A nearly 500,000-word stream-of-consciousness novel was put on the stage by Meng Jinghui in 3 hours as the opening play of the 8th Wuzhen Theater Festival, and "Red and Black" opened the world premiere. Meng Jinghui continues the Meng logic of deconstructing the world classics, shuttles through the spirit and text of many classics, and "translates" the most prestigious century-old masterpieces of the French writer Stendhal to contemporary audiences in contemporary language.
All along, with the awe and love for the great works of the times, Meng Jinghui has followed the vein of Western literature all the way, and this time he once again cooperated with sebastian Caesar, a famous German theatrical construct who had previously collaborated on "The Tea House". The Red and the Black does not follow the same narrative, but on the basis of the literature of Stendhal's original work, it integrates a variety of literary classics and philosophical vocabulary such as Nietzsche, Shakespeare, Karen, Schiller, Kant, and Goethe. Focusing on the hero's free and romantic spirit and idealistic heroism, setting off a soul storm, the story of 1830 resonates with his best poetic metaphors, humanistic care, text remodeling, shabby and new with the present.
Although he went around in a circle, he returned to the original at the end, and Stendhal wrote on the last page of "The Red and the Black" that "dedicated to a few happy people", the twists and turns of personal fate, the eternal humanity of entanglement and free indulgence, the repeated entanglement of ideals and reality, the fleeting happiness of a few... All of this is captured and magnified through The Meng aesthetic.
The drama is starred by Mei Ting and Zhang Yicheng in the "Empty Flower Group" of Meng Jinghui Drama Studio. The heirloom character Yu Lian, handsome and brilliant, he came from a humble but ambitious background, sensitive and helpless and had a heart higher than the sky, bent on becoming famous and joining the upper class. Fate plunged him into a love web woven by the mayor's wife, and the daughter of the Marquis of Paris surrendered herself. The two women entangled with his ascent, and the unruly soul was tormented by this clumsy, crazy, and hypocritical love. Zhang Yicheng will be Connected's large inner monologue and a large number of actions scheduled, all in one go. In the play, the scene where Yu Lian breaks through the steel pavilion and strives to climb the ladder of destiny is real and shocking.
Catalytic weaving in the upbringing are two of the most distinctive female characters in the play: Madame de Rainer, played by Mei Ting, is active on screen and stage all year round, focusing on performance and drama. She never set limits on herself and refused to be framed in a performance routine. For Mei Ting, working with Meng Jinghui is not only to challenge herself, but also to find a kind of "danger", "playing Madame de Rainer, you have to accept the passion of her love, the burning of desire, the loss of not getting, and even deep jealousy." As a result, on the stage, she is either wearing a white dress, elegant and innocent; or changing into a long red dress, her eyes and words project persistent and determined love and bravery. Especially the calm and detachment at the end, the quiet and soft show the sonorousness and courage of the heart.
Stage design Zhang Wu used a hundred giant steel brackets to build a three-story desire pavilion, and the addition of multimedia and real-time photography allowed the audience to withdraw from the grand narrative and mobilize the breath of the entire theater, and the stage and the present were both intertwined and integrated, and everyone was both a dream seeker and a dreamer. After four consecutive performances at the Wuzhen Theatre Festival, the footsteps of the "Red and The Black" national tour will spread throughout Tianjin, Chengdu, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Shanghai and other places.
Text/Beijing Youth Daily reporter Guo Jia
Editor/Liu Jianghua