In March 1980, the new legendary Yue Opera drama "Meng Lijun" was performed on the Shanghai People's Stage. Wang Wenjuan as Meng Lijun, Ding Saijun, Cao Yindi as Huangfu Shaohua, Jin Meifang as Emperor Yuan Cheng, Meng Liying as Rong Lan, Zhou Baokui as the Queen Mother, Qian Miaohua as Taishi, Xu Tianhong as Meng Shiyuan, a time of masters gathered, unprecedented. The many names listed here are irreproducible celestial troupe lineups in the minds of Yue Opera audiences at that time and later.
If Lin Daiyu is the classic image that Wang Wenjuan contributed to the Chinese opera film art, then Meng Lijun is the pinnacle of Wang Wenjuan's contribution to the stage art of Yue Opera.
This year, Wang Wenjuan is 54 years old, which is the advanced age of artistic creation for Yue Opera actors, and the character of Meng Lijun almost always appears as a small student on the stage, but it is different from the image of a talented and beautiful girl who is good at Yue Opera, and it is difficult to successfully create this artistic image.
With her amazing performance and novel and pleasant singing, "Meng Lijun" quickly conquered the audience, and was widely praised for several months. Many wonderful singing passages in "Meng Lijun" composed by the famous Yue Opera composer Jin Liang are both beautiful and easy to sing, both touching and innovative, and are widely sung among the audience. It can be said that the successful performance of "Meng Lijun" has further established the status of the Wang School of singing in the Yue Opera genre.
In 1989, Wang Wenjuan, who was about to step down as the head of the Red Chamber Troupe and retire two years later, personally awarded the whole play of "Meng Lijun" to her disciple Shan Yangping, and the heavy responsibility of the first rehearsal of the whole "Meng Lijun" after the establishment of the Red Chamber Regiment was pressed on her shoulders at the age of 27.
Yue Opera "Meng Lijun: Class Teacher Returns to the Dynasty"
It can be said that in the first half of his life, Lin Daiyu in "Dream of Red Mansions" reached the pinnacle of Yue Opera art, and in the second half of his life, he used Meng Lijun in "Meng Lijun" as a monument, which was admired and admired by the world. The teacher's artistic life is perfect. As a disciple of the teacher, I am fortunate to have inherited "Dream of Red Mansions" and "Meng Lijun" under her teachings, and my heart is full of gratitude.
From Tonglu to Shanghai, from the county troupe to the Red Chamber Troupe, from the interpretation of Zhejiang folklore "Spring River Moon" and "Tonghua Tears" to the palace-level and national-level classic works "Dream of Red Mansions" and "Meng Lijun", it is the "dream" of Yue Opera and the "dream" of the Wang faction that I never dared to think of before, of course, I also know that in addition to luck, I taught "Meng Lijun" to me because the teacher wanted me to be more agile and more character on the stage.
The teacher's love for me often exists in this "strict" way of teaching by example, which only she and my master and apprentice understand. Starting from scratch, starting from scratch, re-expanding the singing, body training, performance, characters, and professions, and mastering the essentials of the "character" actor of the Wang School stage art, this is the fundamental reason why the teacher assigned "Meng Lijun" for me.
The heavy eaves of fairy feathers, the warm and sunny light blows through the wind of the morning star. She walks alone in the streets, with a lofty crane, well-dressed and musical, and a leader of hundreds of officials. The prime minister is important, and he is not virtuous. There is war and chaos outside, and there is sorrow inside. Emperor Yuan Cheng, who was happy, was the most impatient to go to court, and his ministers made all kinds of articles, with so many words and so light paper, and Emperor Yuan Cheng, who was often happy, suddenly became angry: So according to the prime minister's opinion-
The court meeting often ends because of this question, and Emperor Yuan Cheng has at least one more advantage, the hypocrisy is written on his face but he can still listen to people's persuasion, and it is rare to be mediocre and not faint.
Ranked at the head of the three princes, reconciling the world's Ding Nai, the young prime minister Meng Lijun, handsome as a star in the sky, warm as Kunlun's white jade. Emperor Yuan Cheng never thought that to obtain this wise man and talent, how much favor and love from God would have to be overdrawn.
Meng Lijun is an official student most of the time in the play. From Lin Daiyu to Meng Lijun, this span is not ordinarily large, it should be said that it is the difference between heaven and earth.
Our Yue Opera girls are very representative of traditional Chinese opera, and have unique aesthetic connotation and artistic charm. The performance methods and skills of "Meng Lijun" are difficult, the reason why Meng Lijun is Meng Lijun is not Zhu Yingtai who bowed to Caoqiao and sent him by the eighteenth minister, nor is she Su Xiaomei who tried three talents and Qiao Xiangshilang, she is the important minister of the Son of Heaven and the prime minister of the government. Lin Daiyu, Zhu Yingtai and Su Xiaomei, the characters I have played before, have no experience that can be used as a reference for Meng Lijun.
Before the rehearsal, the teacher asked me to learn the steps of the elementary students first. Teacher Sun Zhengyang, a Peking Opera performance artist, said to me that an actor, whether his kung fu is good on stage or not, and whether his body is stable or not, depends on whether he slips under his feet. This is the importance of the opera actor's steps on stage. As an official student, Meng Lijun's steps are the first homework I want to take. You don't need to speak, you don't have to sing, you don't even need to appear, as long as you lift your footsteps and the soles of your official boots shine, whether this character is there or not, the audience and insiders will know it.
Xiaosheng is handsome and spirited, it seems to be very simple, and it seems to be quite easy to learn, but when I practice, it's all wrong. Although I am relatively tall and Meng Lijun's appearance is more flattering to me, after several teachers have seen my rehearsals and performances, they feel that my whole body is still "soft" and not tough enough. Meng Lijun wears a python robe and holds a jade belt most of the time, if the gong frame is too soft, how can she still look like a prince of heaven, a prime minister who can convince the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty? The audience's visual experience will also question, can this prime minister manage state affairs? The teacher also immediately corrected me, the hand holding the jade belt should not be slack, but should be held all the time.
So during rehearsals, I carefully observed the steps of several other junior actors and asked them to help me practice. How to raise the knees, how to get out of the feet, how to hook the top of the feet, how to expose the soles of the boots. The stalk head, the waist, and the eyes and appearance. While watching and learning, slowly, the feeling of "Prime Minister" Meng Lijun is getting better and better.
At the same time, in order to improve our independent creative consciousness and the accuracy of character performances, the teacher also invited the famous Peking Opera director Ma Ke to us in the first row. It was also with the encouragement and support of my teachers that I started a new stage of character building.
Meng Lijun's first appearance and first appearance as the prime minister are what I look forward to the most every performance. A "Minister's Decree-", placket, end belt, turn around, crown, appearance!
The trumpets sounded, the drums sounded, the flags rolled the east wind, Xi Shaohua, the victory returned, and the three armies were vibrate.
It is not in vain that I have been accompanying the emperor for three years, and I am confused and hide my face.
It is not in vain that I will guarantee him to go to the border, and the enemies of the country will be remembered in my heart.
Xi Yingying beckoned the virtuous deed to go up——
For Meng Lijun, at this time, she not only has the infinite joy of reuniting with her lover Shaohua after a long absence, the number of emotions after three years of risk, but also the glorious mission of welcoming Shaohua's triumph on behalf of the emperor, and the solemn gift of the prime minister and marshal returning to the dynasty. This is the focus of the whole show, and it is also the highlight of the whole play! It is the audience's expectation of Meng Lijun, and it is also my excitement, awe and expectation for every performance of "Meng Lijun"!
No one knows where she came from, just as no one knows where she will go.
In the mouths of others, the story of a woman is insignificant. Only Shaohua, who was dressed in a frosty cloak, was afraid that she would be wronged and die of hatred. Everyone in the court is laughing, and it's always fun to look at other people's scars.
She watched him quietly and listened to him tell people about her grievances. Thousands of miles from the south of Caiyun to here, she is for him. The more anxious he was, the more secure her heart became.
In March 1980, after the teacher premiered "Meng Lijun", he recorded the stage art film of this play in July of the same year. This is one of the most important materials for me to observe and study the teacher's play, and the art film faithfully records every detail of the teacher's expression when creating the characters, which is not easy to grasp and remember when watching a live performance. Every time I watch this film, I am impressed by the teacher's handling of details, which is delicate to exquisite, subtle and wonderful.
As a court light comedy, the first scene of "Meng Lijun" is a "group play" of the Son of Heaven coming to the court and the courtiers fighting their tongues. Meng Lijun doesn't have many lines, but it is the focus of the dramatic contradictions, and it is also the core of the war of words among the ministers. The Son of Heaven asked her for advice, and the ministers asked her to make up her mind. Meng Lijun's subjective and objective reactions are very complicated, whether she is happy or sad, there are ripples or even waves in her heart, she has to talk eloquently and deal with it freely. A nod, a sigh, or a meaningful laugh...... These details are the characteristics given to the characters in the repertoire, and we all need to use basic skills and a comprehensive grasp of opera skills, through our own understanding of the characters, to perform these lively, detailed, and perform without traces of performance, so that the characters are real.
As the first official meeting between Meng Lijun and Huangfu Shaohua after a long absence, Meng Lijun's emotions and expressions are also different in the details that are directly related to Shaohua. For example, when the wine is toasted, the respect for the sky and the earth has been completed, and when she turns around and puts down the wine glass, the moment she meets Shaohua's eyes, she has praise, affection, and love in her heart. But in response to Shaohua's reaction, a trace of worry and concern flashed in her eyes, and then she immediately returned to calm.
When Shaohua complained about the grievances of the Meng family in front of the emperor and confessed his feelings, Meng Lijun listened very attentively. At this time, Meng Lijun's emotions fell into the memories and aftertastes of the separation of flesh and blood with Shaohua's telling, although sad, but subtle and restrained. It wasn't until Shaohua bluntly said, "I am willing to use my own merits to break him (Meng's father)'s sin", Meng Lijun stood up suddenly, clenched her fists, and nodded secretly. This reaction is the prime minister's and Meng Lijun's own. Shaohua's enthusiasm and unreserved deeply touched her - the Meng family's injustice was the deepest pain in her heart. The second time I got up as a conditioned reflex, when Shaohua firmly said "I will look for her for the rest of my life", her eyes were full of emotion - Shaohua's deep friendship was the greatest comfort in her heart. In this scene, there is another highlight, which is Meng Lijun's long recitation:
Chen Wen said that once upon a time, there was a disciple named Zeng Shen, and every time his parents beat him with a stick, he was willing to suffer with a small stick, and escaped with a big stick. When his parents asked him why, he replied: "A small stick will not hurt, but a big stick can cause premature death, and if a child is beaten to death, will it not aggravate the fault of his parents?" If Meng Lijun does not escape, wouldn't it be necessary to aggravate the fault of the imperial court? This is the last precept of the saints of our ancestors.
A large number of recitations in our operas are a great test of the actors' skills. It is necessary to read the words clearly, in the ears, with affection and reason, and with emotion, so that the audience can hear clearly and understand. Screenwriter Wu Zhaofen asked me to strengthen this paragraph word by word, from slow to fast, advancing repeatedly, and when I read "This is the legacy of the ancestors and saints", Meng Lijun was emotionally excited and excited, knowing it with reason, moving it with emotion, and using the past to discuss the expression of the present, it is also the catharsis of her own emotions in her heart. I remember that when I performed in Taiwan that year, the theater was unusually quiet, and when I finished reading this recitation in one go, the audience immediately burst into warm applause, and my heart was immediately steady.
"Meng Lijun" is probably the closest Yue opera work to Shakespeare's court comedy. The mediocre emperor, the noisy courtier, the girl dressed as a man, the loyal and virtuous who endures humiliation, the unswerving love, the ridiculous misunderstanding, the trap of trying to cover up, the funny and the dangerous, the irony and the cunning, can find many similarities in Shakespeare's similar works. The kind screenwriter and the audience will always let the heroine, who combines beauty and wisdom, finally win this battle that originally belonged to men.
"Meng Lijun" may be the most distinctive Yue Opera work, but it is the most Yue Opera. The cross-dressed heroine conveys her heart and expression in her own way all the time, whether she is standing in the center of the stage or sitting on the side seat of the stage, whether she is the focus of the audience or the listener on the stage. It's a work that bears her name, and no matter where she is on the stage, the whole world comes for her.
The complexity of the plot requires us to use countless details to build the state and agility of the characters, which is the charm of the original work, the teacher's ability to create characters, and the most attractive part of Meng Lijun, which is the focus of my continuous speculation, correction and adjustment in the performance. Moreover, many young audiences nowadays will give me feedback, they like to watch these points when they watch dramas, and they will pick out the details. The audience's perception of the stage and the requirements for the actors are very high, and even higher and higher. Whether an actor is good or not not only depends on your highlights, but every minute and second you are on stage is a moment when art and the audience test you. I think the best and easiest way is to play the show well.
Living up to it is my commitment to the stage and to the audience.
"There Are Beauty: Shan Yangping Yue Opera Talks about Art"
Shan Yangping by Zhang Tan finished