Lao Dan, who is considered a weak industry, has always been difficult to create new plays, and since the Beijing Opera House in 1997," "Wind and Rain Tong Ren Tang", there has been no new choreography of Lao Dan's provocations. Zhai Mo, a young Lao Dan famous artist who is in the best creative period, put the theme "Lady City", which he has always kept in his heart since he was a teenager, on the Stage of Peking Opera in 2021. In her opinion, when she premiered last year, she always felt that she was not on the fire, so after this year's revision and polishing, "Lady City", which will debut on the Chang'an Grand Theater on April 8 and 9, has made her more confident and confident.
The story of "Lady City" as a teenager has been in my heart
The newly compiled Peking Opera historical drama "Lady City" is adapted from the real history of more than 1600 years, in the third year of the Eastern Jin Dynasty Xiaowu Emperor Taiyuan (378 AD), Former Qin invaded Xiangyang, the right army protected Li Bo to rebel and surrendered to the enemy, the defending general Zhu Xu was captured, and his mother Han Shi was ordered to take charge of the three armies. Lady Han strategized to unite the people of Xiangyang City, build an inner city in the weak part of the city's defenses, and cooperate with the reinforcements to crush the Qin army in one fell swoop. The people remembered Mrs. Han for building a city to resist the enemy, calling this city wall "Lady City", and the statue of Mrs. Han has always stood in Xiangyang City, accepting the remembrance and admiration of generations of people.
According to Zhai Mo, previous local dramas such as Fujian opera, commentary, and Yu opera all had works with the theme of "Lady City", but Peking Opera did not. As early as the drama school, someone once recommended this theme to Zhai Mo, and it can be said that the story of "Lady City" has taken root in her heart since she was a teenager. 10 years ago, when casually browsing the old book network, Zhai Mo accidentally found a very shabby "Lady City" Yu opera script, after repeated reading, the creation of "Lady City" has gradually budded, the information about "Lady City" at hand, even if it is only a villain book, she will take it out from time to time to turn it over. "Peking opera is still suitable for classical themes, and although modern themes have continued to find me over the years, many of them have not been in my heart, but Mrs. Han has always been a character that I am fascinated by."
Two years of no entertainment and no shopping for the sake of "drumming" and "starting" that Lao Dan has never used
"From "Yangmen Female General" and "Flower Gun" to "Eight Treasures Soup" and "Wind and Rain Tongrentang", it is already difficult for Lao Dan drama to have a breakthrough, and "Wind and Rain Tongrentang" has been separated by more than 20 years from now, and our generation of actors cannot always perform these plays created by their predecessors, and always want to have some original expressions of their own." Zhai Mo said that after applying to the theater for approval, the repertoire had not yet been established, and she had already begun to practice silently, and it also began with drumming and playing that Lao Dan had never had before.
Since March 2020, Zhai Mo has been practicing "drum sleeves" from scratch, and it has been two years now. At first, I practiced with the video of drum master Yang Guangtong, for an hour and a half a day, and then I repeatedly listened to the drum sleeves of Yang Baosen and Luo Yusheng. In the meantime, many people in the industry are not optimistic about Zhai Mo's drum training, because other actors who have related plays in other industries have started practicing from their teens, commonly known as "gong and other plays", and Zhai Mo's current age has been practiced from scratch, and it is almost impossible to practice. "During that time, I often had nightmares that I had failed on stage." Therefore, even after the rehearsal of the Spring Festival Gala, she did not remove her makeup, directly rushed to the theater to continue practicing, and sometimes sitting at the table, she would unconsciously use her fingers to beat the drum on the table.
In addition to drumming, Lao Dan has never been a bully she has also tried for the first time, "I am no stranger to wearing a thick bottom and relying on it, but I have never practiced it." In the past two years, I have lived the life of an ascetic, without entertainment or shopping, and I have been practicing for more than three or four hours a day. For two years, Zhai Mo almost always went to the theater at 2 p.m. every day to practice, and in order not to affect others, the administrative staff continued to practice drums after work. Her efforts were exchanged for the performance, the confrontation between the two armies, the war was about to break out, Zhai Mo played by the "Mrs. Han" leaned on the scene, the hammer rose and fell, such as thunderstorm, shocking people's hearts, this "drum sleeve" is based on the performance of Peking Opera performance artist Yang Baosen and Jingyun big drum performance artist Luo Yusheng.
Lao Dan drama no longer only listens to the singing section, and can also be hot and open
In Zhai Mo's view, Mrs. Han is very different from the previous Lao Dan characters, she is not an old woman, nor is she a military general, and she can neither play She Taijun in "Yangmen Female General", nor can she play Jiang Guizhi in "Flower Gun". "She is very grounded, and will go around the streets and alleys alone to inspect the city defenses when everyone is celebrating her birthday, and she will also carry lanterns from house to house in the snowy night to wake up the women in the city to strengthen the city walls overnight, and personally collect grain and grass for the soldiers... Although she is more than 60 years old, she is not old-fashioned, but a female figure with rich experience and calm agility, with deep feelings for home and country. ”
In the past, in the traditional drama of Lao Dan, the role was more crying or scolding, while Mrs. Han's style was heroic. In addition, there are also a large number of wonderful and hot martial arts dramas in this "Lady City", Wusheng, Wudan, Wu ugly, and Wuhua faces, with a clean and neat body, breaking the inherent aesthetics of the "Lao Dan Opera" only listening to the singing section, and also becoming the most grand scene in the Lao Dan drama.
Throughout the creative process, screenwriter Jiang Chaogao, director Shi Hongtu, composer and vocal designer Zhu Shaoyu escorted the play without compensation, and Peking Opera performance artists Zhao Baoxiu and Ye Hongzhu served as artistic directors. In particular, Zhai Mo's master, Zhao Baoxiu, a famous artist of Lao Dan, not only accompanied his disciples to run nine costume factories for nine trips, staying for four or five hours each time, but also on the basis of the already very pleasant singing voice, he carried out a more aesthetic edit that was more in line with the characteristics and aesthetics of the Li (Jinquan) Sect Lao Dan singing voice. In this rehearsal, in order to make the singing more lyrical, a singing of Mrs. Han and her son when they met in the city in the play used the "joint bullet" rarely used in the new choreography to form a vocal cavity situation.
Text/Beijing Youth Daily reporter Guo Jia