For the first time, McCullers's novel was adapted to the Chinese stage, "The Song of the Sad Cafe", which retained a lonely footnote

Stills from "The Song of the Sad Cafe". Respondent Courtesy of

"'Song of the Sad Cafe' premiered four times in Aranya and had three endings, and the ending of Shanghai Station was different from before." From July 30, Meng Jinghui's "Song of the Sad Cafe" will be performed four times in a row on the Shanghai People's Grand Stage, starting a domestic tour. Meng Jinghui revealed at the Shanghai audience sharing meeting held by Duoyun Academy Drama Shop, "The plot will be faster and more intense than when the Aranya Theater Festival premiered, and the fun props and dances are all there." ”

Tribute to Chekhov's "Seagull"

"The Song of the Sad Cafe" is the first time that the novel of American female writer Carson McCullers has been put on the Chinese theater stage. McCullers suffered 3 strokes, was paralyzed at the age of 29 and died at the age of 50. Jung once said: "Her work is a bridge without another shore." "'The Song of the Sad Cafe' tells the absurd love story of three lonely people. Hot, remote, dead southern towns, fickle weather, indifferent and bored residents, and physically handicapped protagonists make up "The Song of the Sad Cafe". Meng Jinghui likes McCullers's writing, "The first time I read her novel and the fifth time, it feels different." ”

The stage play "Song of the Sad Cafe" combines the spiritual treasures of hemingway, Faulkner, Joyce, Salinger, Carver and other literary giants on the basis of the novel. At the premiere, the most impressive thing for the audience was Meng Jinghui's tribute to Chekhov's play "Seagull". At one-third of the stage, "Seagull" made an unexpected mutation on the stage: the heroine Huang Xiangli changed into a dazzling red dress, and the stage was also stained with blood by the lights. The heroine of "The Song of the Sad Cafe" Emilia and the heroine of "The Seagull" Nina achieve a spiritual dialogue, and Nina, who exchanges pain for faith, symbolizes Emilia's heart and past. "This technique has long existed, 30 years ago, we fused SiFan and Decameron together, and there is a shadow of Brecht's work in The Tea House." Meng Jinghui interpreted that "The Song of the Sad Cafe" and "The Seagull" are all about the drama between a woman and two men, constituting the logical beauty of "intertextuality", and the heroine Huang Xiangli wears a red dress, symbolizing ideal color, enthusiasm, and a hidden sense of tragedy.

In June, "The Song of the Sad Cafe" premiered at the Aranya Theatre by the Sea, where a giant hand stood at the golden section of the stage, and designer Zhang Wu tailored it for the haitian landscape. "We set up a stage on the seashore, the audience felt the sea breeze, twilight, the plot fit with nature, there was sadness, coffee taste; in the theater, the characters are more solid, and the music and emotional ups and downs are more accurate."

Two paragraphs of Braille appear in the corners

Meng Jinghui has played with water, fire, sand, grass and glass in the indoor theater. "Song of the Sad Cafe" returns to the indoor mirror-frame stage from under the clouds, still retaining the most striking lonely footnotes: the house expresses reality, the fish symbolizes the dream, and the hand symbolizes the ideal. Two pieces of Braille appear in the hidden corners of the stage, they are "Dreams are the only reality, long live the artist" and "Sometimes you really need to take a good rest and give up on yourself", as the play says, "Writing on white paper with lemon juice is not visible, but if you take the paper to the paper and bake it, the word will appear", reflecting Meng Jinghui's insight into the psychological phenomenon of "exposed hiding" - the inner secret is destined to be a corner of a person.

"The Song of the Sad Cafe" is full of familiar Meng Jinghui-style lines, performances, choreography, and stage scheduling. In the face of the senior audience's questions whether to consider changing styles, Meng Jinghui replied, "Will Yu Hua learn from Tolstoy?" No way. What I make is what my heart desires, what matters is that the world of theater full of music and beautiful verses is worth everyone 'going in'? Meng Jinghui's plays have always been called "pioneers", he is as willing as a glutton, "'pioneer' is an easily recognizable label for everyone, pioneers represent that I have requirements for myself, and the audience also has requirements for me: not stale, not to follow the tide, not to follow the crowd, indicating that I can still jump on this stage." ”

Meng Jinghui also shared his casting criteria, "The most important thing for an actor is energy, the reality energy and performance energy are combined into one, and they must also be able to control their own energy." In "Song of the Sad Cafe", Huang Xiangli, Sun Yucheng, a regular visitor to overseas drama festivals, and Wu Zhoukai, who is active in both film and television and drama, skillfully combine improvised limbs, national language recitation, black comedy expression and strange storyline. Huang Xiangli has 11 years of experience in more than 2,000 stage performances. She summed up "The Song of the Sad Cafe," "about the despair and sadness of inability to communicate, the love is passionate, and the loneliness is complete." ”

Music has always been an indispensable element of Meng Jinghui's aesthetic expression, "The name of "Song of the Sad Cafe" is particularly good, it can stir the audience's emotions, have imagination and sound, and guide everyone to enter words and emotions from the beginning of music. "Meng Jinghui's old partner and musician Zhang Weiwei brings a musical form that subverts the audience's impression. Zhang Weiwei, who plays the accordion and sings folk songs, explores the use of a large number of original electronic music to connect "The Song of the Sad Cafe", "the music corresponds to the plot, rhythm and lightness, lyricism and calm coexist." (Reporter Zhuge Yi)

Source: Xinhua Net