"My palms hurt and I want to drum!" An old drama fan said with a smile from the audience.
Fan Shengnan, from Anyang, Henan Province, learned opera at the age of 10 and founded the Anyang Youth Yu Opera Troupe at the age of 21. In order to run a troupe of more than 40 people, she ran villages and temple fairs, distributed leaflets to publicize, and was questioned that she was too young and incapable, and she could not afford to pay 18 yuan for the highway when she was in distress.
Fan Shengnan. Screenshot of picture/video
In order to supplement her income, she moved the stage of Henan Opera into the live broadcast room, but she was scolded for bringing goods between singing. "The three-foot stage will always be there, as long as you enter the play, you can't stop." She and the members of the troupe were not discouraged and continued to sing good performances for everyone.
After the resumption of offline performances, she led the troupe members to perform in the countryside and formed a deep friendship with the audience. Sometimes the performance fee of the Yu Opera Troupe is donated by local old opera fans, some donating 100 yuan, and some donating 20 yuan. The people on and off the stage accompanied each other, spanning the 11 years of the growth of the troupe.
[1] The establishment of a troupe at the age of 21 was questioned, and the family squeezed into a 5-square-meter room
Jiupai News: How did you establish a troupe?
Fan Shengnan: When I started a troupe in 2013, the people around me asked me to invest tens of thousands of yuan to grope for it, and don't buy too good props. I don't think so, just do your best. If the starting point is low, what the audience sees is a small theater troupe, which will not be recognized from the beginning.
I was only 21 years old at the time, and the propaganda troupe was going to run village and temple fairs. When someone asked who the head of the regiment was, I said that I was, and the other party looked at me with questioning eyes and said that the leaflet should be put here first, so let's go. My former regiment commander also said that a good soldier is not necessarily a good general.
We put a lot of time and energy into rehearsing the play, and as long as the other party finished watching a play, we directly finalized the contract for the second year. Later, the troupe had a reputation, and the plays were performed one after another.
Anyang Youth Yu Opera Troupe. Screenshot of picture/video
Jiupai News: What difficulties have you experienced?
Fan Shengnan: In the first year of the troupe, we earned 70,000 yuan and bought a car for my father.
The teachers of the Henan Provincial Troupe took us as role models and models and returned to the troupe to promote it. At that time, I was a little drifting and reluctant to take on the lower price of the play, and the troupe began to lose money. I lost 180,000 yuan in the second year and more than 200,000 yuan in the third year.
At that time, our family of three was crammed into a 5-square-meter room, sleeping in a large bed, and lived for three years. When I go home, I always report good news and not bad news. Once I couldn't afford to buy food and cook for the actors in the troupe, I couldn't stand it anymore, so I told my dad, and he said that my dad would find a way. Later, when I went back to the group to pack up the car, I found that my mother had pressed 300 yuan under the car mat.
In the regiment, I am a regiment leader, I have to speak and act responsibly, and I have to pretend to be a little adult. I came home feeling like a child.
Later, I received a play, 9 scenes in 3 days, 12,000 yuan, which was really a relief in the snow. There are more than 40 people in the troupe, and the daily expenditure is 10,000 yuan, although the money is not much, but after that scene, our road is getting better and better.
A few years ago, once my husband and I went back to our hometown for the Chinese New Year, and after paying the actors' salaries, we didn't have the money to pay the 18 yuan high-speed fee from Zhengzhou to Yuanyang, so we temporarily asked my brother for help. When it was difficult, the two of us ate a bowl of instant noodles.
Although it was difficult, I didn't want to give up, but became more and more courageous.
[2] moved the stage into the live broadcast room, and was scolded for bringing the goods to the next broadcast for the first time
Jiupai News: How did you think of live singing, and what was the first live broadcast like?
Fan Shengnan: I broadcast live by myself and can earn 20,000 yuan a month.
But I often wonder, will the offline audience be in a hurry if they can't see the play? Our audience is mainly elderly, although the mass base of Henan Opera is very strong, they may not understand the play, and some may not be able to hear it, but they still insist on watching the play. For them, drama is a kind of spiritual companionship, even if it is dozens of kilometers away, they are willing to ride a tricycle for an hour.
I decided to move the show into the live broadcast room. At that time, the members of the troupe had stable jobs, and as a result, I made a phone call, and everyone said that as long as they could sing again, they would be willing to do anything. Some didn't even hand in the resignation form, didn't ask for their salary, and came back directly.
In a few square meters of the living room on the second floor of my mother-in-law's house, we renovated a small live broadcast room, and the first live broadcast was watched by more than 2,000 people online.
The audience feels fresh, and there will be occasional tips. A month later, there were 10,000 or 20,000 online viewers per live stream. At that time, there were more than 20 people in our regiment, each with a salary of 100 yuan, and a daily expenditure of more than 2,000 yuan. I have spent more than 100,000 yuan on decoration and equipment, and I can't make ends meet every day. So I thought about bringing goods live between singing.
Jiupai News: What controversies have been caused by live streaming?
Fan Shengnan: I remember very well that in the first live broadcast with goods, the live broadcast room dropped from 20,000 people to 181 people, and netizens said that we sang just to bring goods, and we were not worthy of being actors. But I'm losing money every day, what can I do? At that time, I earned three or four hundred yuan a day by bringing goods.
The scene was scolded and stopped, and one of the brothers in the troupe said, I can't sing anymore, let's broadcast it. But the big drama can't be stopped at the beginning, even if there is no one off the stage, the singing must be finished. I asked everyone to adjust for ten minutes and start singing. Afterwards, I explained to the audience the situation of the troupe, and I hope everyone will understand. After that live broadcast, the members were a little discouraged.
Later, offline performances were opened, and we did not give up online live broadcasts, because the Internet can spread theater culture further, which is what we really want to do. The live broadcast room can not only attract the post-90s, post-80s and post-70s, but also the post-00s, and children of several ages are learning to sing.
During the live broadcast, some members of the group couldn't hold on and left, which I can understand. There are also actors who have not asked for a penny in the past three years, and they have also posted money to buy props for the troupe, and the troupe has relied on everyone's support to get to where it is today.
Our group is well-known in the industry for its strong cohesion. Making money is secondary, and it's rare to have a group of like-minded people together, which is my biggest gain.
[3] The troupe and the theater fans accompany each other and attach importance to the rural stage
Jiupai News: What do you think drama means to the audience?
Fan Shengnan: Last summer, we had eight days of performances in Shanxi, and on the sixth day of the performance, a grandfather in his 70s chased us to two different places to watch the performance. He said that in the past three years, he has been watching singing in the live broadcast room and has been paying attention to us.
His house was dozens of kilometers away from the performance venue, and he rode the tram all the way and said he wanted to bring us something. Because he couldn't bear to disturb my rest, he waited from morning to noon. He took out a drink bottle from a small electric car, which contained half a bottle of Shanxi aged vinegar.
He said that this is a specialty of his hometown, but his conditions are not very good, this is the only thing left in the family, it is his heart, I hope I don't dislike it. His children are usually away from home, and our performances accompany him through the time of loneliness and emptiness. That's the kind of camaraderie we form with our audience.
I have been performing in Luoyang many times since I was 17 years old, and now I am 32 years old, and when I stand on the stage in Luoyang, there are familiar faces underneath. Although they are still acting in these plays, they feel that this is the child I watched grow up, this is the troupe that I watched grow up, as long as they come, no matter how much money is donated, they must support them. Some people donate 100 yuan, some people donate 20 yuan,
Theater fans watching the show. Screenshot of picture/video
Someone asked me if I wanted to go into the theater and perform? I've always dreamed of having my own theater, but what about theater fans in the countryside? We have to get to them. As long as the actors are artistic, the stage in the countryside can also be elegant.
Jiupai News: Have you been busy lately, and what changes have you made in your life?
Fan Shengnan: Every time I have a holiday, I feel like I have a serious illness, but when I work, I feel like I have been beaten with chicken blood. Two weeks before giving birth, I was still singing live streaming, and I came out to perform two months after giving birth to a child by cesarean section.
Before I had a cesarean section, I signed two big orders. After giving birth, the gap that had not been performed was also filled. When my child hears me singing, she laughs and applauds, and I think she is my lucky star.
Jiupai News reporter Huang Qiaowen
Edited by Gu Zixuan and Xiao Jie
Please contact the reporter on WeChat: linghaojizhe
[Source: Jiupai News]
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author, if there is a source error or infringement of your legitimate rights and interests, you can contact us by email, we will deal with it in a timely manner. E-mail address: [email protected]