It was noon, and the first floor of the hall of the Military Museum of the Chinese Revolution was still full of people. The children were amazed as they looked around the planes, missiles, and other meritorious weapons, but when they approached an iron anchor through the display, the atmosphere became solemn. It comes from the "Zhenyuan" ship of the Beiyang Naval Division of the Qing Dynasty, and it is a painful national memory left by the scars.
On April 17, only 10 days before the official premiere, the crew of the original drama "Deng Shichang" of the National Center for the Performing Arts withdrew from the final intense rehearsal and entered the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution. 2024 is the 130th anniversary of the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese First Sino-Japanese War, 130 years ago, the Beiyang Naval Division suffered a crushing defeat and was annihilated. It was not until after the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan that Japan was forced to return the iron anchor to China.
"This iron anchor is like a long-sounding alarm bell. "Deng Shichang" starring Wang Lei said. In the play, he walked through the life of Deng Shichang's youthful ambition, young soldiering, and middle-aged martyrdom; in the museum, the moment when he was opposed to the real history, Wang Lei had mixed feelings: "Our generation of young people must remember the lesson of blood and continue to work hard for the prosperity of the country." ”
At the same time, the "Classic Art Lecture Hall" column of the National Centre for the Performing Arts invited the crew of "Deng Shichang" and Niu Guanjie, associate professor of the Department of History of Chinese People's University, to hold a public lecture called "Public Foot and Strong Naval Might" in the museum. On the one hand, it is the real historical facts, and on the other hand, it is the processing of artistic imagination, Niu Guanjie and "Deng Shichang" director Wang Xiaodi and the actors talked about the past and the present. The drama has the magical power to "resurrect" the characters in the historical records, and the three actors Wang Lei, Zhang Yechuan, and Guan Dongtian showed a performance of Deng Shichang, Li Hongzhang, and Ding Ruchang in the play, and their respective positions were clearly stated. Ding Ruchang played by Guan Dongtian is particularly intriguing, he is caught between Deng Shichang and Li Hongzhang, hesitating and indecisive, not only appreciating Deng Shichang's ambition to serve the country, but also difficult to give up Li Hongzhang's kindness, but in the end, he still decided to resolutely go to war, and drew a hearty end to his long-held life with the sentence "This is a wretch, Ruchang is not affected". Guan Dongtian grasped Ding Ruchang's emotions very well, and the "complexity" of this character is where the portrayal is wonderful.
In the opinion of director Wang Xiaodi, this is one of the greatest charms of drama: "A flesh-and-blood person on stage is trying to interpret another person's life to you, and this beauty can only be felt in the theater." Wang Xiaodi found that there were many children at the lecture site, and she encouraged everyone to enter the theater more in the future and enter the world of art, because the edification of beauty and the infiltration of art can accompany people for a long time.