Source: People's Daily - People's Daily
Stills from the Peking Opera movie "Cao Cao and Yang Xiu". Shang Changrong as Cao Cao (right) and Yan Xingpeng as Yang Xiu.
Shi Yihong as Yang Yuhuan stills. Words and cloth photography
Peking Opera performance artist Chen Shaoyun (second from left) at the Shanghai Peking Opera House teaches his disciples Guo Yi, Yu Tonghui and Lu Su. Courtesy of Shanghai Peking Opera House
The art of opera has been passed down from generation to generation, and the academy troupe is the main body responsible for the inheritance of Peking Opera. The historical, cultural traditions and artistic strength of each Peking Opera Troupe are different, and the troupe is bound to accurately set its own development goals and artistic positioning. Professional opera theater troupes should not only have a clear sense of responsibility and sober professional choices, but also have the role of actively guiding the artistic value orientation of the theater. In particular, it is necessary to have a clear cultural stance and the pursuit of aesthetic ideals, activate the creativity of artists, and thus make forward-looking plans in the inheritance and development of opera.
The inheritance of Peking Opera art must be based on rational understanding and correct understanding of the artistic tradition of Peking Opera. The artistic inheritance of Shanghai Peking Opera House is to strive to activate tradition and integrate into the times under the premise of respecting tradition, and its practical experience is worth summarizing.
Find the artistic positioning and development goals of the theater in the contemporary cultural pattern
Since the late 1980s, the Shanghai Peking Opera House has had a theater development plan, and initially put forward the goal of building a "comprehensive, experimental and standardized" first-class theater. In the early 1990s, after fully studying the history and practical conditions of the inheritance and development of Peking Opera, he made a summary of the artistic style of the theater as "The Integration of Beijing and Sea". After objectively assessing the talent situation of the theater, the judgment of "building on the strengths and complementing the shortcomings" of talent training is made. Especially after experiencing the creation of the Peking Opera "Cao Cao and Yang Xiu", the theater draws on the wisdom of all parties, adheres to Zhou Xinfang's idea of acting, pursues the overall artistic effect of the stage, and clearly puts forward the artistic proposition of "seeking the best fit between classical art and modern aesthetic consciousness".
These have had a profound impact on the subsequent artistic heritage and repertoire creation of the theater. For example, "Zhenguan Event", "Honest Officials in Jackie Chan", "Success or Failure Xiao He", "Golden Wisp Song", "Spring and Autumn Erxu", as well as "Tanuki Cat for Prince", "Pansi Cave", "Hu Sanniang and Wang Ying", etc., these plays with different themes and genres have established a deep and measured artistic connection between traditional culture and contemporary consciousness. For a large number of traditional old plays, the theater also carefully organizes and inherits them as much as possible.
At the end of the last century, the Shanghai Peking Opera House launched the "Discussion Activity on the Development Strategy of Shanghai Peking Opera", organizing national theater experts to discuss the strategic commanding heights of traditional Peking Opera in the contemporary cultural environment, so as to expand cultural horizons and find their own advantages and shortcomings. Entering the new century, the Shanghai Peking Opera House elaborated on the long-term development of the theater: "Through creative artistic practice, the modern transformation of Peking Opera art is realized. ”
Over the past few decades, Shanghai Peking Opera House has sought development in the form of intergenerational inheritance, closely followed the pace of the times, deeply influenced by red culture and Shanghai urban culture, identified the artistic positioning and development goals of the theater in the contemporary cultural pattern, adhered to the "one blueprint to the end", and let the theater steadily march on the established track.
Artists with a sense of cultural consciousness play a role in inheritance
Peking opera is the art of "horns". The inheritance of Peking Opera requires artists who have a sense of cultural consciousness and can play a leading role.
At the Shanghai Peking Opera House, everyone understood the qipai art of the old dean Zhou Xinfang as a concept and idea of acting. Ma Ke, director of the Shanghai Peking Opera House, once said: "'Cao Cao and Yang Xiu' is a Qi Pai repertoire without Qi Pai. In a word, it reflects everyone's recognition and pursuit of Zhou Xinfang's spirit of acting.
The Shanghai Peking Opera House has a group of artists who are well versed in the tradition of Peking Opera, but also can control the artistic tradition and perceive the spirit of the times. They created the cultural atmosphere of the Shanghai Peking Opera House, which was shaped by the cultural atmosphere of the theater. The theater pays attention to inheriting the concept of acting by Famous Peking Opera artists such as Zhou Xinfang at the level of creative concept and stage rhythm, and also actively cultivates new genres. For example, Shang Changrong, a Peking Opera performance artist at the Shanghai Peking Opera House, has no connection with the Qipai in terms of artistic heritage, but he has a deep understanding of the Qipai in terms of the concept of acting. Shang Changrong's artistic thinking is dialectical, and he is good at using the formula of Peking Opera to personalize the characters. His creative methods, and even the creative consciousness of shaping characters in traditional old plays, not only affect the style of a play, but also affect the artists around him.
At the Shanghai Peking Opera, if an actor wanders away from the character image and indulges in self-expression excessively, it is difficult to get the respect of his colleagues. This is related to the advocacy of the theater, and it is also related to the exemplary leading role of the "Shang Changrongs" and "Chen Shaoyun", so that it has become a consensus. And the theater has the responsibility to further lead this consensus to the collective aesthetic ideal of the whole theater.
In the talent training and selection mechanism, we pay attention to the improvement of the ability to shape the role
Talent training focuses on inheritance. Inheritance should not only impart their artistic skills, but also cultivate their personality. This is a long-term systematic project, which is related to the future of the theater and even the drama.
The purpose of inheritance is to use, to use it to shape characters. As Shang Changrong said: "We must 'learn and use traditional skills'." "The Shanghai Peking Opera House insists on building various platforms all year round, inviting senior artists to give young actors elaborate plays. The annual "summer training" system alone has been implemented for decades. The backbone of the Shanghai Peking Opera House, represented by Peking opera actors Shi Yihong and Wang Peiyu, grew up in this environment.
The inheritance of Peking Opera is not a temporary measure, but a normal move. Since 2011, the Shanghai Peking Opera House has launched a five-year "Youth Runway" talent training project. The project sets up five annual nodes of "starting, spanning, relaying, sprinting and decisive victory", starting from the foundation of "four skills and five methods" and entering the preliminary transmission and re-refining stage of classic old plays. On this basis, we will enter the stage of passing on the classics of the genre, focusing on the improvement of the program specifications and character shaping ability of young actors. The project is evaluated every year, there is a elimination ratio, and finally forms a "pyramid structure", and selects talents with a good foundation of "four skills and five methods" and are good at shaping roles, which has been held for two seasons so far.
In the past 10 years, the Shanghai Peking Opera House has also focused on improving the ability of the younger generation of actors to shape characters in the intergenerational inheritance of the theater's classic repertoire. Especially in the inheritance of the "Shang Changrong Trilogy", Shang Changrong personally taught young actors, from inside the play to outside the play, from spitting words and vocalizations to singing, reading white, and then to the understanding and expression of the characters' emotions, hand-in-hand teaching, one by one checks and guidance, so that the strict program norms are vivid and flexible in the hearts of young actors. It is the way that Peking Opera actors shape characters, and what is taught is the concept of artistic thought. It is precisely this kind of passing on the torch, the youth version of "Cao Cao and Yang Xiu", "Zhenguan Event", "Honest Officials in Jackie Chan", "Success or Failure Xiao He", "Tanuki Cat for Prince" and other plays have stood firmly on the stage, and a number of new generation actors such as Fu Xiru, Yang Donghu, Lan Tian, Gao Hongmei, Yang Yang, Lu Su, Chen Shengjie, Dong Hongsong and so on have grown up and matured with stage practice.
Explore the operating mechanisms that are beneficial to unleashing the energy of art
Benign artistic inheritance requires the exploration of operating mechanisms that are beneficial to releasing artistic energy. Under the existing system, there is a certain room for improvement and improvement in the internal operating mechanism of the hospital and regiment.
For example, the basis for the preparation of performance plans by the Peking Opera Troupe is mostly the internal needs of the theater, which is short-term, and it is difficult to adapt to the requirements of information dissemination in the operation of the performance market. Accordingly, the "overall planning mechanism of performance projects" implemented by Shanghai Peking Opera House is based on market and audience demand, and a performance plan with an advance amount of one year is compiled, so that performance information can be fully disseminated among potential demand groups and expand its influence.
In the development, promotion and dissemination of Peking Opera art, it is necessary to integrate the latest business philosophy and new mode of communication with the traditional national essence. For example, how to cooperate with private cultural institutions? Under the premise of maintaining the state-owned industries and resources of the theater, the artistic energy of a group of artistic backbones can be more fully exerted, so that it has greater room for development. On the basis of a detailed understanding of the relevant laws and regulations, the Shanghai Peking Opera House first formulated the relevant operating regulations and mechanisms of the theater, and then signed an in-depth strategic cooperation agreement with the corresponding private cultural institutions. This collaborative model has proven beneficial to amplify the social and market impact of artists. In the production of repertoire, shanghai Peking Opera House tried the "project producer" operation mechanism. From Wang Peiyu's "Orphan of Zhao" Peking Opera project to Yan Qinggu's "Clown Picking Beams" Peking Opera Clown Art Exhibition project, the theater is actively reforming its own mechanism, gaining new enlightenment, and then opening up a broader market space.
The academy is the basic organization for artists to engage in artistic practice, and only by efficiently organizing various resources and stimulating artistic productivity and creativity to the greatest extent can it become the spiritual home of artists and the ladder to climb the peak of art.
(The author is a director of Shanghai Literary and Art Critics Association)
Draft: Zhao Kairu
People's Daily ( 2021-09-30 20th edition)