When it comes to burlesque and one-legged plays, everyone will always be the first to mention Wang Rugang, who is well known as both the representative inheritor of burlesque at the municipal level and the national inheritor of one-legged drama. Compared with the northern cross-talk "talking and singing", one-legged plays and burlesque plays replace "funny" with "do". Over the years, Wang Rugang has been a hundred rivers, eclectic, learning from life, worshiping the masses as a teacher, in his view, "funny actors in addition to 'learning to sing', pay special attention to acting, good actors can play from ten-year-old children to centennials, and each role can play people with different looks." ”
Pay attention to "talking and singing", burlesque performances who are like whom
"My marital status is 'bigamy.'"
'What?' How can bigamy come to marriage? ”
"I've never been married, so it's 'bigamy.'" This kind of man-woman thing, Ala does not understand much. ”
Isn't this conversation particularly interesting? Yes, this is the line of the one-legged play "TV Marriage", which was quite popular with the audience at that time. In this play, Wang Rugang plays a triangle of single young people and widowed old people who come to get married, and a single-parent child.
Wang Rugang, Li Jiusong and Xu Haili performed the one-legged play "Marriage"
As soon as the bachelor's scene ended, a faltering old lady stepped onto the stage. Only to see her say in a thick Ningbo accent: "This 314 (number) is so ugly, what a thing." She then pretended to be angry and said: "My mate selection requirements are: as long as it is a man, the age from 18 to 81 years old is all RIGHT, and it is better to be a foreigner!" ”
As the performance progressed, when the audience learned that this high-priced old lady was forced by the gambler's son to pay off the debt, she came to the marriage, and could not help but laugh with tears, shake her head and sigh, and place infinite sympathy for the old lady. And the last child to appear, for the sake of his divorced father, even came to marry at a young age, asking to find his mother and find the lost maternal love, which resonated with the audience. The theatrical effect reaches its climax.
Chen Liang and Pan Qianwei performed the one-legged play "Singing Peking Opera"
In Wang Rugang's view, the "doing" of burlesque actors gives the performance an advantage. "The actors perform on stage, and in order for the audience in the last row to see clearly, the expressions must be exaggerated, but they must be decent."
After the actor masters the skill of "doing", he can exert his talents on other performance platforms and play with ease. The film "Stock Madness", which won the National Government Film Award in 1999, is a good example. Wang Rugang's performance in "Stock Madness" has been well received, and many old artists even feel that Wang Rugang can not only act in comedy, but also may be more brilliant if he plays a tragedy. However, Wang Rugang did not try easily: "I still want to make the audience laugh and laugh." ”
Inheriting innovation "when it is in progress", he is full of confidence in Haipai art
The inheritance of any artistic style is closely related to the acceptance of young audiences, and due to the great changes in the current language environment, fewer and fewer people speak Shanghainese, which makes the inheritance of one-legged plays and burlesque plays face considerable pressure.
Mao Mengda and Shen Ronghai performed the one-legged play "Thirteen People Rubbing Mahjong"
"Many elderly people are full of Shanghainese, but they encounter embarrassment when they bring their grandchildren. They asked a question in Shanghainese, and the grandchildren replied in Mandarin. After a long time, the old man was taken crooked. However, Shanghai audiences still have a fondness for burlesque. This Sunday, the one-legged play "Laughter at Shikumen" will be performed for the 100th time at SAIC Shanghai Culture Square. "The Laughter of Shikumen" revolves around the people's food, clothing, shelter and transportation, which not only makes the old Shanghai people deeply relive the prosperity of how the city has entered a new era under the leadership of the party, but also makes the younger generation feel the city spirit of inclusiveness and annexation under the earth-shaking changes.
Old entertainers perform traditional one-legged plays
In 2018, the Shanghai People's Burlesque Troupe and the Shanghai Qingyi Burlesque Troupe merged to establish the new Shanghai One-Legged Opera Heritage Art Center. As a "family member", Wang Rugang is busy training and recruiting young actors. At the same time, he also went to the school to introduce the art of burlesque to the children and teach everyone to speak Shanghainese.
Wang Rugang and Li Jiusong
When it comes to succession, Wang Rugang is very optimistic. He said: "When I entered the industry, it was at the end of the Cultural Revolution, and there were no young actors, let alone talent echelons. So the first time I came on stage, I actually did not run a dragon suit, but directly replaced the late old actor to play an important role in "Seventy-Two Tenants" Little Cobbler. If you think about it, you can survive such a difficult time, so what is the worry? What's more, we still have a large number of outstanding young people such as Qian Yi, Chen Liang, Pan Qianwei, Zeng Yi, Xu Ying, Xue Wenbin, Shan Bin, etc. The audience is getting familiar with them, liking them, and the future is bright! ”
Reporter / Liu Yi
Editor / Sun Chong
Photo / Shanghai Great World Art Center