Amid the heartfelt laughter from the audience, the burlesque play "Eight Feet in the Air" brought by the Shangyi Drama Club ended this round of performances at the Wanping Theater yesterday. This masterpiece selected for the Shanghai New Stage Art Exhibition Season brings together familiar faces such as comical celebrities Gong Renlong, Xu Haili, Wang Wenli, Yu Ya, Zhou Yilun, Luo Wenlian, Xue Wenbin, etc., so that the audience can have a touch of memories in addition to memories.
Pictured: Burlesque play "Eight Feet In the Air" Photographed by Zu Zhongren (the same below)
The characters have distinct personalities
In an ordinary old public house, Bao Liping, a first-floor resident played by Xu Haili, tried her best to oppose the installation of an elevator, and with the melody of the well-known musical "The Sound of Music", sang a song on the ground floor and the ladder in a playful tone, and came to the conclusion that "the elevator was installed, and the boss of Ala became depressed three", which made people can't help but be funny. Subsequently, Zhou Laichun, the "hanging old man" on the sixth floor who suffered from Parkinson's disease on the sixth floor, played by Gong Renlong, came to the door and begged her bitterly: "Please Nong Rose Golden Hand let one let go, please Nong six inch golden lotus retreat..." Two sentences were sung, and people smelled tears.
A new drama reminds many viewers of the classic burlesque dramas that Lao Dizi has seen, "Spring in the Garden", "Baby under the Street Lamp", "Life Crossing"... At that time, the comical master Wu Shuangyi once said: "Leaving the shaping of the character and the 'hard funny' needed by the plot will not be welcomed by the audience." ”
Burlesque should have drawn nourishment from real life. "Eight Feet in the Air" not only excavates such an important realistic theme as the old house and ladder, all the gimmicks also follow the personality of each character in the script, so Zhou Laichun, whose hands are shaking non-stop, Chen Xionggang, who is "strict in his wife management", Hua Yi, the "alley premier" who mediates in big and small matters, and the young new Shanghainese couple, each of them has a distinct personality on the stage and has a high degree of recognition.
There is modernity in tradition
It's a funny play with tears in the laughter and laughter in the tears. The installation of elevators in the old house allows everyone to see the human world of the small building, and also tests out the goodness and ugliness of human nature, honesty and deception, selflessness and selfishness in front of vital interests...
"Eight Feet in the Air" strictly follows the rules of drama, creates with a serious attitude, and wins praise from the audience with clean gimmicks. The traditional characteristics of shaking and eating and spitting out in burlesque dramas abound, which are inherited from the older generation of comic masters such as Gong Renlong.
On the stage, a circular turntable was made into a circular staircase, and a large screen in the center of the turntable was opened and closed, sometimes undertaking the introduction function of the opening animation, and sometimes undertaking the function of scene shaping and space segmentation, giving the traditional burlesque modernity.
Resonates with thought
In recent years, with the improvement of Shanghai's policies and the strength of the subsidy amount, the design schemes given by elevator companies have become more and more diversified, and the worries of many residents, especially low-rise residents, are gradually being solved. The audience, Ms. Xu, also began to add ladders in her own community, and deeply felt that it was not easy to promote this work: "Between neighbors, if everyone can be more sincere and have more consideration for others, it will be more convenient for the 'hanging old man' to go up and down the stairs." ”
This play also attracted a lot of audiences engaged in related work, and the real, vivid and grounded plot and lines aroused their strong resonance. He Guoping, head of the Urban Renewal Department of the Municipal Housing Management Bureau, said after watching it that everyone who does this work knows that although the old house and ladder are technically difficult, neighborhood consultation is the first difficulty. This burlesque drama focuses on the key issue of neighborhood negotiation. In the play, Hua Yi helps Ah Er, who sets up a scallion oil cake stall, find a bunk, solve his livelihood problems, and dispel his concerns about installing an elevator. In fact, the cadres of the neighborhood committee are the ones who understand the situation of the community and the demands of the residents, and they are like the "old mothers and uncles" who overcome difficulties and remove obstacles. He Guoping said: "In real life, many communities are like the ending of the play, the elevator is installed, and the neighborhood relationship is more harmonious. ”
The famous host Cao Kefan also walked into the theater yesterday, laughing, and this play also made him emotional: "'Eight Feet in the Air' is a very advanced comedy that will make you laugh freely and tears will ooze from the corners of your eyes." Several burlesque actors skillfully use traditional techniques, but they do not blindly apply rigid sets, but start from life and strive to "old bottles" with 'new wine'. This play can be polished to become the next "72 Tenants" and become a benchmark for burlesque in the new era. (Xinmin Evening News reporter Zhao Yue)