Shenzhen News Network, June 19, 2019 In 1989, Feng Gangyi won the sixth "Plum Blossom Award" with "Returning from the Night of the Wind and Snow", becoming the first person in the Chinese Cantonese opera industry to pick "Plum Blossom"; in 2002, "Mei Kai Twice" won the 19th "Plum Blossom Award" with "The Banner of Brother Camel". Behind the two "Plum Blossom Awards" is the moving story of Feng Gangyi and Shenzhen Cantonese Opera Troupe's decades of mutual achievements.
Song Tao, head of the Cantonese Opera Troupe, also said in an exclusive interview with a reporter from Reading Chuang/Shenzhen Business Daily on June 18 that as the most representative Cantonese opera performance artist cultivated in Shenzhen, Feng Gangyi portrayed a brilliant stroke in the historical corridor of the inheritance and development of Cantonese opera in Shenzhen.
Establish a signboard for the rapid rise of cantonese opera
The famous Cantonese opera performance artist Feng Gangyi was born in Guangzhou in 1947, was admitted to the Boluo County Dongle Cantonese Opera Troupe in April 1963 to study art, transferred to the Bao'an County Cantonese Opera Troupe at the end of 1965, transferred to the Bao'an County Literary and Art Propaganda Team due to the dissolution of the troupe in 1971, and transferred back to the re-established Bao'an County Cantonese Opera Troupe (the predecessor of the Shenzhen Cantonese Opera Troupe) in 1974 until his retirement in 2007. Song Tao, head of the Shenzhen Cantonese Opera Troupe, said: "The most brilliant decades of Mr. Feng Gangyi's artistic career have been dedicated to Shenzhen, leaving many popular singing segments for our Cantonese Opera Troupe and shaping countless stage images. He is not only the representative of the Cantonese opera troupe, but also the representative of the artistic spirit of Chinese Cantonese opera. ”
In 1980, after the establishment of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, the Shenzhen Cantonese Opera Troupe, which was re-established on the basis of the original Bao'an County Cantonese Opera Troupe, was the first opera art performance group in Shenzhen. In the first year of its establishment, the Cantonese Opera Troupe became a sensation in southern Guangdong and Guangdong because of Feng Gangyi's "Mandarin Duck Tears Sprinkling Mochou Lake", and Feng Gangyi also emerged in the Cantonese opera industry because of the image of Xu Cheng, the amorous prince in the play. Next, 1982's "Love Monk Stole to Xiaoxiang Pavilion" and 1984's "Return of the Wind and Snow Night" were even more critically acclaimed, not only won the praise of the industry, but also made the Shenzhen Cantonese Opera Troupe and Feng Gangyi's fans spread throughout Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing.
Especially in "Returning to people in the night of wind and snow", the leaders of Shenzhen City attach great importance to the play, and specially invited the original author Wu Zuguang and his wife Xin Fengxia to guide the scene. In 1984, the Shenzhen Cantonese Opera Troupe went to zhongnanhai auditorium to perform the play and was received by the central leaders. Subsequently, the play toured in Singapore, Hong Kong and Macao, China, and other places, setting a precedent for modern dramas to perform overseas, and Feng Gangyi gained a large number of fans for playing Wei Liansheng. On the night of the Singapore performance, the audience was mesmerized, and when Lian sheng died, the audience shouted loudly "Lian Sheng don't die", and refused to leave for a long time after the final performance.
In the Chinese Cantonese opera industry in the 1980s, Feng Gangyi and the Shenzhen Cantonese Opera Troupe, one is a newcomer, the other is a new troupe, with excellent quality of works for the first time, and at the speed of launching three operas in four years, it has risen rapidly in the Cantonese opera industry and set up a shining signboard. In April 1989, Feng Gangyi became the first winner of the "Plum Blossom Award" in the Cantonese opera industry with "Returning from the Snowy Night". He said: "The success of a play is not only the credit of an actor, it is inseparable from the whole troupe from top to bottom, unity and persistence and innovation in art, and it is inseparable from the relaxed and open creative atmosphere provided by leaders at all levels of the Shenzhen Municipal Government for the troupe." ”
Let go of the handsome little student baggage to play the "ugly" camel brother
In the 1990s, traditional arts were severely impacted, and actors changed careers and went to the sea, and the Cantonese opera market was bleak and depressed. As the pillar of the Shenzhen Cantonese Opera Troupe, feng Gangyi encountered a bottleneck in his artistic career after winning the "Plum Blossom Award", the highest award for drama, and he also changed careers to become a taxi driver at this time. After more than a year of driving career, Feng Gangyi "never let go of his concern for the stage and the Cantonese opera troupe", and returned to the Cantonese opera stage in 1992. Song Tao told reporters that it was also in this year that the Shenzhen Cantonese Opera Troupe implemented institutional reform and began to embark on the road of reform and innovation.
The first masterpiece after the restructuring was "Love for Zhongying Street", which used the changes before and after the reform of Zhongying Street in Sha Tau Kok as the material, and became a polished sword after the Shenzhen Cantonese Opera Troupe entered a new era. The history of this play spans a large span, and Wu Haisheng, played by Feng Gangyi, has a rich and complex emotional world in the character's heart. Song Tao said: "'Love in Zhongying Street' won three awards, the 'Five One Project Award' of the Central Propaganda Department in 1996, the 'Wenhua Award' of the Ministry of Culture in 1997, and the 'Plum Blossom Award' of the actress Zhuo Peili with this play in 1998, which is the second 'plum blossom' of the Cantonese Opera Troupe. ”
In 2002, Feng Gangyi "opened the plum twice", and perfectly interpreted the "ugly and beautiful" camel brother in "The Banner of Brother Camel", and won the 19th "Plum Blossom Award". In order to interpret the "ugly" camel brother, Feng Gangyi, who has always shown the image of a handsome and dashing "Xiaosheng", not only created his own "pot lid head", designed a number of specific actions for the role, but also used the "horse cavity" to show the humor in the character's bitterness and helplessness. In the years since its premiere in 2000, "The Flag of Brother Camel" has won national awards frequently, and its artistry and innovation can be called the pinnacle of shenzhen Cantonese Opera Troupe.
"During this period, opera encountered the challenges of the times, and traditional culture could only take the road of innovation. Feng Gangyi broke through himself and created the small character of Brother Camel, and the Cantonese Opera Troupe also insisted on reforming on the basis of inheritance and adhered to the unique artistic path. Song Tao said, "Feng Gangyi's play path is very wide, the cooperation is very strong, he can play both the charming Jia Baoyu and the simple and witty camel brother." His dedication to his characters has reached the level of study, and he is a rigorous, serious and dedicated artist. ”
After retirement, he is still concerned about the Cantonese opera troupe
In January 2007, as a pilot unit for the reform of public institutions in Shenzhen, Shenzhen Cantonese Opera Troupe completed the transformation from a public institution to an enterprise unit and officially changed its name to "Shenzhen Cantonese Opera Troupe Co., Ltd." It was also in this year that Feng Gangyi, who had reached the age of 60, officially retired. Song Tao told reporters that after retirement, Feng Gangyi is still concerned about the Cantonese opera troupe at all times, always paying attention to the development and dynamics of the Cantonese opera troupe in the new stage of reform and opening up, and working with the Cantonese opera troupe to meet the new challenges after the institutional reform.
In 2009, the Shenzhen Cantonese Opera Troupe recreated the classic play "Returning to the People in the Night of Wind and Snow" to better adapt to the test of the market, and Feng Gangyi was obligated to play Wei Liansheng again. The rearrangement of classic plays, whether for the Cantonese opera troupe or for Feng Gangyi, is a new attempt to interpret Cantonese opera in the new era with new artistic techniques and new packaging forms. The rehearsal proved to be a success – in June 2011, a reporter from Reading Chuang/Shenzhen Business Daily traveled to Beijing with the Cantonese Opera Troupe to witness the miraculous moment when the new edition of "Returning from the Night of the Stormy Night" won nine awards at the Second National Theatre Culture Awards, including the "Classic Repertoire Award" and the "Performance Award".
Feng Gangyi's artistic ideas are not conservative, and he can perform both the classic version and the new version of "Returning to the People in the Wind and Snowy Night" to conform to the development of the times, which is an important reason for the evergreen of his artistic life. He came to me several times to talk about innovation and find new ways. We're currently working on a new play, The Legend of The East River, and he's looking for people everywhere to help us read the script, find a director, and make suggestions. Song Tao said, "Teacher Feng Gangyi not only pays attention to the new drama of the Cantonese opera troupe, but also takes special care and supports young actors, and never plays a big name, which can be described as an artist with both virtue and art, and is a representative figure of a generation of Cantonese opera." ”
(Reading/Shenzhen Business Daily reporter Qi Qi/Wen Hanmo/Photo)