Three years ago, the Northern Kunqu Opera Theater took over the Zhengyi Ancestral Hall Theater Building, and on the evening of April 19, a play "Blessings from Heavenly Officials" traveled through 300 years of history, and the low-pitched Kunqu opera singing voice lingered among the quaint and elegant carved beam paintings, opening for the newly renovated Zhengyi Ancestral Hall Theater Building. Sponsored by the Publicity Department of the Municipal Party Committee, the Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism and the Xicheng District guided the Northern Kunqu Opera Theater to undertake the performance of the Zhengyi Ancestral Hall of "Hall with Drama", which not only opened up a new space for performing arts in Beijing, but also innovated the protection and revitalization of cultural relics with a beautiful meaning.
Experience Kunqu opera with an immersive experience
Located at No. 220, XiheYan Street, Qianmen, Xicheng District, the Zhengyi Ancestral Hall is once the Silver Horn Hall and the oldest and best-preserved pure wooden structure theater building in China, known as the "Living Fossil of Chinese Opera Building". Its fame stems not only from its long history, but also from the rich color it has left in the history of Chinese opera performances. In the past hundred years, Mei Lanfang, Tan Xinpei and other opera masters have sung and appeared here, witnessing its prosperity and glory together. The Zhengyi Ancestral Hall, which carries the traces of time, has also made the history of the development of opera for hundreds of years feelable and touchable.
The opening performance season of the Zhengyi Ancestral Hall Theater Selected Four Acts of Great Drama with Historical Origin to Be Staged, namely the resident drama "Blessing of heavenly officials", the theater version of "Peony Pavilion", the review of its reproduction of "Wall Head Horse" and "Pity Xiang Companion". Among them, the resident drama "Blessing of the Heavenly Officials" was tailor-made for the theater building and debuted as the opening celebration play. This edition of "Blessings from Heavenly Officials" not only inherits the aesthetic charm of Kunqu art and the traditional Chinese celebration culture, but also combines the aesthetics of the times and the ancient charm of the opera house to create and adapt, and the stage means such as smoke and multimedia also add a modern sense to the quaint theater. In particular, a play "Dream of Visiting the Garden", because the performance was moved to the front of the audience, the distance was quite "immersive" experience.
There are already 8 "guild halls with dramas" in the city.
As a series of performances of "there is drama in the guild hall", a number of "small and fine" and "small and beautiful" performances have been launched successively, and the Huguang Guild Hall and the Pigment Hall with relatively mature venue conditions have been selected as pilots to launch the "Meet Huguang" and "Meet the Paint" series of performances, and the Linfen Guild Hall, Fuzhou New Hall, Taiwan Guild Hall and other guild halls will also be performed successively. On the occasion of the reopening of the Zhengyi Ancestral Hall, Mei Lanfang Memorial Hall, Baoguo Temple, and Zhengyi Ancestral Hall jointly created a series of plays such as "There is a Drama in the Guild Hall", "Visiting the Garden to Find Plums" of "Meet Mei Lanfang", immersive opera "Tea House", and Zheng Yi Ancestral Hall version of "Blessings from Heavenly Officials" and other programs were staged in turn. At present, 8 guild halls in the city have launched a number of "guild hall drama" series of performances.
Since ancient times, Beijing has been a gathering place for opera art, and the large and small guild halls in the city carry a rich regional culture and give Beijing a unique historical and cultural heritage. There are 31 guild halls in Xicheng District that are included in the category of immovable cultural relics and protected according to law, while excavating the resources of the guild halls that can be used in the jurisdiction, Xicheng District relies on the characteristics and advantages of its own cultural resources to deeply expand museums, memorial halls and available cultural relics resources, launch the "guild hall has a play" Jingcai Xicheng spring performance season activities, and create an immersive performing arts format with distinct themes, diverse contents and different functions in representative historical and cultural places such as Mei Lanfang Memorial Hall, Baoguo Temple, and Zhengyi Temple Theater Building, and continue to polish the "guild hall has drama" Cultural brand.
Explore the mechanism of normalized performance
The performance of the literary and art academy troupe into the former site of the guild hall is an innovative move in the cultural construction of the capital. The Municipal Leading Group for Promoting the Construction of the National Cultural Center specifically studied and formulated a work plan on promoting the performances of literary and art academies into the old site of the guild hall, focusing on strengthening the construction of the national cultural center, focusing on creating a new space for the performance of the guild hall, and giving play to the positive role of the old site of the guild hall in preserving the cultural memory of the city and promoting the overall protection of the old city.
After in-depth research, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism handed over the Zhengyi Temple Theater to the Northern Kunqu Opera Theater for repair, operation and use. Relying on the Kunqu opera art that has been inherited for more than 600 years by zhengyi temple, at the same time, it can better play the cultural function of the central axis, present the beauty of the artistic conception of opera art, and restore the glory of the historical buildings represented by the guild hall.
In the future, Beijing will also base itself on promoting the protection and rejuvenation of the old city, create and launch more newly created plays with the value of the times and traditional aesthetics and flexible expression methods according to local conditions, and give play to the important functions of the guild hall as the "entrance to new dramas" and "new stages". At the same time, we will continue to explore the normalized performance mechanism of "the guild hall has a play", hold the ancient opera building drama exhibition season, carry out public lectures and cultural salons for opera, develop the micro-travel route of "the guild hall has a play", continue to create a cultural circle and art circle around the citizens, and enhance the brand attractiveness, communication and influence of the "guild hall has a play".
Text/Reporter Guo Jia Coordinator/Man Yi
Photo / Reporter Wang Xiaoxi
Source: Beijing Youth Daily