Village drama
The singing drama was originally in front of the village primary school, where it is suitable for setting up a stage, the field is large, and it is warm in winter and cool in summer when it is facing north and south. The village drama in the south is not like the northern base with a fixed large mound as a stage, which is built from the large square table temporarily carried by each family, and the general high and low tables are merged together, tied tightly with rope, and then laid with a layer of tarpaulin, four large pillars are erected in front and behind, and a set is hung in the back, and the left and right sides are also blocked with linoleum cloth, and there is no curtain. Two bright gas lamps are hung, and the drum band sits in front of the stage and reads the score under the light.
It is not too much to say that we are the hometown of Huangmei opera, and there are no men, women and children who do not hum a song and say a few pieces of drama, and they are all fans. Every New Year's Festival, red and white happy events, the village must invite the drama class of the left and right villages to make a noise. The most lively New Year's Day should be sung from the night of the first day of the first year to the Lantern Night.
The title of the drama text is roughly inseparable from these things: Chen Shimei does not recognize his ex-wife, female donkey, Dou E'er, Luo Paji, Fifteen Guan, Tianhe Match, Kou Zhun back boots... Before the main play, there are generally some small folds, called interludes - such as "Lanqiao Water Drawing", "Patching back", "Flower Lantern", "Look at the Picture", etc., to enliven the opening atmosphere. Often a word on the stage, laughing to a large piece under the stage.
Red and white celebrations are also to sing one or two plays, even if the poor family also has to get together, in fact, it can not cost a few dollars. A group of people and horses have a meal, and then send two cigarettes or two pieces of money on the line, and everyone who sings and watches the play is trying to be lively. The stage of the red and white happy event is generally set up on the rice field in front of the owner's house, after the opening gong and drum sound, the stage is quiet, the host first goes on stage to speak, thank the relatives, friends, neighbors and villagers for their care, please make a lively scene, in order to show your heart. The crowd was addicted, the master's face was beautiful, and they were very satisfied with each other.
My grandmother lived to the age of 97 and died without illness, which can be described as a white happy event, the uncle set up a stage at the door, invited the team to sing two plays, one "Fishing Net Mother", one "Buckwheat Record", sending mourning, babbling and noisily sending the old mother on the road.
Every day of singing, the adults began to be busy from the afternoon, setting up the stage and preparing for Zhang Luo. Children carry stools from home to the bottom of the stage, sometimes for a few inches of soil, children quarrel, fight, at this time, the parents of both sides will intervene, everyone is for the sake of hilarity, naturally they are calm, but the children do not understand things, and they do not care for a few days. The play finally began, the vicissitudes of the world on stage, great sorrow and great joy, or tears or sighs or gritted teeth or smiles on the stage. In the excitement, people danced with their hands and even forgot to sniff melon seeds and smoke cigarettes.
Acting on stage, often extending to offstage, is an exciting classical love story like "Female Pony", inspiring and encouraging many offspring and sisters who have just opened their hearts. That year, a girl in the village bravely escaped her parents' arranged marriage and eloped with a descendant from a foreign country. I watched a lot of drama, and I talked on weekdays with a lot of drama - who was wronged, said a sentence "It is really a June day to fall black snow." Whoever is a baby and does not obey, the adults in the family scold: "You want to get a little Chen Shimei"; on the street to catch the market, the sister-in-law will use the line of "Flower Lantern" to joke: what hair to comb, what to wash your face, change clothes even if it is counted.
Before the television set appeared in the countryside, there was a Huangmei opera team every three or five villages. The team often sings from different places, and the protagonists and supporting characters are familiar with the zhuanghu people. The line is not simple, people who act and watch dramas are frugal in life but willing to spend money here. As the saying goes, "will look at the doorway, will not look at the hilarity", in fact, the real fans of the play, do not care about the appearance, they pay attention to singing, reading, doing, playing. The Zhangjia opera class in Beihu Village on the other side of the river has decades of skill, and there are many famous characters in the class. This is a well-known drama class that has won awards in the county amateur theater company competition. There is an old man nicknamed "Lao Bei", sixty years away, more than twenty years of drama age, life is not heavy, but he is typhoon steady, his voice is vigorous, loud, good at acting in literary drama, the role of Bao Longtu and several prime ministers, every move shows a formal posture, in fact, he is just a fisherman running on the water.
There is also a girl named Qing'e, who is in her early twenties, singing Hua Dan, and her voice is not bad. As soon as she appeared, every pair of eyes in the audience suddenly turned into a shining incandescent light bulb, especially those young hairy offspring, who concentrated on stretching their necks and lighting up and down throat knots under the gas lamp. She is a real celebrity, who has entered the county amateur training class and received guidance from experts. I heard that the county theater troupe had recruited her by name, but somehow she did not go.
In addition to my mother, my family is also a fan of drama. Whenever there is a drama class in the village near and far, my mother always comes home early to cook for us, and fried peanuts and melon seeds, so that we can take it on the road, so as not to be hungry in the middle of the night.
Speaking of village dramas, I have to mention my sister-in-law, who is also a character in village dramas. This was unexpected, I did not expect that after the sister-in-law who did not smile at home got married, and had four children, she also played the role of Lao Dan in the Xujia Village drama class. I once inadvertently saw her as Guotai in "The Case of Beauty", full of pearlescent energy, whether singing, speaking or doing, all heads are the Tao. On weekdays, the honest and generous uncle only dressed up as a family member or clown, and sometimes he also played the role of a foreigner and a small zhixian, wearing silk and satin, and his speech was depressed. I was only eight or nine years old at the time, and when my cousin came back from town and passed by a village called Shi Hut, my cousin told me that I heard my sister-in-law's singing. I went home and told my father about my sister-in-law and uncle on stage, and he just smiled and didn't comment.
Village drama has been away from me for more than 20 years, and I am getting farther and farther away from my hometown. Since the popularization of television sets in the countryside, the gongs and drums of village opera have been silent in the rust, and village opera has become a kind of memory of the past life of the elderly people. It was only by chance that someone called out one or two operas in a very strong way on the village road, which reminded people that Susong was the hometown of Huangmei opera.