Rehearsal photo of "I Don't Want to Be Friends with You"
On October 14th, the stage play "I Don't Want to Be Friends with You", directed by He Nian and starring Qian Fang, Zhou Ye, Liu Xuanrui and Wang Jiabao, will be premiered at the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center, which is adapted from the TV series of the same name and is also the first original fantasy campus romantic comedy of the "Comedians Alliance" label jointly created by Shanglao and Joy Media.
At the beginning of 2021, Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center and Joy Media joined forces to create a new creative body - "Comedian Alliance". On the one hand, the new label takes localized original comedy works as the core, focuses on high-quality comedy content and creates mature offline comedy works, on the other hand, it relies on the mature and systematic actor training system of Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center, combined with the career rising channels of Joy Media on all platforms, to shape the future first-line comedy stars.
The first work of the "League of Comedians", "I Don't Want to Be Friends with You", tells a hilarious and youthful hot-blooded campus story: Li Jinjin, a high school student who has been dependent on his mother since childhood, traveled to 20 years ago because of a fantasy trip, met his mother Li Qingtong when he was a student, and became friends with her. Because of the difference in the times and personalities, the two made all kinds of jokes, and also walked hand in hand through the youth era of sweet and bitter. What kind of sparks will be sparked by each other after deep understanding? How will the two of them find the true meaning of life after returning to reality?
Unlike most crossover dramas with "love" as the main line, the intergenerational relationship between mother and daughter is the core of the whole drama, but the icing on the cake of love and friendship makes this drama more rich and full. As a group of dark horses of domestic youth dramas, "I Don't Want to Be Friends with You" has made many people sigh "funny and tear-inducing Northeast flavor" and "that's our youth", and has been praised by netizens as "the best domestic youth drama in 2020".
Seeing that the TV series warmly, delicately and truly restored the youth memories of the post-80s and post-90s, actor Qian Fang was deeply moved by this drama. So she bought the IP, joined hands with the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center and Joy Media, which has produced many comedy works, and invited her long-time partner and friend He Nian to jointly plan the stage drama version of "I Don't Want to Be Friends with You".
The cooperation between Qian Fang and He Nian is the second time the two have joined hands after "Deer Ding", "Wulin Wai Biography", "Romeo and Zhu Yingtai", and "21 Carats". Based on the tacit understanding of cooperation for many years before, the two hit it off at once, hoping to create some comedy works different from the past on the stage.
The main creative team said that the stage drama version of "I Don't Want to Be Friends with You" is not a hard copy of the TV drama version, but through a professional stage drama team, using innovative ideas and techniques to condense the essence of the original play and make up for imperfections; while ensuring excellent quality content, it brings the audience a new experience. (Xinmin Evening News reporter Zhao Yue)