Modern Express News (reporter Song Jingwei) resisting the enemy and defending the country, a loyal martyr, the story of Yang Jiajian has always inspired future generations. Recently, the Peking Opera House of Jiangsu Performing Arts Group gathered new and old forces to rearrange the Peking opera "Yangmen Female General" and opened the rehearsal mode, planning to synthesize and premiere the whole play in late June. It is reported that the play was created in 1959 and premiered by the China Peking Opera House, which was once reserved as the Peking Opera House of Jiangsu Performing Arts Group, and went abroad to visit and perform, which was deeply liked by the audience. Will it be possible to achieve glory after 63 years? Let's take a look at spoilers.
Peking Opera "Yangmen Female General" was written by screenwriters Fan Junhong and Lu Ruiming with reference to the Yang family's story legend "Twelve Widows Marching west", and drew on the plot of Yang Opera's "Hundred Years old hanging marshal", which is a bright pearl in the treasure house of mainland opera repertoire. The play depicts the period of Emperor Renzong of Song, when Wang Wen of Western Xia invaded Sanguan and The Marshal of the Song Army, Yang Zongbao, died for the country. Emperor Renzong of Song personally went to Yang Mansion to mourn, and She Taijun and others rebuked the lord and sent Wang Hui to go out on a campaign and lead his entire family to the front line, defeating Wang Wen in a battle. Wang Wen also used a trick to lure Yang Wenguang into ambush. She Taijun made a plan and ordered Mu Guiying's mother and son to enter the Gourd Valley, and Zong Bao Mafu and the old horses he was riding on found a plank, attacked the enemy army, and returned triumphantly. The whole play performs a heroic ode to the mighty mountains and rivers.
It is understood that the biggest highlight of the play is the in-depth portrayal of the personality, character relationship and deep feelings of their mutual concern for each other in the four generations of grandchildren. When the twelve heroes of the towel plucked the red velvet flowers one after another and mourned for Zong Bao; when the white-haired centenarian tearfully laid the spirit of his grandson Zong Bao; when the Yangmen female general was mighty, attacked inside and outside, and won a great victory, the audience felt not only personal pain, but also infected by the lofty patriotic spirit of the people in the play.
After its premiere in 1959, the Peking Opera "Yangmen Female General" continued to be popular, and in 1963, the stage art film of the play also won the "Popular Film" Opera Film Hundred Flowers Award. However, in recent years, due to many reasons, the Beijing Theater of Jiangsu Performing Arts Group has only often performed individual excerpts of the play, and the whole play has not been put on the stage for many years.
The rehearsal specially invited Zhang Siquan, a teacher of the Beijing Opera House, and Huang Xiaoping, Sun Yuanchen, Jiang Yanling, Fan Yicheng, and other famous artists of Jiangsu Peking Opera as artistic consultants and guides. In terms of actors, first-class actor Dong Yuan plays She Taijun, excellent young actor Dong Jing plays Mu Guiying, and first-class actor Gao Fei plays Cheshire Lord. The Peking Opera House will strive to continuously improve the character shaping, music singing, stage art and other aspects, learn from the classics, pay tribute to the classics, take the passing on of the torch as the base point, inherit the spirit of the older generation of artists, promote artistic innovation and development, and make unremitting efforts to promote the art of Peking Opera.
(Courtesy of Beijing Opera House of Jiangsu Performing Arts Group Editor Gao Xia)