Film and puppet dramas should also pay attention to the aesthetic needs of adults

"Beijing (Taihu) Film and Puppet Art Week • International Forum" around the topic of "adaptation of famous works and the creation of adult film and puppet dramas", experts said——

Film and puppet dramas should also pay attention to the aesthetic needs of adults

"Shadow puppetry, shadow puppetry... The performances are different in form, but in essence the same. The shadows that come out through the light source are like pearls, and they need to be connected with a line to form a complete performance, and this line is a dramatic conflict. Therefore, these performance forms are not simply a matter of 'shadow' in essence. Speaking of the various situations faced by the creators of shadow puppet art at present, Lu Baogang, head of the Beijing Shadow Puppet Troupe, said that whether in terms of performance and form of expression, or in production, modeling, stage lighting and other aspects, creators should come up with works that are truly suitable for today's market demand.

How to adapt the creation of film and puppet drama to the current market demand? How can Chinese film and puppet dramas transform for adult audiences? On October 17th, the "Beijing (Taihu) Film and Puppet Art Week International Forum" focused on the topic of "Adaptation of Famous Works and Creation of Adult Shadow puppet dramas", and the creators of film and puppet dramas and the researchers of drama theory joined hands with the creation and performance practices of film and puppet dramas such as "Magic Flute", "Heart of the Human Face", "The Collapse of the Ancient House of Usher", and jointly discussed the market demand for Chinese film and puppet drama creation, the transformation of film and puppet dramas into adult dramas, and other topics. The forum was jointly sponsored by the Beijing Drama Association, the Xiqu Research Institute of the China Academy of Arts, and the New Script Magazine, and hosted by Xi Nian Xing (Beijing) Cultural Communication Co., Ltd. Su Sheqin, Yang Qianwu, and other responsible persons of relevant departments attended the event.

"The art of Chinese shadow puppetry has a long history and is one of the origins of Chinese opera. Traditional puppet theater is increasingly closely related to local Chinese opera, and to this day, there are still many local puppet theater performances that use the sound cavity of opera. Zheng Lei, deputy director of the Xiqu Research Institute of the China Academy of Arts, said that although China has a deep accumulation of shadow puppet art, for a long time, it has only been regarded as an art form for children's audiences, and "there is a tendency to simplify and reduce the ideological simplicity of the works." He believes that the development of adult puppet dramas is a problem worth exploring in depth, and it requires the creators of film and puppet dramas to have "more free thoughts and real fantasies". For the problem of "simplification" and "low childishness", Li Yannian, former chairman of the China Center of the International Puppet Federation, also pointed out that in the creation of some film and puppet dramas in China today, there has been a problem of occasional and unskilled, or even unskilled puppet skills - there are few puppet skills, and the theme of the repertoire is very simple, straightforward, and has become simplistic. He said: "This is because the creators of the film and puppet drama do not understand the audience group, and they underestimate everyone's ability to appreciate." ”

"The holding of the Beijing (Taihu) Film and Doll Art Week has opened a window for Chinese audiences to contact the international film and puppet world. This forum put forward the concept of 'adult film and puppet drama', but also hope to give the theater industry a reminder - film puppet drama can be done very delicately and deeply. Yang Qianwu, vice chairman of the Beijing Drama Association, said. As an echo of the theme of "adult film puppet drama creation", the 2021 Beijing (Taihu) Film puppet art week will focus on the film puppet performance with adult audience as the main body, in addition to the online exhibition and broadcast of 20 Chinese and foreign dramas, it also screened three foreign film puppet famous dramas adapted from the world literary classics such as "The Magic Flute" performed by the Puppet Theater in Salzburg, Austria, "The Heart of the Beast with Human Face" and "The Collapse of the Ancient House of Escher" performed by the Hippora Theater in Germany.

"From these foreign film and puppet dramas, we can see that the film and puppet drama is no longer just a dramatic style, but has realized the free play of the form of expression, whether it is the puppet on the same stage, or the puppet is one, it is a state that can be freely entered and exited." Li Yannian pointed out that this provides us with a reference for thinking about the innovative development of film and puppet dramas.

To expand the audience range of film and puppet dramas for adult audiences, of course, it is necessary to put the market demand for quasi-film puppet dramas. "Shadow puppet art should pay attention to the needs of children and the aesthetic needs of adults, and we can produce works that can be interpreted in a variety of ways, so that the audience of shadow puppet art works is wider." Hu Na, associate professor of the Department of International Cultural Exchange at the China Academy of Performing Arts, said that cultural products such as Disney animation that has swept the world and domestic animation that have emerged in recent years can become a model for learning. Hu Wanfeng, director of the Puppet Drama Department of the Central Academy of Drama, said: "We can rely on traditional Chinese puppet drama genres such as thread lifting, cloth bags, canes, and shadow puppets to reshape a big concept of puppet drama that 'everything can be even'. He believes that on the basis of "everything can be even", we should integrate the characteristics of Western film and puppet art and create a contemporary puppet drama with national characteristics.

As a practitioner who is active in the frontline of puppet creation, Lu Baogang talked about the development of relevant theaters and troupes: "The development of Beijing Shadow Puppet Troupe is facing sharp conflicts such as tradition and modernity, inheritance and market. We need to take a pulse of Chinese shadow puppetry and see how it adapts to today's market demands. Lu Baogang said that although shadow puppetry is a non-genetic inheritance protection project, it is advisable to broaden the horizon and develop in the direction of shadow play, "Shadow play has no age, it is a common game that belongs to the whole world and all mankind."

Author: Deng Lifeng

Source: China Art News