On September 10, the drama "Deling and Cixi" starring Zheng Yunlong was ticketed in Beijing and was instantly robbed. On September 17, to the surprise of the theater audience, Zheng Yunlong actually appeared on the stage of Beijing Renyi again, participating in the media meeting of the newly opened "Renyi Small Theater" on the third floor of the newly opened Beijing International Theater Center to perform the first performance of the play "Desire Under the Elm Tree". This is the third drama starring Zheng Yunlong, and it is also his first time to perform a drama in Renyi. Knowing this news, although "Desire Under the Elm Tree" was only ticketed at 10:00 a.m. on September 18, on the afternoon of September 17, many fans rushed to the gate of Beijing Renyi and stayed up all night waiting in line to buy tickets. There are also many parents who come to queue up for their children to buy tickets.
"Desire Under the Elm" is Eugene O'Neill's masterpiece, hailed as "America's first great tragedy", and its classic status is well-known in the world theater world. In 2007, the play was staged in the "Renyi Small Theater" on the south side of the Capital Theatre, and this time it was re-rehearsed by director Ren Ming, Jungle with Yu Mingjia, Zheng Yunlong, Li Lin, Luo Xi, Liu Yi, Zeng Yongyi and other actors in a new lineup, which is not only an artistic innovation, but also reflects renyi's positioning of the new theater and its unremitting pursuit of classics. Zheng Yunlong also said in an exclusive interview with reporters that he had been exposed to this classic when he was in college, and it was a great honor to be able to star in the drama in Beijing Renyi this time, he said: "I like Beijing Renyi, there is a very good creative environment here. ”
Beijing Renyi is a sacred theater temple in the heart
Reporter: Your visit to Beijing Renyi to perform a drama this time has surprised many audiences, and they want to know how your cooperation with Beijing Renyi was reached this time?
Zheng Yunlong: At the beginning of this year, Teacher Feng Yuanzheng contacted me and invited me to cooperate with Renyi on a drama. I thought it was incredible, and of course I wanted to. So we negotiated what to do. In July, he asked me if I liked "Desire Under the Elms" and if I wanted to act it? I liked the script so much that I came up resolutely.
Reporter: Then what is your mood when you come to Beijing renyi to perform dramas this time?
Zheng Yunlong: It is a great honor for a stage actor to be able to perform a drama in Beijing Renyi. Beijing Renyi is like a sacred hall in the heart of every child who studies drama. I remember the first time I came to the Beijing Renyi Capital Theater, when I went to the theater and went backstage to visit, I felt that sense of sacredness. There are so many old gentlemen, old seniors, old artists, who have performed in this theater. Their spirit, like the lines, has been rippling in the theater, inspiring young artists to bloom their artistic lives on the stage.
I also deeply feel this, so this time to come to Beijing Renyi, for me is a very honored thing, I will cherish this opportunity. During the rehearsal, I learned a lot from director Ren Ming, Teacher Jungle, as well as Jia Jie and Brother Lin, and I was very grateful to the teachers for taking care of me. This is my third time acting in a drama, and the feeling of acting in a drama is completely different from acting in a musical, they belong to different art categories, so I can still learn a lot, and I will work hard.
Reporter: Now that you have been rehearsing in Beijing Renyi for two months, how does this process feel?
Zheng Yunlong: Beijingers feel very professional and very organized in art, and they are very meticulous in their rehearsal plans for every day, week and month, so our rehearsal process is very smooth. I think it's a very good creative environment, which is why I like art in Beijing.
The character I played was extreme
Reporter: Have you been exposed to the script "Desire Under the Elm Tree" before? There have been many versions of this play before, how will your version be different this time?
Zheng Yunlong: "Desire Under the Elm Tree" is a very classic work of Eugene O'Neill, I read this script when I was in college, and I liked it very much. That's why I chose to star in this work this time. I love classic plays and want to try something different. Everyone who sees a script will have their own understanding, and there will be an expression of what he wants to express to the character. I didn't compare the previous versions, but I still wanted to start from the play itself, to prepare for this role, hoping to interpret a different Ibn, a different Desire Under the Elm. Especially like this kind of very difficult classical masterpiece, the deeper you dig, the more you will feel something. From the beginning of the rehearsal to the present, we feel more and more deeply, and understand more and more things.
Reporter: Your role in the play is very challenging, can you talk about your understanding of the character, including how you portrayed the character?
Zheng Yunlong: This work is extremely exaggerated to reflect the desires of human nature, and the role of Ibn I played is also more extreme. Whether he treats people well, treats feelings, and treats love, he is a more extreme person. So a lot of his behavior is very exaggerated and explosive, which is also a big challenge for me. Ibn is a very fragile person, on the other hand, he also shows irritability, in fact, these are due to some of the lack of his heart, the lack of love, including his relationship with his father. This starts with the character's original family and his upbringing.
This play has a lot of emotional outbursts, which require a lot of emotional preparation and preparation. The last time we rehearsed and the theater came to review, Dean Ren Ming was very touched to see that we were so engaged. He said to the people in the group: "I am really afraid that Zheng Yunlong will be angry one day and strangle Yu Mingjia to death on the stage." "In fact, the explosive power of this kind of performance is to be designed at the technical level, and it must be constantly tried and rehearsed repeatedly before you dare to do it." This kind of tension-filled performance actually stems from the number and proficiency of our usual rehearsals, as well as the trust between the actors. We will have a lot of performances similar to this method in the future, so that the play becomes more full and the characters are richer.
The Renyi Theater is the smallest theater I have ever performed in
Reporter: Your performance of "Desire Under the Elm Tree" is also the first work opened by the Beijing International Theater Center Renyi Theater. How did you feel when you performed in this theater?
Zheng Yunlong: Because this is the first time we have entered the theater scene from the rehearsal hall today, it is still relatively unfamiliar, and we are not very familiar with this environment and the stage art. So the next few days. We will make performance adjustments for the stage, and we will adjust our scheduling. We have a lot of stage scheduling in this play, which should make everyone watch it very well.
Reporter: This theater is very small, you are very close to the audience when you perform, do you feel stressed?
Zheng Yunlong: The Renyi Small Theater may really be the smallest theater I have ever performed. I have acted in small theater musicals before, and that theater is not much bigger than the small theater of human arts, so I am not particularly unaccustomed to the performance method of small theater works. Because the audience is close, there is also a benefit, that is, it breaks the relationship between the stage and the stage, and the whole theater space has become a scene, and the integration is better, which I think is also very good.
Reporter: As a very popular actor in the audience, there are many explosive performances in this play, if the fan audience sees you so close to them when watching the play, and there are so many passionate performances, making some reactions such as exclamation, will you worry about affecting your performance? Do you have such mental preparation?
Zheng Yunlong: I can't do this kind of mental preparation, because after I start acting, I can't think about it anymore. Our play is not a play that interacts with the audience, nor is it an entertainment theme, the whole atmosphere is extremely depressing, so I hope that everyone can immerse themselves in the work, feel the artistic atmosphere, and do not make some excessive reactions.
The stage is like home with a sense of satisfaction and security
Reporter: Many viewers first learned about you as a musical theater actor. You've also acted in several plays over the years. For you, what are the criteria for choosing works now?
Zheng Yunlong: First of all, it is a good script. As long as it's a script I like very much, I want to try it.
Reporter: From all aspects, you can feel that you especially love the stage, so what does the stage mean to you?
Zheng Yunlong: I originally studied musical theater, and I have never left the stage until now. So the stage is like home, a place where I live every day. I have a great sense of satisfaction and security on stage, I am happy, that's part of my life.
Photo: Li Chunguang