The Paper's reporter Wang Yi
On the evening of June 30, beijing Dahua City Performing Arts Center resounded with warm applause, and the premiere of Yi Liming's new work "Doctor Konok" detonated the audience.
The play is the opening work of yi Liming's "medical trilogy" and the opening scene of the trial operation of Beijing Dahua City Performing Arts Center. Beijing Dahua City Performing Arts Center, formerly known as Dahua Cinema, was one of the first four three-star cinemas in Beijing after the reform and opening up, and was renovated in 2010. In 2020, Yi Liming's team took over the renovation project and decided to build the site into an urban performing arts center.
From June 30 to July 3, "Doctor Konok" takes the audience through a dramatic adventure full of laughter and speculation, exploring the depths of medicine and human nature. The show will be performed for the second week on July 8.
Stills from "Doctor Konok", Zhang Naitian (left) plays Dr. Konok, and Miao Ge (right) plays Dr. Parpalaid.
"Healthy people are patients who neglect their own bodies"
French playwright Jules Romains wrote Doctor Konok (aka Konok or The Triumph of Medicine) in 1923, which won wide acclaim the following year and became a masterpiece of French theatre. He has performed more than 1,400 times in France, Austria, Germany and other places for a long time, and has been made into a movie three times. It has a profound influence in Europe, and its drama fragments have even been compiled into French student textbooks, and the male protagonist "Konok" in the play, like China's A Q, has become a typical and synonymous with a class of people.
In 1998, Jiang Wen moved "Konok or the Triumph of Medicine" to the Capital Theater. The play is about a doctor from Konok in the French town of Saint-Maurice. Saint-Maurice was originally healthy for everyone, but Dr. Cornock claimed that all healthy people were unknown patients. He was determined to "medicalize" life in the town according to his methods. Starting with the free clinic, Konok used seduction, hinting, promises, intimidation and other means, gradually convincing the whole town that he was sick and needed to see a doctor. Three months later, the inn in Saint-Maurice was turned into a medical station, residents began to enjoy the equipment and measures of modern medicine, and patients received "care in accordance with modern hygiene regulations".
The Yi Liming director's version of "Doctor Konok" follows the "medical madman" Dr. Konok with extreme medical enthusiasm to "promote" people to pay attention to the theme of the play, but reconstructed the character relationship and the expression of the theme of the play, so that this good play that has been born for nearly a hundred years has been re-radiant at the moment. In the play, the audience can not only feel the historical turmoil of science and people's hearts in the early 20th century, but also seamlessly connect with many current world themes - the relationship between the individual and society, the collision of reason and desire are vividly displayed and thought-provoking in the play.
Rehearsal photo of "Doctor Konok", Yi Liming (left) speaking for the actor.
As the curtain opened, Dr. Konock broke into today's city from a French township and put forward his extreme medical concept on a new stage, "Healthy people are patients who neglect their bodies", which made the audience high-five and laugh. As the plot unfolds, Konok changes step by step from a fanatical paranoid doctor to a miniature of the speeding era, a symbol of mysterious desire, this character is like a crystal clear glass medicine bottle, reflecting Director Yi Liming's thinking on today's different fields of medicine, science and technology, economy, art, religion and so on.
The stage design style of "Doctor Cornock" is strong, completely unsubstantiated on realistic scenes, but focuses on returning to dramatic expression, a dilapidated classic car drives the entire whimsical stage, conveying an ironic and anti-traditional artistic attitude. In addition, the lighting design is also a highlight of this time. The main creative team has made many attempts in color, showing new spatial relationships from the intuitive and structural level, with obvious expressionist characteristics, stimulating the vitality of the actors' performances, meeting the director's deep artistic requirements, and creating a real and illusory atmosphere for the audience.
In the view of director Yi Liming, "Doctor Konok" faces two of the most important creative points, one is speculation and narrative, and the other is the exploration of theatrical style, which depends on the joint participation of stage art and lighting. He put forward the creative concept of "coming from the stage and returning to the stage", believing that with the development of contemporary art and the times, diversified artistic techniques must exist on the modern stage, but diversified forms of expression, "the purpose is to return to the authenticity of stage creation." ”
The costume design of the characters in the play
"I do the play calmly, I hope the audience will watch the play calmly"
"'Doctor Cornock' is the first play to be piloted by the Dahua City Performing Arts Center, which is of great significance! We must first make an excellent work to dedicate to the audience, and at the same time bring out an excellent team to dedicate to the industry. As a director and the artistic director of Dahua, Yi Liming has a higher-level design idea for this play, and he boldly uses new talents, whether it is the main actor on the stage, or the stage supervisor and project coordinator behind the scenes, he lets young people stand in important positions.
In Yi Liming's view, "There are many flattering ways to make a theater, and fiddling with it a few times can also make it lively." But if there is no responsibility for the times and the difficult process of exploration, without the choice of 'lying flat' and rising, then the establishment of the theater will be meaningless. I do the play calmly, and I hope that the audience will watch the play calmly. ”
It is worth mentioning that the architectural body of Beijing Dahua City Performing Arts Center has been nearly 100 years old. Originally the Beijing YMCA club on Mishi Street, it was built in 1913 and the main buildings include the main building, gymnasium and auditorium. In February 1927, the auditorium began to screen films. In April 1929, the auditorium was converted into audio films, which was the first theater in Beijing's history to show audio films.
On November 15, 1945, the theater was officially renamed "Dahua Cinema". After the reform and opening up, Dahua Cinema has become one of the first four three-star cinemas in Beijing, and will regularly hold film premieres, old movie reviews, celebrity and audience meetings, and exclusive early release of blockbusters. In August 2008, Dahua Cinema began to suspend business due to renovation and renovation, and began a comprehensive renovation. In July 2020, the Yi Liming team took over.
After nearly two years of renovation, dahua cinema has become a trinity of performance venues, literary and artistic groups, performance agencies, opera halls, circular theaters, experimental theaters, sky theaters, concert halls, as well as more than ten rehearsal halls and a number of public art spaces integrated art institutions - Dahua City Performing Arts Center, with director and stage designer Yi Liming as the artistic director and dean.
According to media reports, the Dahua City Performing Arts Center has a total of six performance spaces, one is an opera hall based on the original main hall of the cinema, with a mirror-framed stage, a liftable orchestra pit, and more than 530 seats of auditorium on the upper and lower floors - this time "Doctor Konok" was selected to premiere here. The stage in the form of a drama stage has audience seats on three sides, which can accommodate more than 290 people, which can not only allow the audience to have a close immersive feeling, but also leave a lot of possibilities for the performance. The stage is a bit like the ring theater of the ancient Roman theater, with 197 seats, not only can perform small theater plays, but also small speech activities. In addition to these three performance spaces with fixed audience seats and stages, there are three more flexible and open performance spaces, one is a concert hall, one is a sky theater for open-air performances, and one is an experimental theater.
The center has a theater with three grandstands.
In addition to these six performance spaces, more than a dozen rehearsal spaces of different sizes can be "transformed" into various functional art areas at any time, as well as different functional areas such as cafes and galleries. Yi Liming revealed that the concept of "people-oriented" is reflected in all aspects of the design, even the details such as the bathroom are not left behind. Some media reporters noted that each performance space in the center has a makeup room, rehearsal hall and toilet, which is very convenient from the perspective of the audience and from the perspective of the cast and crew, "and the public toilet not only takes into account the needs of the female audience, but even reserves the space to wait in line." ”
It is also worth mentioning that on the spot observation of the surging news reporter, the main entrance of the Dahua City Performing Arts Center is facing Peking Union Medical College Hospital - the hospital treats and saves people, and the drama heals people's hearts. Is the contrast between body, mind and soul also the reason for choosing the premiere of the center during the trial operation as "Doctor Knok"?
"There are considerations for that. Dahua City Performing Arts Center is directly opposite Union Hospital, which is also near a number of national and even world-renowned medical institutions such as Tongren Hospital and Beijing Hospital. We may wish to think again that the China Youth Art Theater was also nearby, and now the Oriental Pioneer Theater of the National Drama Theatre of China and the Capital Theater of the Beijing People's Art Theater are also watching each other in this neighborhood. It can be said that for a long time, in the political core area of the capital Beijing, it is also the central town where medical institutions and theater troupes gather. Yi Liming told the surging news reporter that in order to highlight the characteristics of the environment, but also hope to discuss the value orientation of human life with the audience in the theater, this time specially planned the "medical victory trilogy" - "Doctor Knokke", "Frankenstein" and "Which One Am I". "These three medical dramas reflect the thinking of different fields such as medicine, science and technology, economy, and art today."
Director Yi Liming
【Dialogue】
"Citizens and friends can feel the charm of drama in an immersive way"
The Paper: The location of the Dahua City Performing Arts Center can be said to be a prime location with little land. I noticed that from the previous renovation of the Dahua Cinema to your takeover in 2020, can you first review the situation at that time?
Yi Liming: We took over in July 2020, when the situation of the center has been renovated, but there is still a big gap as the city performing arts center in my heart. I heard that it was to build the fifth line of the Beijing subway, and I found that the theater itself had many problems with the load-bearing and so on, which can be said to be a dangerous building. In the past two years, due to the impact of the epidemic, everyone has not done much anyway, and we have devoted all our efforts to the reconstruction of this place.
At the beginning of the design of the Dahua City Performing Arts Center, we referred to the appearance of the Western City Opera House. Moreover, during the renovation process, such as the façade outside the main entrance of the center, the column decoration in the Style of Art Deco of the 1920s and 30s was retained. In addition, the door design in the theater is also more Western-style. Standing on the terrace in the center, we can see the residential complex of Union Hospital, which is completely Designed as an American country house, and the architecture here is meant to reflect a blend of East and West.
Art Deco-style column decoration on the central façade. Photography by Wang Yi
The Paper: From a cinema to a city performing arts center, I wonder what you think of the definition of the word "city" in front of the center?
Yi Liming: The capital Beijing has always been the center of culture and art in the country, and over the past 20 years, everyone has seen the rapid development of Beijing's urban construction. While developing at a high speed, how can the cultural life of the public keep up? In me, I dreamed of having a theater where artists want to create, like there are a lot of good seeds, but to find a place to plant the seeds and let them grow. Now that I finally have such a good piece of soil, I feel very grateful. Our center is a special theater, it has state-owned capital in it, but the operating model is a pure private art institution, we need to rely on real works of art to communicate with the market, to dialogue with our lovely city, to communicate with the people, to meet the needs of the times, to meet the needs of the people.
The Paper: Yes, I came from the alley next to me this time, and an enthusiastic aunt showed me the way.
Yi Liming: From the performance space to the content of the play, there is also a "scale" problem. Now the big theaters all over the country are basically the style of the opera house, very modern, but too big. In the play, you have to wear a microphone to see the actors on the stage, which is actually not the most ideal mode of drama performance and viewing. In addition, just like in our (geographical) location, looking east is the CBD high-rise buildings, you may work there, your home may still be in the alley here, indicating that work is work, life is life, citizens and friends may not want to be in a grand building in life, to experience a grand narrative. Come here to rest your feet and watch a play, no better.
The physical volume of Dahua City Performing Arts Center is not very large, but although the sparrow is small and complete, it is especially suitable for performing pioneer and experimental dramas, and dramas such as "Doctor Konok" can also be put down, the audience and actors can communicate closely, and citizens and friends can feel the charm of drama in an immersive way, which is a point I particularly care about. In the design of specific theaters, we also refer to the theaters of ancient Rome and ancient Greece, and it can be said that the development and flourishing of drama in that year blossomed in the center of the city. We open the door here is the street, next to the hutong, the surrounding food, drink and fun are readily available, the citizens' fireworks are strong, and there is no need to worry about the flow of people, it can be said that it is rooted in the center of the citizens.
The main entrance of Dahua City Performing Arts Center in Beijing. Photography by Wang Yi
The Paper: Opposite the center is the Union Hospital, which manages people's physical (health) on the one hand, and provides spiritual life on the other.
Yi Liming: A friend came to me and said that your theater is opposite the hospital, as if something was wrong. I said, oh, yes, that's good. Because in modern urban regulation, there are three buildings that are indispensable - hospitals, theaters, and downtown squares.
Located in the east of the Forbidden City, our street is really worthy of a big book. Dahua City Performing Arts Center is directly opposite Union Hospital, which is also near a number of national and even world-renowned medical institutions such as Tongren Hospital and Beijing Hospital. We may wish to think again that the China Youth Art Theater was also nearby, and now the Oriental Pioneer Theater of the National Drama Theatre of China and the Capital Theater of the Beijing People's Art Theater are also watching each other in this neighborhood. It can be said that for a long time, in the political core area of the capital Beijing, it is also the central town where medical institutions and theater troupes gather. Is there a relationship between the two? It's so relational.
The Paper: As the dean, can you introduce the artistic concept of Dahua City Performing Arts Center?
Yi Liming: The area of the center is not large, because it does not need to be so large, we also take into account the regulation of traditional Chinese theaters, the Changyin Pavilion of the Forbidden City Ningshou Palace, this is the royal stage, is it big? There is also a stage in the Huguang Guild Hall, is it big? None of them are that big. Therefore, between the size and high level of the performance venue of the play, there is no equal sign. The qing emperor slept in only ten square meters, why was it only so big? This is the scale of man, and the temple of Taiwa is the scale of "God." The Dahua City Performing Arts Center also follows the scale of "people", so that the audience can comfortably enter the theater and watch the play comfortably.
So, how to provide a comfortable experience for the audience? I take "International Expression of Chinese Stories, World Classic Chinese Expression" as the core artistic concept of the center. Our center has an independent and complete creative team, an art management team, an art technology team, a self-owned cast team, and a chamber orchestra. In the future, it will continue to launch high-level art works and public art products in the fields of theater, music, dance and art education.
Stills from "Doctor Konok", young actor Zhang Naitian played Dr. Konok.
"Opening is like the New Year, you definitely have to make a big table of dishes to entertain relatives and friends"
The Paper: After talking about the "hardware" of the center's architectural design, let's talk about the "software" product content. Specific to this premiere, why choose the play "Doctor Knokke"?
Yi Liming: This time is not a simple re-enactment of "Doctor Konok" on the stage, but a new interpretation, behind which is a new understanding of this classic comedy, the presentation of theatrical style, and the observation and expression of the times.
The reason why a work has become a classic is because it can continuously provide endless imaginative materials and interpretation space for theatrical creation, "Doctor Konok" has been reflecting the times and human nature for a hundred years, providing us with a way full of laughter and thorns to reflect on reality. "Medicine" and "health" are almost the spiritual totems of contemporary people, physiological problems and psychological problems are the source of each other, and the worship of "medicine" and "health" is an important proposition throughout the life of modern people.
In fact, we are still in the trial operation period, and the center will officially open in September this year. It's like the New Year, you can't just bring out a bowl of braised pork, you have to make a big table of dishes to entertain relatives and friends. There will be four operas, four or five plays, and opera works adapted to the regulations of the theater to meet with the audience. I took over the center project for two full years, the first year and a half was all about architecture, and more than half a year was thinking about concrete works.
The Paper: "Doctor Konok" should be more than twenty years later, what is the difference between the second time it was staged in China and the previous version?
Yi Liming: The comedy of "Doctor Konok" has an extraordinary importance in modern French drama, this role is not a simple liar can define, different versions have given this role different colors. This version of "Doctor Konok" not only brings the protagonist from the French countryside to the modern city, but also pushes him to the deeper depths of human history and individual spirit, as a director, my thinking can not be limited to specific people and things, I hope to enter a broader time and space with the work, and the audience to explore the problems faced by human beings themselves.
On the basis of the original dramatic structure, we first reconstructed the character relationship and the expression of the theme of the play in the text. In the rehearsal process, more emphasis was placed on the modern theatrical performance concept of "here and now".
Chen Xing plays Mrs. Remy
Peng Wenni plays Lady Purple
The Paper: The drama industry knows that comedy is difficult to rehearse and difficult to perform, especially foreign comedies may still have the problem of water and soil, why would they choose French comedy?
Yi Liming: French comedy is of great significance to French culture and even to world culture, and China has no shortage of its confidants, especially the group of theater audiences. French playwrights are particularly adept at presenting deep philosophical paradoxes in the form of comedy. Dexterous jumps in the midst of many heavy real-world problems, full of the power of thinking and the beauty of plucking heartstrings. And this coincides with our national character.
I myself, though serious, am definitely not a dull person. The same is true of the scenes I rehearsed, "Waiting for Godot", "Romulus the Great", and "Empire Train" are all in the process of speculation and laughter. Laughter in the theater itself is a challenge to the old concept of theater.
The Paper: Specifically, what other works are in preparation besides "Doctor Konok"?
Yi Liming: Dahua City Performing Arts Center, but we did not just position the word "city" on "Beijing". As the artistic director of the theater, my future vision is to introduce more Western classic plays and prepare to stage the complete works of Shakespeare here. We have translated Shakespeare's complete works for a long time, but no theater has ever made his complete works into a series. In addition, Tang Xianzu's "Peony Pavilion" is also planned.
Editor-in-charge: Cheng Yu
Proofreader: Zhang Liangliang