On April 19th, the drama "2:22" produced by Damai Mailive and Yikun Culture, "Of Course There is Drama", Xiaonian Youth Troupe, and Yikun Culture opened its first round of performances at Beijing Poly Theater. It is reported that the play is the first Chinese version of the popular suspense thriller drama "2:22" in London's West End, and it is also the first new work launched by Damai's "Of Course There is Drama" label in 2024.
On the day of its premiere in Beijing, with its reversed story setting, ingenious stage presentation, and tense performances by the actors, this highly anticipated play by domestic audiences also quickly gained a good reputation. At present, the barley score of the show is 9.1 points, and the Douban score is 8.2 points.
Focusing on current life, the first Chinese version of London's West End hit premiered in Beijing
As a popular word-of-mouth hit in London's West End and fast going global, "2:22" tells a story that is both terrifying and moving: Jenny and her husband move into a newly purchased house. Every night at 2:22 p.m., Jenny hears strange noises in the house and decides that the new house is cursed by ghosts, but her husband doesn't believe it. They invited two good friends over for dinner and decided to find out at 2:22......
What is unique is that "2:22" is not only an unconventional "ghost story" that can bring the ultimate sensory experience, but also under the background of suspense and thriller, its description of family life, the speculation of the emotional relationship of the characters, and the discussion of the true nature of human nature can also allow the audience to have a deeper sense of substitution in the performance, so as to obtain strong emotional and psychological resonance. Because of this, the play is known as a high-quality drama representative of both artistic and commercial, and is jokingly called "a realistic family life drama dressed in a thriller".
According to reports, the original drama of "2:22" premiered at the Noel Coward Theatre in the United Kingdom in August 2021, and once performed, it became a dark horse in London's West End drama works because of its unique theme, fascinating plot and solid performance. In 2022, the show won three awards for Best New Drama, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actor at the WhatsOnStage Awards in the United Kingdom, and was nominated for Best New Drama, Best Actress, and Best Sound Design at the Laurence Olivier Awards in the same year. In the past three years, the play has attracted many audiences to rewatch it several times, and has continued to perform in the West End for a total of five rounds, 22 months, more than 600 performances, and launched an eight-month tour of the United Kingdom. At present, the play has been produced in the United States, South Korea, Australia, Singapore and other countries, and has gradually gained greater influence around the world. A few days ago, the original version of "2:22" announced that it will return to London's West End on May 25 this year, which also means that the Chinese version of the production has truly achieved international synchronization.
Li Jing, the manager of Damai's "Of Course Youxi" label, said: "'2:22' is a very 'new' work, and its 'newness' lies not only in the fact that it is a play that is imported and produced in sync with the international speed, but also in that its script creation and story core focus on daily life that is closely related to everyone's daily life, and has a strong 'immediacy'. We hope that through this whimsical work, we can bring more different viewing experiences to the audience, and we also hope that the reflection of real life and social issues in the work can arouse everyone's diverse thinking. ”
The ingenuity of the choreography is fascinating, and the richness of the meaning is widely acclaimed
The Chinese version of "2:22" has assembled a high-quality creative lineup, written by Danny Robbins, directed by Zhang Hui, Ren Dongsheng as the visual director, and brought together Cui Ener, He Wenjun, Dong Bo, Yang Dongqi, Ma Zhuojun, Chen Xing, Zhang Yiman, Ju Baozhan, Sun Jing, Wu Lanying and many other powerful drama actors.
It is reported that Danny Robbins, the screenwriter of "2:22", has a very knowledgeable and comedic performance background, which also makes his script writing very solid and the plot is cleverly interlocking. His rich and meticulous multidisciplinary knowledge is buried in the story of "2:22", and at the same time, his characters are very life-like, and his lines are sharp and humorous, and this reversal between everyday scenes and supernatural phenomena has become a major attraction of the show. Therefore, in the production of the Chinese version, the creators also decided to retain the characteristics of the original version to the greatest extent, so as to better convey the play's in-depth and dialectical thinking about life.
Zhao Lin, producer of "Of course there is a play", said: "The richness and solidity of the script provide a good foundation for the production of the Chinese version, and director Zhang Hui is also very good at handling and balancing the details of life and stage art performances, and can constantly guide the actors to present a real and natural performance state on the basis of maintaining the repertoire setting and original characteristics." In addition, in terms of stage and visual, the main creative team also has many ingenious designs, hoping to present the audience with the original British living room drama. ”
Starting from the clues provided by the script and characters, to build scenes and visual elements is the stage design feature of the Chinese version of "2:22". According to reports, the overall space of the stage is very close to daily life, and more use of red, blue, yellow and other eye-catching visual colors, through the interweaving of light and shade, light and shadow, fire and smoke and other elements, the overall atmosphere is full of suspense, but also there is no lack of warmth of real family. At the same time, the main creator also fully integrates the emotions of the characters into every corner of the house, the house structure of the original Victorian terraced house, the new glass skylight, the layers of wallpaper, the dark back garden, the self-evident clock and many other elements, everywhere reflect the various contradictions, confrontations and uneasiness in the hearts of the characters, as well as the love and warmth hidden behind the story.
With the successful conclusion of the first performance, the play also received widespread praise. The audience praised one after another: "This is the best thriller and suspense drama I have seen so far, there is no one! The later reversal, I didn't expect it at first, but after a careful aftertaste, there are many details that have already been paved, and it is a good work worth brushing again and again!" "There is no doubt about the thriller and suspense, but what hits my soul more is the sense of substitution of the role of a mother in family and life, and the bond and warmth given by the family." The selfishness and complexity of human nature, the hesitation and choice of love, are vividly expressed in this drama. Coupled with the doubts and countless reversals of the 'mystery', I was fully absorbed in the two-hour performance, which was completely integrated with the stage and the plot. "The characters of the four protagonists have their own characteristics, their personalities are distinct and three-dimensional, the actors' performances are even more online, and under the communication of daily life is the contradictions and confrontations surging in the dark tide, which is very fascinating. "I was deeply attracted by the choreography of this play, the real scenes involved, and the perfect recreation of a home, which made me feel like I was sitting in the living room of the protagonist's house, feeling the passage of time with them. ”
has grown together with Zhang Hui for three times, and many word-of-mouth masterpieces have been staged in turn
It is worth mentioning that the drama "2:22" is also the third work in the cooperation between the "Of Course Youxi" label and director Zhang Hui's "New Trilogy". "We are very honored to continue to collide with director Zhang Hui in this tacit cooperation, and we are also looking forward to growing together with more outstanding young theater talents in the future, working together to explore more high-quality theater content and explore more possibilities of theater. Li Jing said.
According to reports, before the drama "2:22", "Of course there is a play" worked with director Zhang Hui to create the drama "Mix, Fold or Salad" and the drama "Tannin". After its debut at the 8th Wuzhen Theater Festival in 2021, the play has toured in many cities across the country, becoming a word-of-mouth dark horse of the year in one fell swoop, and in 2023, the play will successfully "go to sea", published in South Korea and performed and rehearsed by Korean theater troupes. The drama "Tannin", also written and directed by Zhang Hui, is a special guest play at the 9th Wuzhen Theater Festival, which has achieved the "fastest sell-out in 7 seconds" on the day of ticket opening, and in 2023, the play has toured Hangzhou, Shanghai, Beijing and other places, and has also received good responses.
As a theatrical label under Damai, "Of course there is a play" takes "new classics + current life" as the theme of content creation, and is committed to providing young people with "current emotions", "young attitudes" and "surprise experiences" of theatrical content and creative lifestyles. Since its establishment more than three years ago, the label has produced and participated in the production of plays including: the stage play "Frankenstein" in Chinese, the drama "2:22", "Mix, Fold or Salad", "Tannin", "Skin", the musical "The Picture of Dorian Gray", "I Wait for You at the End of Time", "Rock Faust", immersive drama "Secret No. 9", "True Love Tavern", "Open Now Market" (Money World Beijing Version) and many other high-quality drama works with both box office and reputation.
It is reported that the first round of performances of the Chinese version of the drama "2:22" in Beijing will be held from April 19 to April 21. Following its premiere in Beijing, the play will also be staged at the Shanghai Theatre and the Ningbo Cultural Square Grand Theatre in June this year. Among them, the Shanghai station will officially open tickets on April 23, and the performance time will be June 13-16. In addition to the Chinese version of the drama "2:22", the recent immersive suspense theater "Secret No. 9" and the environmental music story theater "True Love Tavern" and many other "Of course there is drama" word-of-mouth drama masterpieces will also seize the Shanghai theater market.
As the world's first offline performance version of the BBC British drama IP "Secret No. 9", the immersive suspense theater "Secret No. 9" is jointly created by "Of Course There is a Play", Shanghai Grand Theatre and Zhejiang Dafeng Culture. Since the opening of the residency performance at Shanghai Grand Theatre Space 9 in December last year, the play's eight rounds of ticketing and additional sales have continued to be hot, with more than 11,000 spectators and an average attendance rate of 98%, ranking first at the box office of the Shanghai Theatre Theatre in the first quarter of 2024, and the play will also usher in its 100th performance on April 21. From May 1st, the new version of "True Love Tavern", produced by Tangnan Culture and co-produced by Tangnan Culture and "Of Course Youxi", will open a long-term residency in Shanghai Star Gallery.