The penguins in the zoo were depressed, and the keepers tried to regulate it, and this true warm story was jointly created by Chinese and Colombian artists into the international parent-child light and shadow drama "Penguins! Penguins". On April 13, this ordinary and sincere work premiered at the Tianqiao Art Center. The play is jointly produced by Beijing Shadow Puppet Troupe Co., Ltd. and Budian Culture Communication (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., the inheritance and protection unit of the national intangible cultural heritage Beijing shadow puppet theatre, and is expected to start a 100-performance tour of six cities in China after its premiere in Beijing.
Penguin! "Penguins" uses light and shadow to tell that when the epidemic came, many people were quarantined, and when they were worried about themselves, they suddenly found a special group of city dwellers who were ignored - the animals in the zoo. The whole drama starts from the perspective of animals and tells their stories to humans, which not only makes us feel the small animals' thoughts about humans, but also makes everyone feel the most ordinary and warm sincerity in the epidemic era.
On stage, Daniel, a shadow puppet artist from Beijing Shadow Puppet Theatre Company, a Colombian artist, and Shen Xintong, a Chinese installation artist, jointly used the diversified presentation methods of "traditional shadow puppetry + slide projection" and "shadow drama + live-action performance" to show a vivid and colorful world of light and shadow, and experienced a warm journey with penguins and breeders. The protagonist of the story is a penguin with a cute attitude, the shape is both shadow puppetry and installation art, in the performance, the penguin Dana will walk in front of everyone, the actor will also interact with the shadow in the form of shadows, and the light and shadow will change, as if traveling in different dimensions. Created by Colombian artist Daniel, the music is composed by Colombian artist Daniel, a series of cheerful, enthusiastic South American melodies that make people feel like a spring breeze, and he will also play instruments such as electric guitars to interact with penguins, tell their stories and express their joy.
As a cross-cultural creative light and shadow parent-child drama, Penguin! "Penguin" has many challenges in the creation, the height and weight of the penguin shape in the play are three times that of the traditional shadow puppet characters, and in order to better match the lighting effect, the shadow puppet control rod has been increased to 1.2 meters, which increases the difficulty of the performance. In order to better show the dexterity of Dana and the animals, the performance of the actors and the traditional shadow puppet performance method has been very different.
In addition to the care for animals, a humanistic care has also been added to the creation. Shen Xintong, an installation artist who is one of the creators of the script, said that the "penguin" represents another layer of "wandering" image, for the penguin, it is a kind of uprooting from the South Pole to the zoo, but for people who are wandering away. Among the creators, Daniel is from Colombia, and the other actors are also from different provinces and cities, and they are far away from home in order to live and dream. The arrival of the epidemic has brought more thinking to everyone's life and ideals, perhaps in "Penguin! Find the answer in the story of Penguin.
And according to the director, "Penguin! "Penguin" is not just a fairy tale of a cute penguin and its keepers, it focuses on the present, we can't drift away because of the epidemic, on the contrary, our hearts should get closer and closer. Cherish the present, we are needed for each other, we are even more fortunate to each other. And this is exactly the small romance and small warmth that the whole drama wants to convey to the audience.
Text/Beijing Youth Daily reporter Guo Jia
Editor/Bow Lifang