national first-class director from the National Drama Theatre of China, said frankly that the creation and rehearsal of this drama is extremely difficult, this drama does not only show a certain historical event, nor does it focus on a specific historical figure, but to see the big in a small way, through several historical fragments to show the 84-year history of Xinhua Daily, this drama not only has a sense of history, epic sense, but also has the beauty of art and dramatic reproduction.
For the director, this is a challenge, but also an opportunity to be bold and innovative. In Li Bonan's view, the sense of literature and cultural texture are the characteristics of "Xinhua Front", and several fictional character images in the play are the condensed embodiment of the collective image and spiritual glow of Xinhua Newspaper people over the years.
The cast of "Xinhua Front" is also quite luxurious, and the main actors are outstanding young drama actors of Jiangsu Performing Arts Group. Shi Yi, vice president of the Provincial Drama Theatre, played the role of Zhou Enlai, which is not the first time he has played Premier Zhou. In this drama, the image of the middle-aged prime minister played by Shi Yi is quite realistic, which fully shows the fierce and clean behavior of the middle-aged prime minister, and many audiences in the live performance are also amazed by Shi Yi's style and acting skills. It is understood that in order to play Premier Zhou well, Shi Yi did his homework, he studied in detail the life story of Premier Zhou from 1938 to 1947, paying special attention to the details, such as Premier Zhou broke his right arm in 1939, in order to fit the historical facts, Shi Yi also showed two different postures in the performance.
In the rumbling sound of artillery fire, the ten-meter-long printing press "roller" appeared above the stage, and the old newspapers full of historical sense were slowly "printed" on the stage with the development of the plot, and the stage of "Xinhua Front" was undoubtedly very visually beautiful for the audience. Sang Qi, who is in charge of stage design, introduced that this inspiration came from a style gathering experience in the Xinhua Daily Newspaper History Museum. Sang Qi believes that simply restoring the office scene on the stage does not make much sense, and the stage performance needs more contemporary vocabulary and modern aesthetics, and the printing press exhibited in the Newspaper History Museum gives him inspiration. When the rough printing machine roller appeared on the stage, the whole atmosphere was invigorated, and a heavy sense of history and culture came to the face.
Brush away the fog of thought and tell the truth with a pen. In "Xinhua Front", we see how a group of ordinary young people broke through the blockade and insisted on using newspapers to convey the truth. This group of people is not only the epitome of the image of the past Xinhua newspaper people, but also the bright light of the spirit of the future Xinhua newspaper people.
Yangzi Evening News | Purple Cow News reporter Shen Zhao