On the evening of September 13, with the final play of "Zhan Wancheng" in the Chang'an Grand Theater, the "Triumphant Song Loud Ma Xiaoxiao - Beijing Peking Opera House Outstanding Young Ma Pai Veteran Actor Zhang Kai's Personal Special Performance" ended successfully. The 36-year-old Zhang Kai, as one of the few young Mapai actors, completed a wonderful appearance, and also handed over a stage examination "test paper" for his more than 20 years of Peking Opera study, the audience enthusiastically applauded, and the praise eyes thrown by Master Zhu Qiang from the side stage gave him a good score for this "test paper".
In 2021, the 120th anniversary of the birth of Mr. Ma Lianliang, the founder of Peking Opera Ma Pai, Zhang Kai, as a disciple of the famous Ma Pai artist Zhu Qiang and a leader of the contemporary young Ma Pai, his personal special performance is also an important part of the series of activities to commemorate the 120th anniversary of Mr. Ma Lianliang's birth.
The art of Ma Pai is broad and profound, the requirements are comprehensive, and the Ma Pai repertoire is wide and skilled, which has extremely high requirements for the basic skills and expression of actors. There are three performances in this "Triumphant Song Loud Ma Xiaoxiao" special performance, of which "The Orphan of Zhao" and "Su Wu Muyang" are classic masterpieces of Ma Pai, and "Zhan Wancheng" is both cultural and martial. Among peers and fans, Zhang Kai's reputation is quite good, and the performance scene is also quite hot. In "The Orphan of Zhao", he was full of color as soon as he appeared on the scene, and the performance of the elderly Cheng Baby in the second half, "Hitting the Baby" and "Breaking the Broken" both showed Zhang Kai's deep accumulation and excellent qualities for speculating on the characters and stage control. In "Su Wu Shepherd", Zhang Kai performed Su Wu's patriotic and loyal discipline, and in the second half of the play, he performed the humor and humor of the character and the fun of life. Zhang Kai played Zhang Xiu in the play, with the front and the start of the fight, and the back had an official clothes and hat, showing the character's "martial arts in the text" and vigor.
Master Zhu Qiang sorted out the costumes for Zhang Kai in the background
Peking Opera Ma Pai performances have high requirements for actors, and now there are fewer and fewer actors studying Ma Pai. In the eyes of teacher Zhu Qiang, his apprentice is a rare good seedling, "he is humble and polite, respects the teacher and is studious, clean and atmospheric on the stage, and takes every role seriously, what is more rare is that the cultivation is moderate, not tossed, and has the patience and calmness that are rare in other young people." In order to better cultivate disciples, Zhu Qiang often took Zhang Kai with him in his performances in recent years, giving up many valuable stage practice opportunities to his disciples, practicing the fine tradition of "passing, helping and leading" in the Beijing Opera House. In the performance, he often stood on the side curtain to set the stage for the disciples, and after the performance, he had to be targeted and carefully processed. In Zhu Qiang's view, learning a good horse school requires long-term unremitting efforts and pursuits, and can only be gradually improved in grinding practice, and Zhang Kai has such a tenacity and calmness.
Zhang Kai began studying opera at the age of 12, graduated from the Acting Department of the China Academy of Performing Arts in 2007, and joined the Beijing Opera House in the same year. The family is a "layman", and he himself came to Beijing from other places, and Zhang Kai's journey is not easy. Although he thought that he would stand in the middle of the stage one day, after he entered the Beijing Opera House, he first played supporting roles for eight or nine years, and he never looked down on these roles, "I have done every role conscientiously and well, and played the supporting roles on the spot." "For more than ten years, the accumulation of bits and pieces is all in the body," there is no shortcut to learning art, first of all, you must endure loneliness, and secondly, you must work hard to study, follow the teacher to learn, step by step to grow up, and have the opportunity to stand in the middle of the stage." ”
In Zhang Kai's view, this special performance is only a stop in his career, but also a new starting point, there are still many plays to learn in the future, a long way to go, "What I want to do is to follow Master to learn more ma pai plays, step by step to inherit the art of ma pai." ”