Chen Peisi's stage comedy "Drama Stage" has dominated the stage for 7 years, and the number of 335 scenes has not been frozen, and on September 26, the second part of the "Theater Stage Trilogy" "Amazing Dream" was first revealed - "Yu Pei" choreographer and director group "Theater Stage" has joined hands again to continue the story structure that combines traditional culture and wartime time and space, following Peking Opera, this time telling the story of a Kunqu opera class struggling to survive in the decisive battle that determined China's fate.
"Yu Pei" combination "waiting on stage"
In 2015, the stage comedy "Drama Stage" jointly presented by Chen Peisi and Yang Lixin came to the peak and became popular all the way across the country, and it was difficult to find a ticket everywhere in the past 7 years, and the audience's call for "Theater Stage 2" has always been the same.
Screenwriter Yu Yu said bluntly that from "Drama Stage" to "Marvel", everything is "water to water". He said that "The Dream" has no coherence in plot and "Drama Stage", not a serial drama, but a period nearing the end of the Civil War between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, revolving around the fate of the life and death of a Kunqu opera class and the Spring Society in the chaos of the war. The repeated seizure of an ancient city by the Kuomintang and the Communists provided an opportunity for several forces in the play to intertwine, and also laid the style of the story's tragic and joyful mix. For more details, Yu Yu is reluctant to spoil too much, and everything is "waiting on stage".
"This is the play I am most looking forward to," director Chen Peisi summed up his feelings about the play, "'Marvel' is very solid, but it is very special, even until the moment of final formation, no one knows what it will look like, so I am particularly looking forward to picking it up little by little." ”
Talking about why it was named "The Dream", Yu Yu said that he had deliberated on it. "'The Dream' is the most classic fold of the Kunqu opera "Peony Pavilion", and it is also the part of the story that plays within a play. Using "Amazing Dream" as the title of the play can not only run through the main theme of the entire theatrical work, but also give the audience a more intuitive imagination of the play. Therefore, in this "Dream", in the collision of ideals and beliefs, survival and death, song and war, long-term love and ruthlessness, a picture of life and survival unfolds.
Kunqu Huajing Everyone in the crew has to sing
In "Drama Stage", the integration of Peking Opera and drama is tried for the first time, the Wenwu field of Peking Opera is directly moved to the drama stage, the conservative "soundtrack sound" is changed to "live performance", and the bold attempt is to complete the whole play music and most of the sound effects in the Peking Opera instrumental music. And "Dream" proposes a more difficult integration direction than "Drama Stage", this time, not only using Kunqu opera known as "living fossils" as an art form to weave it, and the selected "Dream" is the core of the entire work, and the weight of the play in the play is self-evident.
To this end, Chen Peisi continued to invite professional musicians to work together to overcome the problem of live soundtrack and re-arrangement. In order to better restore the characters in the play, Chen Peisi not only paid special attention to the construction of the cast, but also invited Wang Xiaoyan, a famous Kunqu performance artist in China, to do one-on-one on-site training and action design guidance for the actors. The actors in the drama class, including Chen Peisi and Liu Tianchi, should study carefully, and even if there is no singing section in the play, they must also "carry the charm that people in that industry should have."
Lang Ling, who played the sixth aunt in "Drama Stage", played Hua Dan Tong Peiyun, the head of the Spring Society, in this drama, and she came from a musical theater and fell in love with Peking Opera because of "Drama Stage". In her opinion, the most difficult thing about this challenge kunqu opera is to sing three sighs at a time, and the control of tone and breath is extremely demanding. Chen Peisi also said, "The beauty of Kunqu opera is like a dream, and it is a kind of transformation. ”
Liu Tianchi claims to be a fan of Chen Peisi
It is reported that the number of cast members in the "Amazing Dream" crew has reached about 70 people. In terms of the cast, in addition to Chen Peisi and Chen Dayu's father and son, the famous actor and performance director Liu Tianchi will also be out of the acting class "inner master", and chen Peisi played by the Spring Society's child class leader partner husband and wife. Famous actors Wu Gang and He Yu also joined the performance, playing the commanders of the Chinese Communist Party respectively.
Liu Tianchi, who has not appeared on the drama stage for 20 years, said, "20 years ago, I acted in "Che Guevara" and "Impermanence Hanging", and in these years, training actors is my 'main palace', because my profession is an acting teacher, and I am the king of children. And I have always been a fan of Mr. Pace, grew up watching his plays, and this time I can steal the teacher to learn the art when I return to the stage. 20 years on stage, the beginning is indeed a little nervous, I hope that I can use emotions instead of reason, plunge into the play, while bringing laughter to the audience, but also bring everyone to think about life. ”
In the play, Chen Dayu will share the stage with his father Chen Peisi for the first time, and in the play he plays the son of the richest man in the city. The first time father and son cooperated, Chen Dayu said, "In the past, as an actor, my father gave me guidance offstage, this time I am an executive director and actor, and I hope that my father can feel my 'filial piety'." And he also revealed that recently his life will also unconsciously lean on the brother of the son, "finally there is a legitimate reason not to brush the bowl."
The play has not yet started The tour is already on the way
According to reports, "Amazing Dream" will be unveiled in the Opera Hall of the National Centre for the Performing Arts on November 11, 2001, and it is worth mentioning that November 11, 2001 is the premiere day of the first stage comedy "Childcare" produced by Chen Peisi and Avenue Culture. After a full 20 years, from "Childcare" to "Nightmare", it is a coincidence and even more in the dark.
In recent years, Chen Peisi has launched a total of 10 stage plays. In his view, "The Dream" is a sincere work that Avenue Culture gives back to the audience. "It's a new difficulty for me, and it's also a transcendence for myself. "The Stage" is a mixture of tragedy and joy, and the comedic conditions of "The Surprise" are narrower than those of "The Stage", and this script, I have been arguing with Yu Yu for several years. I remember the first time I watched the Kunqu opera "Dream", I was amazed that the ancients expressed love hundreds of years ago so fiercely and desperately, and in "Amazing Dream", we wanted to present more things that people think about outside of Kunqu. ”
It is reported that since the preparation began in 2019, although "The Amazing Dream" is still in rehearsal, the national tour after the premiere has been determined. After the Beijing premiere, the play will land at the Shanghai Grand Theatre as the opening performance of the Shanghai Comedy Arts Festival, and the first round of the national tour reached 10 stops.
Text/Beijing Youth Daily reporter Guo Jia
Photo / Beijing Youth Daily reporter Wang Xiaoxi
Editor/Cui Wei