"Sunrise" is one of the representative works of Mr. Cao Yu, a famous playwright and the first president of Beijing Renyi, and also a classic play of Beijing Renyi, which has had four different interpretations. In the 1950s, the first play performed after the completion of the Capitol Theatre was "Sunrise". Today, the newly completed Beijing International Theatre Center has chosen "Sunrise" as its premiere.
From September 2nd to 9th, the director of the new typeset "Sunrise", directed by Feng Yuanzheng, presented this classic work of Mr. Cao Yu to the new stage of cao yu theater of Beijing International Theater Center with the new appearance of the new generation of actors.
Beijing International Drama Center is a key project in the construction of Beijing National Cultural Center, located on the east side of the Capital Theatre, with a total construction area of about 23,000 square meters, including 700 Cao Yu Theater and more than 200 ren arts small theaters. Its completion is an important expansion of the Beijing Renyi Stage space.
The new layout of "Sunrise" lasted three and a half hours. In order not to affect the audience's ability to take the subway home, Beijing Renyi deliberately adjusted the opening time to 19:00 at night. Every evening, the first audiences who walked into the Beijing International Theater Center in the afterglow of the setting sun took photos in the new theater.
At 7:00 p.m., the curtain opened and the performance officially began. On the simple and modern stage, Fang Dasheng, played by Yang Mingxin, took the lead in appearing and unfolded the whole story from his perspective. This is also a new angle for this version of Sunrise.
At that time, Feng Yuanzheng played the role of Fang Dasheng in the Beijing Renyi 2000 version, but when he was young, he did not quite understand the character in Cao Yu's pen, thinking that Fang Dasheng was just a red line of justice in "Sunrise". But in recent years, Feng Yuanzheng has begun to like the character of Fang Dasheng, and even feels that this character has the shadow of Mr. Cao Yu, and feels that Fang Dasheng is the sunniest and most "sunrise" spirit in this play, because he wants to save his love, save his first love, and later from a person who is looking for love, to a person who is willing to fight against the evil forces and wants to save more people.
Therefore, director Feng Yuanzheng changed from once wanting to arrange a version of "Sunrise" without Fang Dasheng to choosing to let Fang Dasheng appear first in this version of "Sunrise", and read out the classic line in the play: "The sun is out, and the darkness is left behind." ”
The actor who plays Chen Bailu is Lu Lu, a post-90s actor born in Beijing in 1997. After graduating from the Central Academy of Drama, when she took the Beijing Renyi Examination that year, Feng Yuanzheng, who served as an examiner, felt that she might become Chen Bailu on the Beijing Renyi Stage in the future. This time, the new theater staged the new "Sunrise", so Feng Yuanzheng, who was the director, boldly gave this opportunity to Lu Lu.
In the previous "Sunrise" version of Beijing Renyi, the actresses who played Chen Bailu were mostly mature actors with certain fame, and this time the new people were selected to appear, although the performance was still a little immature, and there was still room for improvement in the costume and makeup style, but it did give people a bright feeling.
After the appearance of Fang Dasheng and Chen Bailu, Zhang George, played by Li Yue, Wang Fusheng played by Wen Bo, Xiao Dong played by Wu Yuchen, Pan Yueting played by Yu Zhen, Hei San played by Yuan Wei, Huang Shengsan played by Li Jinfeng, Gu Ba's grandmother played by Sun Yilin, Li Shiqing played by Lei Jia, Hu Si played by Wang Jiajun, and Mrs. Li played by Yang Qifang appeared one after another, showing the human beings in the big era.
In the second half of the performance scene, from Chen Bailu's living room to a third-class brothel, Zhou Jiayu played by Cui Xi and Shi Yunpeng played by Xiao Shunzi appeared, revealing the tragic fate of women in the dark society from another level, and also in stark contrast to the various behaviors of the upper class society representing the corrupt forces.
The performance status of these young actors is somewhat uneven, and the sense of proportion of the characters is also different. More brilliant is Li Shiqing, played by Lei Jia, who has a more delicate and rich performance design for the characters, with a distinct sense of layering, which is impressive. In addition, Wang Fusheng, played by Wen Bo, Huang Shengsan played by Li Jinfeng, and Cui Xi, played by Zhou Jiayu, all have a relatively good performance, and the characteristics of the characters are performed, and there is also a bit of novelty.
Compared with the realistic style performance with the characteristics of Beijing Renyi, the stage design of this version of "Sunrise" presents a freehand color and innovative pursuit. On the simple stage, there are only a few simple props such as sofas, coffee tables and bar; the black geometric stage background in the back is composed of a scene and two screens, and can also be projected, making the stage expression more abundant.
In the first half, the projection on the huge black background changes from an abstract frost flower to a fish slowly swimming in the fish tank, symbolizing that the playwright trapped in the fish tank is powerless to get rid of the environment.
In the second half, the stage video projection is used to show the prostitutes selected by Hu Si in the brothel. Huge pictures of women appear on the background wall, and although they highlight the tragic fate of women at the bottom who can only be selected like goods, this method makes people feel a little abrupt.
When dealing with the scene of the little thing dying, the method of instant photography is also used. The camera hanging from above the stage will shoot small things in a rapidly elevated state, shooting small things from a top-down dynamic perspective, and projecting this visually impactful picture onto the stage background. This design is very thoughtful, but due to the emergence of photographic lenses, it will make people feel like a play; the use of technology is still being explored, but it reflects that the director is not satisfied with the traditional viewing perspective of the character shaping, and hopes to use more means to enhance the pursuit of the inner presentation of the character and the performance of the stage.
The treatment of the ending is not the tragic color of the characters highlighted by many versions, but through the illumination of the stage light and shadow wall composed of more than 80 lamps, as well as the ethereal voiceover, a strong visual impact has made a new expression of Chen Bailu's ending and the meaning of "Sunrise", and also brought new interpretation and artistic appeal to this classic work.
As Feng Yuanzheng said: "The Cao Yu Theater, opening with Mr. Cao Yu's works, is not only an echo, but also a dialogue through time and space, which is our tribute to the old dean." It is a great honor for me to be the director of the opening scene, Sunrise. I tried to use new ideas, new situations and new generations of actors to open the curtain of Cao Yu Theater with the most simple and sincere performances. Just as the word 'sunrise' itself has a thriving meaning, this youthful and energetic performance heralds a new glow of Beijing Renyi in the new era. ”
At the end of the performance, the black and white image of Mr. Cao Yu lit up on the background of the stage, and director Feng Yuanzheng stepped onto the stage and led all the cast and crew to bow to mr. Cao Yu. This scene could not help but make the audience moved and gave warm applause.
Ms. Wan Fang, the daughter of Cao Yu and the famous playwright in the audience, was even more moved, and she said emotionally: "Seeing my father's play staged again in the Cao Yu Theater, I am willing to believe that there is a spirit in heaven." Father will shed tears of happiness, whether alive or dead, he is closely associated with drama. ”
Source Beijing Daily client · Art Bloom
Author and Editor of this issue: Wang Run
Photo: Fang Fei, Li Chunguang, Wang Xiaoning, Wang Run
Producer: Zhou Nanyan
Process Editor Wu Yue