In the past ten years, mainland stage art has entered a new era of prosperity and development, its creative ability has been greatly improved, and many high-quality and explosive plays that are both ideological, artistic and market-oriented, widely praised by experts and loved by the masses have emerged, and the social benefits and market benefits have been harvested, and the cultural business cards of "watching Beijing in the big drama" have become more shining.
The dance dramas "Heavenly Road", "Only This Green and Green", and "Five Stars Out of the East" not only won the "Wenhua Award", but also toured all over the country and were box office hits; Beijing Renyi drama "Tea House" and "Wotou Guild Hall" triggered long queues for audiences to buy tickets; The National Drama Theatre of China's "Beijing Fayuan Temple" caused a sensation; Kunqu opera "Dream of the Red Chamber", Peking opera "Big Mansion Gate", commentary drama "Mother", Hebei Wuzi "Monument to the People's Heroes", opera "Tea House"...
Hundreds of flowers bloom in various dramas, winning many awards, applauding and applauding; The ballet "Peony Pavilion" also went out of the country and danced on the stage of major international art festivals...
These "phenomenon-level" stage masterpieces not only highlight the cultural self-confidence of mainland literary and artistic creation, but also attract more and more audiences to enter the theater.
The diversified interpretation of traditional culture is innovative
In 2021, two precious cultural relics have been put on the stage in the form of dance dramas. One is based on the national first-class cultural relics "Five Stars Out of the East and Lee China" Han Dynasty Shudi Brocade Arm Guard, adapted into the dance drama "Five Stars Out of the East"; The other is based on the famous painting "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" collected at the Palace Museum in Beijing, which was adapted into a dance and poetry drama "Only This Green". Both dances won the Mandarin Award, and it was hard to get a ticket during the performance.
Popular dance dramas such as "Confucius", "Li Bai", "Du Fu", "Peony Pavilion" and "Dream of the Red Chamber" also perfectly integrate the Chinese aesthetic spirit and contemporary aesthetic taste, making the literary and artistic "national tide" a cultural boom. The sages of Chinese culture also constantly inspired the creative inspiration of artists, becoming the stage protagonists of different artistic disciplines such as dramas "Li Bai" and "Du Fu", musicals "Su Dongpo", and Kunqu opera "National Style". The dramas "Dou'e" and "New West Chamber" give the traditional classics a new era of artistic tension from the contemporary perspective of young people.
Chinese modern and contemporary classic plays are also important treasures of Chinese civilization. The performances of "Thunderstorm" and "Tea House" in different styles and different perspectives have reinterpreted and interpreted the plays of Cao Yu and Lao She in a more diverse, bold and exploratory way, and have been in line with international standards and entered the world stage.
Adaptation of classic literary masterpieces has become a trend
Many Chinese literary masterpieces with the spirit of the times and classic value have provided rich gifts and sources of creation for contemporary stage art production, and have been continuously presented on the stage of the Chinese nation in different artistic styles by various academies, reflecting the great changes in the nation, writing the epic of the people, telling Chinese stories, and presenting a rich and three-dimensional image of the Chinese nation.
From Xiao Hong's "The Field of Life and Death", Zhang Ailing's "Red Roses and White Roses", Li Bihua's "Green Snake", to Lao She's "Four Worlds Together", Li Ao's "Beijing Fayuan Temple"... Director Tian Qinxin adapted these classic novels into dramas, with unique innovations and expressions in terms of stage vocabulary, form of expression, and depth of thought, winning a double harvest of word-of-mouth and box office. Fang Xu, a dramatist who can direct and act, has put a series of classic novels of Lao She such as "Cat City", "Divorce", "My Life", "Erma", "Niu Tianci" and so on on the drama stage, and is known as "Lao She Professional Household".
Gulou West Theater invited Mu Sen and Ding Yiteng, two directors of different ages, to rehearse Liu Zhenyun's novels "One Sentence Top 10,000 Sentences" and "I Am Not Pan Jinlian" into stage plays with different strengths and weaknesses. Lu Pa, the international theater director invited by Drive Culture, boldly adapted the novels of Lu Xun and Shi Tiesheng and presented the audience's refreshing "Diary of a Madman" and "Alcoholics Can Not Be Drunk". Shaanxi Renyi, on the other hand, is based on local culture, and has successively put Chen Zhongzhong's "White Deer Plain", Lu Yao's "Ordinary World" and Chen Yan's "Protagonist" three famous works of Shaanxi writers who won the "Mao Dun Literature Award" on the drama stage, which were widely praised by the audience.
The original main theme theme is fruitful
Among the many original stage art works, the creation of the main theme theme continues to explore the perspective of expression, expand artistic techniques, and innovate means of expression, presenting a brilliant and colorful situation. Many plays are loved by many audiences, especially the younger generation, and have become well-received blockbusters.
The Beijing Renyi drama "Wotou Guild Hall" highlights the characteristics of Beijing Renyi and the Beijing flavor culture with the sadness and joy of small people. The key play "Night on Fragrant Hills", created to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, traces the history of the New Democratic Revolution with a "dialogue between the mind of time and space" between Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek. With the theme of fighting the epidemic, "Community Neighborhood Committee" focuses on community workers, sees the big in the small, and tells warm stories with ordinary people's side affairs. The National Theatre of China's "Gu Wenchang", "Three Bays, That Night", "The Age of Heroes", "The Red Starting Point", "Live Founding Ceremony", "Literature and Art in the War of Resistance" and a series of main theme works, different content themes and artistic techniques, combined with high-tech means, touched people's hearts and touched the soul.
Peking opera works such as "The Party's Daughter", "Sister Jiang", "Li Dazhao", "Shi Pingmei", "Fenghua Zhengmao", Hebei Wuzi's "Monument to the People's Heroes", and Kunqu Opera "Flying to Seize Luding Bridge" not only carry forward traditional culture, but also embody the spirit of the times. The dance drama "Tianlu" created by the National Centre for the Performing Arts to commemorate the 40th anniversary of reform and opening up and the 12th anniversary of the completion and opening of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, and the original national opera "Mountains and Seas" focusing on the history of poverty alleviation and change of the people of Xihaigu in Ningxia; Beijing Performing Arts Group's gift work "In the Distance" created to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China; The original drama "Shangganling" created by a number of cultural units to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Chinese Volunteers' War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea; As well as the popular dance drama "The Eternal Radio Wave", which won the Wenhua Award, etc., have made the main theme bear fruitful results on the artistic stage.
Expert opinion
Literary and artistic creation broke through the circle, and new formats broke through the ground
Creative transformation, innovative development, bacon casting the soul, keeping the right innovation, has become the Chinese stage art in the past decade to forge ahead of the distinct coordinates and theoretical support. Literary and artistic creation broke through the circle, and new formats broke through the ground, constituting a magnificent landscape of China's performing arts in the new era.
Beijing has made remarkable achievements in literary and artistic creation, integrating artistic resources, creating an artistic atmosphere, creating artistic masterpieces, and building a cultural center of regional cities and even the country, and its influence has been continuously highlighted, and the cultural brand of "Looking at Beijing with Great Dramas" has become more and more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. The national literary and art academies abide by the principle of "profound thinking, exquisite art, and excellent production", and their masterpieces continue to emerge. The new force of many artistic creations, production and marketing has also been spectacularly assembled in the Chinese performing arts industry in the new era with fresh kinetic energy, flexible posture and thick accumulation of volume, quantity and quality.
When the epidemic struck, China's performing arts industry not only insisted on creation, but also comprehensively accelerated online and offline linkage, rose in spite of difficulties, sought steady progress, expanded the artistic dimension and opened up a new world of performing arts in the special period of epidemic prevention. The new realm of diversified development crisscrossing has delivered a heartwarming and touching answer sheet for the decade of Chinese performing arts in the new era.
——Song Guanlin, Vice President of China Performance Industry Association
Source: Beijing Daily | Reporter Wang Run
Process Editing: U016
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