Following the original drama "Lin Zexu", another "historical figure series" drama of the National Centre for the Performing Arts, the original drama "Deng Shichang", ushered in its premiere on April 27. "If "Lin Zexu" is about the struggle of several big people who can influence the fate of the country, then "Deng Shichang" is like a one-man war. Director Wang Xiaodi, who has directed two works in a row, said. The political situation of the late Qing Dynasty was troubled by internal and external troubles, and the interests were complicated, Deng Shichang, as a small sailor, had too many things that he could not change, but he refused to go with the flow no matter how he did - his loyal ambition to tear through the decadent night with a heroic spirit ran through the whole work, which laid the emotional tone of Jingwei's lonely and tragic reclamation for the whole drama of "Deng Shichang".
The drama "Deng Shichang" opens in the silent deep sea, the Zhiyuan ship is rusty, and Deng Shichang's heroic spirit guards it and lingers. The hero poured out his never-ending ambition to serve the country, and thus began the life trajectory of juvenile aspiration, youth joining the army, and middle-aged martyrdom. The script created by screenwriter Li Baoqun for "Deng Shichang" is very literary, connecting the important nodes in Deng Shichang's life like a prose poem, and the lines are concise and timeless, and the sound is loud.
The work is particularly prominent in the portrayal of Deng Shichang, the commander of the Zhiyuan ship, Li Hongzhang, an important minister in the late Qing Dynasty, and Deng Shichang, the commander of the Beiyang Naval Division: Deng Shichang, who had a broad vision, had already foreseen the end of the defeat of the Beiyang Naval Division, but he suffered from the faintness of the imperial court, the numbness of his colleagues, and his inability to save the building from falling. The starring Wang Lei, Zhang Yechuan, and Guan Dongtian, who played these three roles respectively, performed quite well, among them, Wang Lei, who really participated in costume dramas for the first time, can be called a highlight, whether it is lines or shape, Wang Lei has a bit of "ancient meaning", which is convincing, and the performance style of subduing and absorbing the essence of traditional opera has added an important stroke to the self-contained aesthetic concept of "Deng Shichang".
Wang Xiaodi describes Deng Shichang as a "tragedy of romantic temperament", in terms of content, it depicts Deng Shichang's persistence and fall in life to death, knowing that he cannot do it, and the freehand space on the stage is full of intriguing metaphors. The stage design Ji Qiao shrouds the whole play in the main color of black and gray, as gloomy and depressing as that stormy era, with the matrix-style "keel" overlapping with the parallel "through the screen", flexibly and lightly driving the transformation of scenes and time and space such as magnificent ships, absurd courts, and warm Deng families. Multimedia designer Hu Tianji makes full use of nearly 500 square meters of ice screens to vividly express the turbulent waves like mountains, the flames of the Yellow Sea naval battle, the fast-moving warships, and the light and shadow of the boundless deep sea.
But on another level, images with too strong a sense of presence occasionally blur the focus of the plot, and some climactic clips that originally relied on dramatic conflicts and actors' performances are taken over by the images, which is a little regrettable. The music specially composed by composer Yu Li for "Deng Shichang" has pushed the mood to the peak several times, for example, Deng Shichang, who is full of resentment, draws his sword to the sky, which coincides with his youthful self who recited the ambition of Kunpeng in "Getaway", and the passionate and full soundtrack and the actors' extremely dedicated interpretation render Deng Shichang's grief and indignation of having no way to serve the country full of tension, but if it is used too much, it will sometimes dilute the appeal from the drama itself. In general, on the occasion of the 130th anniversary of the First Sino-Japanese Naval War, "Deng Shichang", which pays tribute to the heroes, has dedicated the responsibility and strength of literary and artistic works with its unique stage aesthetics and wonderful performances of all members "online".