"Ugly", "disgusting", "scary", "monster"... It is hard to imagine that Zheng Yunlong, an actor who is loved by the audience, would be associated with these words. But last night, on the stage of the Poly Theater, the premiere of the Chinese stage play "Frankenstein" starring Zheng Yunlong, Wang Maolei, Huang Hong, Wang Yabin, Zhai Wanchen, etc., Zheng Yunlong climbed to another peak on the stage of the theater stage with such a complex role as "human creatures", which is extremely difficult and challenging, and also won the admiration and praise of all audiences and industry insiders.
Performance scene: Fans can't recognize that the "monster" is Zheng Yunlong
The stage play Frankenstein was adapted by British playwright Nick Deere from the first Western science fiction novel written by female writer Mary Shelley in 1818. The Chinese edition is co-directed by the famous British director Dominique DeRomgul and The Chinese director Li Ren, and the four leading actors Zheng Yunlong, Yan Nan, Yuan Hong and Wang Maolei alternately play "Frankenstein" and "human creatures" in different scenes.
Although the title of the play is "Frankenstein", the "human creatures" in the play are obviously more eye-catching. At the beginning, in the eerie and terrifying soundtrack, a very groundbreaking and bold experiment is underway: a pregnant woman is about to give birth; A group of dancers wearing black eye masks, each holding a part of the human torso in his hand; Scientist Frankenstein records the experimental process in his diary; Above the stage, a cage wrapped in dense wires slowly descended, and a curled humanoid object appeared in the cage... With the sound of an "electric flint", in the center of the stage lay a humanoid creature almost naked, covered with stitched wounds. This monster, who had just been born in the human world, was covered with stitched wounds from head to toe, and he crawled on the ground, trembling, struggling, trying to stand up again and again, and falling again and again... Under the background of the stage lighting sound effect, people feel terrifying and curious.
If you don't know it in advance, even if you are a loyal fan of Zheng Yunlong, it is difficult to recognize such a monster with a terrible face and twisted limbs, which is actually played by Zheng Yunlong. Nearly half an hour of limb performance without lines, he shows this abandoned artificial monster from the confusion and curiosity that first came to the world, to the excitement and happiness after perceiving various things, to the pain, grievance, anger, and despair of being rejected, disgusted, beaten, and driven away by people.
And when this terrible and pitiful monster meets the blind old man Dracy played by Huang Hong, for the first time to get respect and friendship, and even contact music, learn to read, receive education, and exchange ideas, the feelings between the two make the audience moved, which is also a rare warm part of the play. But the growth and evolution of the monster, accompanied by confusion and doubt, Dracia let him learn about "love" for the first time, and he also longed for love, so he dreamed of a female monster and danced with her; But he also felt betrayed by the hurt of Dracia's son and daughter-in-law, which grew even stronger anger and hatred, and even set a fire to Dracy's entire family.
When the monster finally goes to great lengths to find frankenstein, a scientist who has created himself and abandoned him, the confrontation and communication between the two will substitute the development of the story into a more thought-provoking plot. Throughout the performance, Zheng Yunlong has always maintained a strange physical state and a low voice, but it can make people feel the huge ups and downs in the heart of this ill-fated human creature, and his performance is extremely tense and infectious, integrating personal charm and character charm.
Behind-the-scenes interview: Spending three hours each time wearing makeup for the first time
When the reporter interviewed Zheng Yunlong behind the scenes, he learned that in order to play the role of "human monster", he had to spend three hours of makeup every time. He also confessed that although he was a musical theater actor, he did not think that his physical performance was more advantageous in the face of such a challenging performance of the role, but instead had to spend more effort to show the clumsiness, distortion and incongruity of the monster. And because the stage space is much larger than the rehearsal hall, each actor who plays a human creature has a course of action on the stage that is at least 4 times longer than in the rehearsal hall, and also has to pay more than 4 times more physical strength. Zheng Yunlong even used "torment" to describe the feeling of the first consecutive row, "too tired! Sweating out of the whole person is confused, clothes are dripping. ”
But Zheng Yunlong also showed a strong love for this work and the theatrical stage, especially for the two very different but closely related roles in different scenes, "Human Monster" and "Frankenstein", which are full of creative excitement. "I haven't been on stage for a long time, and now even if I'm on stage for a while, I'm looking forward to it." Because of the impact of the epidemic, this drama has been rehearsed for two years before and after, and it can finally be staged in this special period, which is really hard-won, and everyone cherishes it very, very much. ”
The British director of the play, Dominique deRomgul, also greatly appreciated the performance of Chinese actors, using a series of "wonderful" to describe the performance of the actors, he also revealed that the Chinese version of the performance added the role of the author Mary Shelley, highlighting the female perspective, while more deeply reflecting on the potential harms and ethical issues of unnatural reproduction. Chinese director Li Ren said that not only the performances of the four leading actors have their own characteristics, but also the performance strength and dedication of Huang Hong and Zhai Wanchen, two old artists, are also admirable.
As one of the producers, Li Chunzhou, president of Beijing Aozhewei Culture Communication Co., Ltd., also said that the performance can be presented to all audiences with such excellent quality, and the entire production team, the main creative team, and all the cast members in front of and behind the stage have made great efforts. During the epidemic period, the Chinese and British creators overcame all difficulties and created this wonderful drama that sold out immediately as soon as the ticket was issued and the box office and word of mouth were both harvested through the flexible way of selecting actors and online and offline creation and rehearsal.
The show will run until June 29. Tonight (June 23), Zheng Yunlong will appear in the role of scientist Frankenstein, while another outstanding actor with great stage performance, Yan Nan, will play a "human creature".
(Original title: "Frankenstein" Chinese version premiere, "monster" Zheng Yunlong is amazing)
Source: Beijing Daily Client | Reporter Wang Run
Process Editor: u099