The 2024 large-scale stage play and work creation funding project of the National Arts Fund created and rehearsed by the Gansu Provincial Long Theater, the original Long Opera "The East River Flows", has recently completed the first review with music, and will be premiered at the Gansu Yellow River Theater on May 19, which will lead the audience into that special historical period, feel the pride and ambition of the "sheepskin raft race warship", and appreciate the spirit of the anti-Japanese war, the national spirit and the feelings of the family and country of the people in the rear of Lanzhou represented by the raft Kezi during the Anti-Japanese War.
During the Anti-Japanese War, the sheepskin raft, as a special means of transportation on the Yellow River, undertook the important task of transporting materials for the Anti-Japanese War. The rafters from Lanzhou formed a large water transport team, overcame many difficulties on sheepskin rafts, safely transported a large number of military supplies to the front line, and made great contributions to the War of Resistance, and their heroic behavior not only reflected the spirit of the War of Resistance, but also demonstrated the perseverance and indomitable national spirit of the Chinese nation. The reputation of "Sheepskin Raft Race Warship" is a praise for the heroic deeds of the raft passengers.
Gansu Provincial Long Theater deeply excavated the historical materials of Lanzhou during the Anti-Japanese War, and used the art form of Longju with local characteristics as the carrier to tell the bloody legend of the "sheepskin raft race warship". "Only by excavating local culture and showing local characteristics can local dramas gain a firm foothold, and using the art form of Longju to tell the story of Gansu is the artistic creation direction that Gansu Longju people have always adhered to." In an interview with reporters, Wang Zhengxing, director of the Long Theater in Gansu Province, said that "Dayu Controls the Water", which will be put on the stage in 2021, tells the story of Dayu's water control "guiding the river to the stones", and the "stones" here are the Jishi Mountain section in Gansu in the upper reaches of the Yellow River. The story of "The East Flow of the Great River" is still based on the ordinary people of Lanzhou as the protagonists, with the foot of Baita Mountain, in front of Jincheng Pass, Zhongshan Qiaotou and the Yellow River flowing eastward as the place where the story takes place. "We don't want that history to sleep in archives and museums, and the recording of historical materials also provides us with the confidence to create."
In May 2022, Gansu Provincial Long Theater put forward the creative idea of "The East Flow of the Great River", and specially invited Xue Longbiao, the screenwriter of "Dayu Controls the Water", and Jia Yan, director of the Art Research Office of Gansu Provincial Long Theater, to jointly write it, and successively went to Lanzhou Yellow River Wharf, Waterwheel Park, Sangyuan Gorge and other places to collect in-depth style, form a script outline in October 2022, complete the first draft of the script in February 2023, and then hold many script revision meetings and expert seminars, after several 10 revisions and improvements, the script creation was completed during the Spring Festival this year.
At the end of the 30s of the 20th century, Lanzhou. In front of the ancient Jincheng Pass and at the foot of Baita Mountain, the Lanzhou rafters who are swinging oars and fighting the waves in the torrent of the Yellow River are performing touching stories of love and hatred...... Ten years ago, Zhu Huaihua, the female shopkeeper of Liu Ji Raft Inn, lost her husband and supported the raft inn alone, in the face of the little brother-in-law Liu Ergui's covetousness of the raft innkeeper, the misunderstanding of her mother-in-law Liu Yang, the conspiracy of the warlord profiteers to seize the wharf, and the various dangers of the sheepskin raft and goods destroyed by the Japanese bombing, with the joint efforts of the leaders of the Eighth Route Army Office in Lanzhou and his son Liu Jincheng and the support of many raft guests, finally put the national righteousness first, abandon personal grievances, and take the unique heroism and passion, unyielding and responsibility of the children of the Yellow River. It is a little-known but earth-shattering legend of the "sheepskin raft race warship". "Our original intention is to carry forward the spirit of the Anti-Japanese War of the unity of the sons and daughters of Longyuan, and inherit the feelings of the family and country, so this work has strong practical significance and artistic value." Jia Yan said.
It is worth mentioning that the play specially invited Xi Kai, an associate professor of the directing department of the China Academy of Drama and a young Zhuang director who went out from Gansu, to direct. ""The East of the River" not only has a high artistic creation positioning, but also integrates the stylized performance characteristics of traditional opera with the artistic characteristics of Longju with emotion and reason, and at the same time explores and breaks through on the stage, and also makes some meaningful attempts in the artistic creation of Longju, which is a great challenge for me!" Xi Kai said that since the establishment of the crew in March this year, all the staff of the crew have worked hard and worked overtime to rehearse to ensure the efficient progress of the creation and rehearsal work.
At present, the crew has entered the theater for stage installation and final preparations.