On September 28, "Frightening Dreams" was ticketed at the Shanghai Grand Theatre, and the box office exceeded 1 million yuan in less than 1 hour. This is the first time that Chen Peisi and his son Chen Dayu have performed a play on the same stage.
For a long time in the past, Chen Peisi refused to share the stage with father and son, "I have always thought that the father and son file is not good, which will make others think that you go through the back door and take more care of your son." In fact, I think too much, and the audience wants to be crooked. I find that people feel that this is a continuation of the blood of art. ”
Chen Peisi, 67, compares the 32-year-old Chen Dayu to his own legs, "Some jobs can't be separated from him." Without him, my epidemic prevention QR code would not be found. The father and son have very different personalities, Chen Peisi is impatient, while Chen Dayu is not hurried and slow, and is described by his father as "a little young master". Shanghai "Frightening Dreams" sharing meeting, there are audiences on the scene, there are live cameras in front of him, Chen Peisi still exposed the most authentic side of being a father next to his son, "I especially hate being late, he often works, people run, especially free." Chen Dayu, who was beside him, couldn't help but interject, "I still have "Balcony" to be busy." Chen Peisi replied, "Then you say something." ”
Chen Peisi in Chen Dayu's eyes is "particularly passionate and artistically idealistic, and emotional people always need rational and pragmatic people to drag them." As an executive director and actor, Chen Dayu is the rational and pragmatic one, stage scheduling, set processing, rehearsal schedule changes, are all his worries, "the steps are slippery, Teacher Liu Tianchi slipped, I have to find tape to wrap up, increase friction." ”
Cooperating with Chen Peisi, Chen Dayu lamented that he was "very tired", "He wants to change the book, we have to stay up late, and if the change is not rehearsed, he does not want it; he wants to change the stage scheduling, the row, he feels bad, and he has to change it again." He will not solidify, and I believe he has a number of things to do with what "A Dream" will eventually look like. ”
"Frightening Dream" is another annual drama launched by Chen Peisi and "Drama Stage" screenwriter Yu Yu and some of the original team members, telling the story of the Kunqu opera class's difficult survival during the Liberation War years, from November 18 to 24, it will be unveiled at the Shanghai Grand Theatre for the "Performing Arts World 2021 7th Shanghai International Comedy Festival", and participate in the "Performing Arts World Art Gathering Shanghai" National Stage Art Exhibition Season hosted by the China Shanghai International Arts Festival Center.
Chen Dayu played the son of the richest man in the city in "Frightening Dreams". Chen Peisi introduced: "The second generation of the rich who have special hobbies. Chen Dayu immediately corrected: "It is a hobby of opera, don't say special hobby." You are a bit far away from our time, and the expression is different. My character is a fan. There was a burst of laughter at the scene.
Asked if there was any pressure to share the stage with Chen Peisi, Chen Dayu said, "I rehearse plays together every day, and now I can't think about this." Not only with my father, but also with so many senior partners, I want to think about how to play my role well, how to 'steal the teacher', and I will also work with everyone to find a way to solve the scheduling problem. ”
Actor and performance director Liu Tianchi played a husband and wife with the head of the Hechun Society's tong class played by Chen Peisi in "Frightening Dreams". Chen Peisi in her eyes is always thinking, "From the plane from Beijing to Shanghai, to the car in the theater, he is changing the play." ”
When the actors rehearse, they like to say "go through the play", but in Chen Peisi's crew, they can't do it, only "act once", and everyone has memorized the lines well before rehearsing. At the rehearsal scene, Chen Peisi kept smiling, but everyone was nervous about his attitude. Liu Tianchi concluded, "Teacher Chen Peisi is a smiling, serious and cautious person. He Yu, another actor in "Frightening Dreams", also described Chen Peisi as "low-key, self-disciplined, and the drama is bigger than the sky." ”
Rehearsing "Opera Stage", Chen Peisi, who does not like to watch Peking Opera, specializes in learning opera; "Frightening Dreams" runs through "Kunqu Opera, which is slower than Peking Opera", Chen Peisi now listens to Kunqu opera every morning, "I am a person with a very anxious nature, I have to be patient, a little bit of myself in Kunqu, soaking, let the soul be seized." ”
"Frightening Dreams" invited Wang Xiaoyan, a teacher at the China Academy of Drama, to guide, and Chen Peisi, Liu Tianchi and other actors in the drama studied carefully, even if there was no singing section in the play, they must "carry the charm that people in that industry should have."
On November 11, "Frightening Dreams" will premiere at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, a day 20 years ago that coincided with the premiere of Chen Peisi's first stage play "Childcare" produced by Avenue Culture. In December 2001, "Childcare" sold out at the Shanghai Grand Theatre, and since then, Chen Peisi has come to the Shanghai Grand Theatre with plays such as "Relatives and Friends Settle Accounts", "Balcony" and "Drama Stage", of which "Balcony" has been staged three times.
In 20 years, Chen Peisi has launched 10 stage plays. "After 20 years of trial and error, 'Frightening Dreams' is a new difficulty for me, and I hope that the aesthetic experience that the audience will get in the theater is energetic, impactful and unforgettable." For Chen Peisi, "Frightening Dreams" is like a big test, "20 years have passed, and another group of new audiences have grown, can they accept me?" Love to watch? Can you laugh? I do not know. Every play has its own life, my previous experience is useless, the story is different, everything has to change. ”
Chen Peisi and the stage, lighting, and sound designers of "Theater Stage" repeatedly deliberated and made one-by-one requirements for the size and material of props in the play, and the actors' costumes were as many as nearly 100 sets. Wu Gang and He Yu also played the commanders of the Kuomintang and the Communists respectively; some of the original cast members of "Drama Stage" continued to be partners, "Hong Dashuai" Liu Yong transformed into the manager of the drama class, "Feng Xiaotong" Liu Xinran transformed into Xiaosheng "He Fengqi", "Sixth Aunt" Lang Ling transformed into Hua Dan "Tong Peiyun", and "Captain of the Guard" DongDou and Xuan Fang became soldiers of the People's Liberation Army and officials of the Kuomintang Intelligence Department respectively.
"Every time I come to Shanghai to perform, I am nervous. "Balcony" has been performed hundreds of times, and I still have to say the right words before the opening, otherwise I am not practical. Chen Peisi said that "Frightening Dreams" is more brain-intensive, "like aiming at one point after another, organizing the attack." Other directors graduated from the class, and they were very high as soon as they shot. I didn't have anything, I had to spread out the story first, soaked in bubbles, and everyone discussed going a little bit, and if it didn't work, it would be overturned. This is the experience I learned from my father, Chen Qiang. ”
The actors are a little "afraid" of Chen Peisi, but Chen Peisi said that he also had to "accommodate" the actors, "I am not a commander, sometimes they are very rushed, sometimes they will refuse, I have to think, detour 'attack', let everyone play comfortably." ”
As a new member of Chen Peisi's crew, Liu Tianchi and Chen Peisi met for the first time like a "blind date", Chen Peisi talked about the outline of "Frightening Dreams", Liu Tianchi remembered his grandmother," said Liu Tianchi, and tears came down. Her grandmother is the kind of person who is the head of the drama class in the play, who is the class master at the age of 16, and the family is engaged in the opera industry. ”
"The comedy doesn't do well and is embarrassing. You can't take the stage with 'spicy hot', you have to eat the character thoroughly, build your own soul, take root, emit aroma, and humorously make the audience smile. Liu Tianchi's perception of the role, Chen Peisi deeply resonated, "Comedy is too difficult, the world lacks comedy works." To do comedy, you must be mentally prepared from the beginning and overcome all difficulties. ”
Column Editor-in-Chief: Shi Chenlu Text Editor: Shi Chenlu
Source: Author: Zhuge Yi