Harlequin is an important branch of opera art, known for its humor and wittiness, and has the characteristics of adjusting the atmosphere, interacting with it, and being light and flexible. Looking at the opera stage, although the proportion of harlequin drama is not large, the role of the harlequin cannot be ignored. Zhang Wuhong, a famous Qin clown, is good at thinking, brave in innovation, and has a distinctive personal style, which is unique among the contemporary Qin clowns. At present, the number of Qin clowns is very small, and it is necessary to strengthen research and focus on cultivation to create conditions for the continued development of harlequin art.
Zhang Wuhong
In the 2024 Shaanxi Taiwan Spring Festival Opera Gala, Zhang Wuhong and his disciples created and performed a work that travels through ancient and modern, blends and matches - "New Year's Greetings to the Ugly". The work combines classic harlequin characters and skills, and the people and things that are happening at the moment, and even the hot spots, the work is both ancient and modern, rich in imagination, and has achieved very good performance results. Through this work, it is not difficult to discover the many characteristics of harlequin art and the future development trend.
Harlequin is not that simple
Before analyzing "New Year's Greetings to the Ugly", it is necessary to briefly popularize the common sense and anecdotes related to harlequins. In fact, the harlequin has a high status in opera. Legend has it that when Tang Xuanzong was acting, he played a harlequin, and in order to avoid the emperor's dignity, he hung a piece of white jade on his nose. Later, folk harlequins followed suit and smeared a piece of white powder on their noses, and this costume has also been passed down to this day. Because Tang Xuanzong is respected as the ancestor of Chinese opera, it is natural that the ugly deeds performed by the ancestor have a high status in Liyuanxing. Later, the head of many troupes was a clown, for example, the third president of the Chinese Academy of Drama was Mr. Xiao Changhua.
The technical content of the harlequin is very high, in addition to singing, chanting and fighting, the harlequin must also be proficient in ventriloquism, acrobatics, cross talk and other artistic categories. At the same time, the harlequin generally has to be able to create on his own, because the harlequin often has to improvise. Many of the scenes in Harlequin must not only rely on a wide range of books, but also be familiar with life and understand the psychology of the audience, so as to adapt to the situation, maintain freshness, and be hot. Some people say that comedy is harder than tragedy, and laughter is harder than crying, but in fact, the same is true of harlequin art.
Harlequin used to be the main source of income for the troupe, because the income of the traditional troupe mainly relied on the audience's reward, and the harlequin was the most flattering and pleasing business that communicated with the audience. In addition, the harlequin also has the role of the master of ceremonies and the host, so if a troupe has a good harlequin, it can often be used to shorten the distance between the troupe and the audience. The pear orchard industry has always had the tradition of "respecting ugliness", for example, only harlequin actors dare to sit in the box with props in the troupe, compared with other professions, harlequin actors have priority to make up, and the troupe must kowtow before the play, only harlequin actors, regardless of age and seniority, can not kowtow and so on.
Harlequins can be roughly divided into official clothes ugly, literary ugly, martial ugly, big clown, clown, etc. The official clothes are ugly, wearing round-winged gauze hats and thin-soled court boots. Classic official clothes are ugly, such as Xu Jiujing in "Xu Jiujing's Promotion to Official", and the second baby in Qin Yan's "Erwa Trial". Wen Chou is a scholar, a strategist, a master, generally wearing a robe and a horse coat, painting a mustache, or a pinch of beard, most of the performances shake their heads, pretending to be Swen, Qin Yan "Teaching" is an authentic Wen Chou performance. And Shi Qian in "Stealing Chickens", Jiao Guangpu in "Blocking Horses", Liu Lihua in "Three Forks", Yang Xiangwu in "Three Thieves and Nine Dragons Cup", etc., all belong to the category of martial arts. Most of them fly on the wall, fall and roll, and are good at martial arts skills. Harlequins generally do not sing repeatedly, mainly chanting and doing gong, but there are also exceptions in the Qin dialect, such as "Picking Up Gold" and "Yang Sanxiao" There are also a lot of singing.
Zhang Wuhong, Liu Xiling "Carrying a Daughter-in-law"
Zhang Wuhong "Playing Casserole"
Combined with classic characters
Let's go back to Zhang Wuhong's "New Year's Greetings to the Ugly". The work creatively connects several classic harlequin characters through the master-apprentice relationship. They travel from ancient times, and at the same time, they skillfully blend the hot spots that are happening in our current situation, and the contrast between ancient and modern produces a strong comedic effect, which can also be said to be a kind of modernization of opera. For example, through the perspective of Hua Renyi, the great changes in people's lives are expressed, and the images of contemporary good officials who are dedicated to the people are listed one by one through Xu Jiujing, highlighting the vigorous positive energy and explaining the eternal truth that being an official is to do things for the people.
The most vivid thing is to point out several characteristics of contemporary life through the perspective of Zhao Fei. For example, express delivery, takeaway, online stores, etc., can be described as whimsical, sparks are constant, and the role of the harlequin is truly activated. For example, in this confession, Character A: "Now the times are different, technology has gone first, and you are all out." Character B: "It's terrible to have no culture, express delivery is now modern, the courier brother rides on the car, shuttles through the streets and alleys, delivers and stores rookie stations, residents pick up the goods very conveniently, the express delivery is enthusiastically delivered to the home, and the masses laugh haha." The future development is a drone, you say that it is not awesome, enjoy the new era of 5G, Zhao Fei Express people love it! ”
Combined with typical techniques
The second is to closely integrate with skills. In the final analysis, opera is the result of the accumulation of technology to a certain extent. Then the most important kung fu of the harlequin is the mouth work, and the most important thing in this work is the plate shell performance, and the length is very large, one string after another, one after another, it can be said that it is witty and climaxing. For example, this paragraph:
I walked through Zhouzhihu County, Baoji, Qishan, Hanyin
Ishikawa Tshui, Chang'an Lantian
Lintong, Weinan, Tongguan, Huangling, Yichuan
Fuping Yao County Jingyang Sanyuan
When I got to Mihara, I turned the car around again
Out of Xi'an into Henan
Stepping into Shanghai and coming to the seaside
I was thinking of going to Little Japan for a spin
It's me who thinks about the pollution of the sea
The mutated seafood still doesn't take it as a
It was I who reversed course again
Walked the United States, Russia, Germany, France, Australia, Vietnam, Thailand
Turkey, Afghanistan, India, Iran and Myanmar
Philippines, Singapore, Pakistan and Laos
Canada and Mexico
None of us have been there for the older generations......
Of course, the difficulty of creation and performance is also self-evident. This requires a good grasp of the technique, an amazing memory, a long-term accumulation of knowledge, and the ability to observe and refine life. This is also Zhang Wuhong's strength, he has a good voice, a lively brain, and is good at studying. Some people say that an actor is like an octopus, to learn from everything, to constantly absorb nutrients, to arm his mind. At the same time, actors must keep up with the trend of the times and always maintain a sense of curiosity. In the past two years, Zhang Wuhong has created a lot of harlequin jokes, small dramas and sketches, and even wrote and directed several big plays. On the new media side, Zhang Wuhong also constantly shows his works. For example, last year, he used Qin dialect to adapt the popular and unusually popular "Rakshasa Sea City". Even if it is said to be rubbing traffic, the heart that speaks for opera remains the same.
An actor not only acts, but also ponders and studies the play. Especially ugly acts, in fact, it is also a miscellaneous line, because there are not many roles and scenes, so there is a lot of experience to create, but once on stage, it needs to explode instantly and shine all over the stage. Zhang Wuhong is also a learning actor, after he played the role of Lou Arat, he would bring out Lou Arat's hand gestures from time to time in his life, which shows the depth of the play. The An Suo in "Carrying a Daughter-in-law" played by him is honest and simple, not dirty, but he interprets a poor and kind but spring-hearted bachelor to the core. His role in "Teaching" can be said to be a classic role in Wen Chou, although this character is deceived and abducted, but it is full of humor and transparency of readers. At the same time, his ability to imitate is quite amazing. One year in "The Voice of Qin", I witnessed him imitating the singing voice of the Qin Xiao School and the famous red student Li Fagao, which can be said to be deeply charming and vivid.
Some thoughts on the development of ugliness
Raw Dan is pure and ugly, singing and reading, and fighting, which are the four beams and eight pillars of opera art. But with the development of the times, there are fewer and fewer works and characters suitable for harlequins. So we can't help but worry that the art of harlequin, which once brought us so much joy, will not die out, right? What other role can the harlequin play in contemporary opera? I think the first thing is to have a play to act, to survive and develop in the work, and secondly, to have someone write a play for the harlequin. Of course, this is a very difficult job, more difficult than the average screenwriting. Therefore, it is also expected that a creative performing artist like Wu Hong can take on the important task of revitalizing the ugly behavior, and strive to create works that the audience likes to see, such as "Xu Jiujing", "Seeing Women", "Teaching" and "Picking Gold", and inherit the industry through his works.
Secondly, the Qin clown needs to make it clear that the clown should be down-to-earth and popular, but not kitsch, let alone vulgar. Our opera art is no longer the communication style of the agricultural era, and the audience is no longer in vain. Harlequin artists can't just rely on the old ones to attract people. They should give full play to their characteristics of being good at thinking and being knowledgeable, and concentrate on creating and striving for more space for themselves. Speaking, learning and singing, four skills and five methods, the technology is still that technology, but it still needs to keep up with the times, creative transformation, and innovative development.
There is nothing difficult in the world, only afraid of those who have a heart. The vigorous development of opera needs to break the game, and the clown industry needs to break the game, I wish my fellow brother Wu Hong to continue to study and study, devote himself to creation, and make new contributions to the art of harlequin! Looking forward to it...... (The author of this article: Zhang Xiping)