Our generation grew up listening to model plays, and in the era of lack of cultural life, people's obsession with model plays was no less than the love of popular songs in young people today, so that everyone would hum a few words like a decent one. Since then, I have also fallen in love with opera.
It's been four years since I retired, but the story of watching the drama still haunts me.
A stage is set up in the sand nest, and the common people sing a big drama
My hometown is located on the Yellow River Ancient Road, a shawo village in northwest lu. In the 1960s and 1970s, when I was in elementary school, in those almost absurd years, the poor and remote hometown sang a big drama, and the repertoire was the popular "Sha Jia Bang", "Red Lantern" and so on. Don't say, in this way, the day of a clear soup and a lack of water is made into a taste.
The play is performed in the afternoon or evening, as soon as I heard that our village was going to perform, the people in the surrounding villages heard the news, and the people on the street were bustling and endless, like rushing to the temple fair, making a lot of noise and cheering.
The deepest impression is to watch Hebei Zizi's "Shajiabang", which is a local drama in the hometown. Only to see the drum Zhu Laozhen one meter nine big man, dignified and steady, beating the drum really authentically, he gritted his teeth, held his head high, raised his hand mallet and fell through a domineering spirit, at first glance is a big tempered lord, as if whoever does not listen to the command will hit a hammer. The clicking sound of the pole is crisp and pleasant, and there are plates and eyes. The whole band cooperates with tacit understanding, the strings are urgent, the gongs and drums are sounding in unison, so it is not lively!
The curtain slowly opened, and the protagonist Ah Qing's sister-in-law came on the scene. Ah Qing's sister-in-law is Zhao Xiaoyin's male dress as a woman. Only to see him, more than 30 years old, moderate in stature, well-proportioned, clear eyebrows, dashing and handsome. The vivid portrayal of a sister-in-law of Ah Qing, when the climax of the singing play is folded, "build up the seven star stove, and boil the three rivers in a copper pot." Set up the eight immortals table and entertain the sixteen parties. "One move and one style, one eye look, one gesture, one step, the image of Ah Qingjie's capable and spicy, fearless and skillful boss lady who is not afraid of danger is performed to be fascinating and vivid. People watched like crazy, applause, cheers and cheers.
The actor who played Hu Chuankui was Yang Qingchun, who retired from the army and returned to his hometown, and was once a propaganda officer of the army. Put on the green military uniform he was a soldier, put on makeup, majestic, straw wrapped stomach, very stylish, big grinning voice, full of beard. Pumpkin Dunzi's face grunted, and his small round eyes narrowed, and he was a bandit leader.
Once, when the village opera troupe went to the nearby "Silian Village" to perform "ShaJiabang", there was also a "drama outside the play". A young man plays the secretary Cheng Qianming in the play. See this man, medium-sized, personable, and generous. He sat down steadily in his chair, reached for his pen, and prescribed medicine very neatly. The mouth sang: "The illness is not serious, the heart is quiet and naturally less worried..." Haha, a few short lines, a few leisurely actions, showing his handsome and handsome demeanor. On the spot, it aroused the good feelings of the granddaughter who was watching the play, and secretly thought in her heart that such a young man was difficult to find with a lantern. So he paid attention to the name, age and family situation of the young man, and finally, the two ended the century and left a beautiful conversation. They are neighbors in my hometown, and they have a good life!
The drama team is full of honest and honest farmers, there are no professional actors, relying on the dare to bear hardships and not be afraid of tiredness, and it is hard to run a rural drama team into a flourishing, lively and lively, and performed a scene of sound and color drama, which is deeply loved by the people of this side.
Sneak around to catch the temple fair and watch the commentary
In 1980, I was working in the county forestry and animal husbandry bureau, and was stationed in the village of Beipudian in Houtun Commune, and although the work was very busy, there were also times when I was busy. Uncle Mou, the village director, is a fan of drama, and I have not watched the drama less caused by his infection, going to the temple fair in Suliuzhuang Town, eating boiled cakes, watching plays, first feasting on the food and then enjoying the happiness of the eyes.
The theater is a large enclosed courtyard, lined with rows of "purlins" and low wooden benches, with a simple stage of brick and earth, hanging cloth fences, and buying tickets to enter the venue. The field is full, people are dressed in fashion, eating snacks, sniffing melon seeds, talking and laughing, which are all happy lives brought to the people by reform and opening up. On the walls, on the branches of the crowded, free people to watch the drama also formed a beautiful scenery, in this condition to see the drama is really happy!
Although the conditions are poor, the level of acting is quite high. Liaocheng City Critics Troupe, the repertoire is "Flowers as a Medium", starring the famous opera critic performance artist Xiao Peizhu, born in 1934, at the age of 46. She looks handsome and beautiful, sings with rhyme, and performs exquisitely. In particular, her water spirit eyes were shining brightly, dripping and turning, "Those eyes, like autumn water, like cold stars, like jewels, like white mercury with two pills of black mercury in them." When the name of the flower was sung, "Zhang Wu could look at this standard female stream carefully from top to bottom; only to see how her hair was so black? How was the dressing so beautiful? The two sideburns were fluffy and slippery, why use osmanthus oil?" The play reached a climax, "The garden was silent, much quieter than the emperor came out, and even a needle fell to the ground and could hear the sound!" At this time, I saw Uncle Mou next to me, two or two "old white dry" wine on the head, the face is red, the eyes are squinting, the lips are sniffing, slightly shaking his head and learning to sing, as if intoxicated, completely into the play, slapping him has no response, he said" The actor's eyes have light, can suck people in." This is the most attractive look I have ever seen, and this look can nourish the brain. The plot of many years of watching the play and the eyes of the actors still come to my mind from time to time.
Carrying grandma into the theater, grandchildren watching the play to fulfill filial piety
In 1983, my grandmother in her 60s helped me take care of my son who was less than one year old, at that time there was no television set in the countryside, there were not many in the county, grandma saw that tv sets were very rare, the old people loved to watch singing, our neighbor Sun Shuhua moved the TV to the courtyard, and took care of grandma to put more opera stations, grandma's happy face has been piled with smiles.
I and my lover know that grandma loves to watch plays, I specially bought tickets to the county theater to see a play, I used a bicycle to drive grandma to go, that one is Hebei Zizi "Mu Guiying Hangs Shuai", grandma likes it, although there are a lot of plays that the old people can't understand, but they also applaud, laugh with it, the same does not fall, that happy momentum makes me very pleased.
At the end of the show, because the steps of the theater were steep, we carefully helped her down the steps, and then a person said, "It's a good thing to come out to watch the play at such an old age." "Grandma was very angry when she heard this, and told us that if I had such children and grandchildren in the stall, I would be unlucky, and I wouldn't be able to watch the drama when I was old." At that time, I also thought that the person who said this must be an unfilial son, and he had no patience with the old man.
When my grandmother returned to her rural hometown, she proudly said that watching TV and watching dramas in the city, thanks to my grandson working in the city, I was very proud but also a little sad to hear these words said by the old man.
Sitting in the Mei Lanfang Grand Theater, everyone's famous character drama is intoxicating
In May 2011, my friend Mr. Zhang invited several of our colleagues who had worked with him to visit Beijing. Among them, there were activities to watch plays at the Mei Lanfang Grand Theater, which in the past even dared to dream.
Tickets had long been booked, and at two o'clock in the afternoon, we entered the Grand Theater. At three o'clock, the performance begins. We sat in the first row of the country's highest Peking Opera hall, admiring the plays of famous artists at close range, smiling and excited. Although our level of appreciation is limited, the photography, applause, and shouting are all in place, quite the style of old opera fans.
The first to play was Jinghu Everyone Yan Shouping. He is the son-in-law of the famous Peking Opera master Ma Lianliang, who has played the piano for Zhang Junqiu, Zhao Yanxia, Tan Yuanshou, Ma Changli, Yang Chunxia and many other famous artists, and has been praised by fans, ticketers and experts as the "Holy Hand of Jinghu". Only to see him walk up to the stage in a white suit, elegant temperament, falling generously, smiling and bowing to the audience, immediately attracted a round of applause.
A Peking opera song "Deep in the Night" made him quickly enter the state of performance. Only to see his eyes slightly closed, into the realm of no-self, his strong and powerful, passionate performance, the audience's hearts are hooked, the mood with the ups and downs of his playing. The sound of the piano was muffled and high, and the Jinghu in his hand at this time seemed to be no longer an instrument, but a mesmerizing wand, bringing the audience into a dreamlike realm. At the end of the song, the whole audience was silent, and then the audience who woke up from the music broke out into a wave of applause, which lasted for a long time.
Then came Li Peihong, Li Hongtu, Wang Yige, Zhang Jianguo and other famous artists, who also fully demonstrated their profound singing skills and perfect artistic achievements.
Wang Peiyu, an actress at the Shanghai Peking Opera House and a female student of the famous Peking Opera Yu Pai (Yu Shuyan), has won the first prize in the National Peking Opera Competition for many times. She sang "Xu Ce Running City", but the on-site performance disappointed me a little, expressionless, singing stiff, as if she was perfunctory. Later, I learned that this was her style, and I didn't understand the drama and couldn't comment on it.
The finale is Zhao Baoxiu and Shang Changrong, who are old and strong, with round words, momentum, climaxes, and wonderful.
At the end of the performance, all the actors closed the curtain, the audience applauded endlessly, and the whole audience burned with passion, which is the charm of Peking Opera art. The piano sounded like a song and sang like a poem, and the Mei Lanfang Grand Theater was deeply retained in my memory.
On that day, the "Chinese Excellent Peking Opera Character Series" (a set of nine books) was being released and the on-site signing event of the book "Drama Color Hua Ge - Wang Yige" was held here.
The nine books of the "Chinese Excellent Peking Opera Character Series" are:
Tsing Yi Dao Ma Li Peihong;
Hongyun hero Li Hongtu;
Jinghu Qiankun Yan Shouping;
Different Kinds of Su Sheng Wang Peiyu ;
Wang Yige;
Flower Face Chief Shang Evergreen;
Zhao Baoxiu;
Mei Pai Male Dan Hu Wen Ge;
Pear Garden Tianxiang Wang Rongrong.
We didn't know in advance that there was a book signing activity on the spot, so we missed a good opportunity for Famous Peking Opera artists to sign, which is a bit regrettable. But I managed to get all nine books on the spot, which was also a windfall. Now take out these books to flip through, or listen to their singing segments, not only appreciate the charm of Peking Opera, understand the growth process of each master, but also recall the beautiful moments at that time, which is intoxicating. This is the meaning of collecting culture, and the longer the time, the stronger the taste.
Spring Spring Spring City Huimin Opera and Shandong Lv Opera warm people's hearts
In 2021, in the blink of an eye, I'm of retirement age.
After retiring, he often lived in Jinan, and one day, he saw the information of opera in the circle of friends of "Qilu One Point". Qilu Evening News joined hands with Beiyang Grand Theatre to create a "Happy Weekend Spring Spring City" Jinan Opera Huimin Performance.
My wife and I participated in the ticket-grabbing activities and went to see the theater for several consecutive Sundays, mainly the performances of the Jinan Lu Opera Troupe.
Lü opera is a local genre of music in Shandong, which has a history of 100 years. It has a distinct local character. The singing voice is simple and simple, beautiful and beautiful, flexible and smooth, easy to learn and easy to sing.
The plays we watched were "Li Erjie Remarried", "Borrowing The Year", "Dragon and Phoenix Noodles", "Little Sister Xian", "JingtaiHui", "Sisters Easy to Marry", "Drinking Noodle Leaves" and so on. The theme of Lu opera is mostly to express people's daily life, very grounded, and is the drama of the people themselves. The content of the play is to pin the evils of the times, to uphold virtue and do good, to advocate civilization, to honor the elderly, to live in harmony with the neighbors, and to help the weak and the poor. Carry forward the main theme, which is fully in line with the content of today's socialist core values.
The play is performed in the "Beiyang Grand Theater", the architectural style of the theater is simple and thick, beautiful and generous, and the momentum is magnificent. The room was neat and clean, the seats were comfortable, and the stage lighting sound was good.
Whenever the curtain of the stage is opened, I see the lights on the stage and hear the pleasant sound of musical instruments such as the falling piano, which makes me feel excited, as if I have returned to 30 years ago. Seeing the story in the play seems to be happening all around me.
When watching the play "Borrowing the Year", I remembered the scene when I returned to my hometown in the countryside for the New Year.
Chinese New Year's Eve, when the family made dumplings, they all listened to the Lü opera "Borrowing the Year", the famous Lv opera performance artist Li Daijiang played Wang Hanxi, and the beautiful singing section in the play made people intoxicated: "The snow flutters, the year Chinese New Year's Eve, on the orders of the mother, go to the father-in-law's house to borrow the year..." Listening to the drama and making dumplings, from time to time there are a few sounds of children's play and firecrackers, and they talk and laugh, the new year is full of flavor, and the family is happy and harmonious. Elderly parents always look forward to the happiness of their children, and we also hope that the old people will be physically strong. Time has passed, that moment is gone, I can't find the taste of the past year, I can't help but feel a pang of sourness...
Watching a play, you can enjoy art, enjoy happiness, and promote people's physical and mental health. In the same way, watching drama also enables people to increase their knowledge, receive education, and learn the bottom line of being a person. Drama is like life, life is like drama.
Opera, it is not ageless, that is, it will not become obsolete, nor will it be old-fashioned. It is a treasure of Chinese art and the traditional culture of the Chinese nation for thousands of years, which will never fade.
Zhao Kuizhong Retired cadre of Xiajin County Loves Taijiquan Tourism Literature
One point number Lin Yuan