On June 28, 1988, Ding Shi'e, a Shanghai opera performance artist and honorary president of shanghai shanghai theater, was sick with cancer and ineffective treatment, and bid farewell to the vast audience in Shanghai and the partners in the Shanghai opera circle, and drove away. During her serious illness, she wrote a passionate article entitled "Lifelong Pursuit, Unswerving Determination", she said: "After smashing the 'Gang of Four', the singing section of 'Education Tiger Rong' in "Chicken Feathers Fly to the Sky" was widely sung in the society, and my performance tasks followed, such as Jin Tangma in "The Battle of Jia Wu", Aunt Wu in "Zhengrong Years", female cadres in "Special Battlefield", Teacher Lin in "The Spit-on Man", and Ah Qingyi in "Ludang Tinder". What poured into my ears was laughter and applause, but I heard my own voice, I am over the age of flower armor, should be like the screen 'fade out', in the audience's memory fade, from fading to nothing, and let the young actors gradually enter the audience's impression, from light to thick, and finally replace me, surpass me. ”
Ding Shi'e's heartfelt last words made people can't help but cry in unison, but also sincerely respected her and missed her affectionately.
Ding Shi'e, formerly known as Pan Yonghua, was born in 1923 to a family of silk reeling workers. The poor child had long been in charge, and she began to lead her younger siblings to do housework at the age of six. There was a drama group near her house, and every time she went to the tiger stove to boil water and heard the sound of gongs and drums, she stopped. One day an uncle took her to see the first play, and after the play, she ran to the drama team and begged, "I want to sing the opera too." One of the artists in the drama team said to her: "Little girl, sing bitter wow, go back and ask your adults if they are willing." Ding Shi'e really asked when she returned home, who knew that her mother was angry and blue in the face: "The afterlife of singing opera cannot be cast into the human body." "Resolutely not to let my daughter sing." After some days, a distant relative took her to see Shenqu's "White Rabbit", and the local people watched local dramas very kindly, and since then she has been fascinated by Shenqu. In 1932, when her mother died of illness, she was to be sent to a family to be a child bride, and she cried and shouted: "I want to sing opera, not to be a child bride." Thanks to the kind aunt who took out 50 pieces of ocean: "This little one belongs to me, I am the master, let Yi go to learn drama." In 1933, when she was nine years old, she went to the Shenqu class to study art from Teacher Ding Wan'e, who performed "The Book of the White Rabbit", and Teacher Ding named her Ding Shi'e, saying: "There are two meanings for taking this stage name: First, Nong is my E; second, there is a famous Sun Shi'e in the Shenqu circle, and I hope that Nong will hang a neon sign like Yi in the future." ”
Ding Shi'e studied art at Teacher Ding Wan'e's home for eight years, helped teachers for one year, and for nine years, walked out of Teacher Ding's house, walked into the Oriental Bookstore on the second floor of the Oriental Hotel (now shanghai Workers' Cultural Palace), and became a member of the Mingying Troupe led by Shi Xiaoying. In early 1943, Ding Shi'e entered the Shijia class and performed at the Xindu Theater (now the first food store in Shanghai). Soon, Shi Jiaban launched a new drama "Women's Singles Gang", which is written that after Shanghai became an "isolated island", the Japanese and traitors ruled the materials, and the people were in deep trouble, in order to survive, many people were forced to embark on the dangerous road of running a single gang. The life experience of the heroine Shu Lijuan in the play is the epitome of the society at that time, and the ordinary people living at the bottom of the "isolated island" feel kind to this play, and have deep sympathy for the running single gang, and the play is in line with the trend of the times, conforms to the people's hearts, and is warmly welcomed by the audience. Ding Shi'e starred in "Women's Singles Gang", which was the first play in which she picked up the beams after she was full of teachers, became her famous work, became a popular play on the Stage of Shanghai Opera, and caused a sensation on the beach.
Speaking of Shanghai opera, farmers on the outskirts of Shanghai still habitually call Shanghai opera "Bentan" to this day. Originally, Shanghai opera originated from the oral popular mountain songs and minor tunes of rural farmers near Shanghai. However, since Shanghai opera entered the city, its contact with farmers has gradually decreased. "Don't forget the farmer when eating, and the daughter keeps going to her mother's house." Ding Shi'e advocated the "Shanghai Opera Back to Mother's Home" activity, which was positively responded to by the sister Shanghai Opera Troupe.
I remember that on New Year's Day in the 1960s, the Shanghai People's Shanghai Opera Troupe formed a performance team and went to Fengxi Township, a northern suburb of Shanghai, to deliver plays to the villagers. Ding Shi'e and Xie Hongyuan sang the fragment of "Plucking Orchids", and the peasants discussed: "Isn't the female comrade who sang "Plucking Orchids' a 'little moth'?" "It's her, the 'little moth' has come back to her mother's house this morning, you see, there is a 'Zhang Carpenter' behind her!" The farmers talked about their favorite actors in a burst of laughter.
Many Shanghai opera audiences will not forget the many images that Ding Shi'e has created on the stage for decades.
During the performance of "Returning to Mother's Home", the Shanghai Opera Troupe also visited the agricultural society to solicit the opinions of the peasants after watching the performance. A peasant said: "You are all good, that is, the gesture of picking cotton on the stage is not right, you are using one hand to grasp the east and the west, you can't pick the cotton in this way, according to your method of picking, the shell is picked together with the cotton, then it will be troublesome." ”
At the home of the director of the Fengxi Township Alliance Agricultural Cooperative, Shen Changgen, deputy director of the group, after entertaining the actors to sit down, stood up and spoke: "Shanghai opera is rarely seen here, production tasks are busy, and even fewer members go to the city to see plays. Today, as soon as you come to our company, it is really rare, so I asked the actors and comrades to sing one. The peasants shouted and clapped, the house was already densely packed, but the peasants outside the door still wanted to squeeze inside. The Shanghai opera troupe watched such a warm scene, decided to go to the open space outside the house to sing, sing without an instrument, find a piece of bamboo and a wooden stick without a drum board, you can make a board, Ding Is'e, Xiang Peiling sang "Female Watching the Lamp".
The performance of "Shanghai Opera Back to Mother's Home" once again made Ding Shi'e realize how important it is to act well, shape characters, familiarize yourself with life, experience life, and learn about life. If you are not familiar with life, it is impossible to play a character by assumption, and it is impossible to be accepted by the audience. This reminded her of 1955, based on the film of the same name adapted to perform "Cuigang Red Flag", the audience did not respond well, the main reason is that when adapting the script, emphasizing the great reform, ignoring the basic characteristics of Shanghai opera, the audience commented: "Why is Shanghai opera not like Shanghai opera, drama is not like drama, is it the wrong ticket, go to the wrong theater?" Ding Shi'e realized that in order to act well, to be accepted by the audience, it must have a life, it must start from the characters, and it must conform to the basic characteristics and style of the drama, and if you do not have these necessary conditions, you will lose the audience.
Ding Shi'e has played various roles such as "Tong Zi Sheng Dan", Hua Dan, Zheng Dan, Lao Dan and so on in her lifetime, she can study hard in art, is good at absorbing the performance methods of movies and dramas, and is known for her delicacy and sincerity. Her singing voice is gentle, beautiful and colorful, good at expressing the inner feelings of the characters, and she is a family of her own, known as "Ding Pai". Among the many characters she has created, ah Qingyi, who she played in "Ludang Tinder", can be regarded as the peak of the stage art image.
In shaping the artistic image of this teahouse owner lady and an underground party liaison officer, Ding Shi'e grasped the main bone of the character, and the performance of Ah Qing's sister-in-law was not humble, tepid, pay attention to proportions, and just right. Her handling of the details of "Wisdom Fighting" is vivid and delicate. When Hu Chuankui introduced Ah Qingyi to Diao Deyi, she obviously felt Diao Deyi's distrust, so she stood still, only looked at it casually with her eyes, looked up and down slightly, and in the use of eyes in a moment, fully demonstrated Ah Qingyi's alertness and calm generosity. The trio designed in "Wisdom Fight", Ding Isie's sister-in-law Ah Qing, played by Ding Shi'e, sings between her and Diao Deyi and Hu Chuankui with her wit and composure, using the contradiction to skillfully maneuver and defeat the active mood of the enemy.
Ding Shi'e's singing voice is known for its beautiful and varied, quiet and sweet voice, and when she uses the "anti-yin and yang" tune, she perfectly shows the characteristics of her lyrical singing voice. [Anti-Yin-Yang] tune has narrative and lyrical functions, which can express both mourning and agitation. Although she uses "anti-yin and yang" in the "memories" of "Luohan Qian", the prosperity in "Thunderstorm", and the singing of Jin Tangma in "The Battle of Jiawu", although they all use "anti-yin and yang", they have different treatments. The little moth recalls, starting with the [tablet], gradually recalling the sad scenes of the past through the Arhat money held in his hand, thinking about the pain, and gradually turning from calm to undulating and rushing. In the duet between Fangyi and Zhou Ping, she wants to save Zhou Ping's feelings and tell her heart, which is completely different from the memories of the little moth. In JinTang's mother's "Sacrifice to the Sea", she denounces the atrocities of the Japanese Kou and expresses the pain of losing her father and son with the passion of the accusation. Ding Shi'e starts from the characters, grasps the prescribed situation, sings the drama and sings the love, moves the people with emotion, and sings the heart with true feelings.
In August 1985, the Shanghai Shanghai Theater staged the modern drama "Fugitive". Describes a play in which a detainee escapes, under the educational inspiration of friends, society, and correctional staff, repents. After the performance, the social response was enthusiastic. After Comrade Chen Pixian, who was in charge of political and legal work at the central authorities at the time, learned about the plot, he immediately contacted Comrade Ma Wanli, who was in charge of political and legal work in Qinghai Province, and suggested that the crew of the Shanghai Shanghai Theater's "Fugitives" be sent to the Qinghai Re-education Through Labor Farm to perform for the correctional personnel and re-education through labor personnel.
Ding Shi'e accepted this mission and was obliged to lead the "Fugitive" crew to Xining, Qinghai immediately. On the day of the performance, many prisoners in the audience were Shanghai prisoners, they had seen dramas, familiar with the little moth played by Ding Shi'e, and now they met, deeply moved by the plot of "Fugitive", many prisoners were in tears, bowed their heads and sobbed, it was remorse, inspiration, excitement, it was difficult to explain. The show was a great success.
During the performance in Xining, Ding Shi'e visited the prison where the Shanghai prisoners were being held, learned about their performance during their sentences in Qinghai, and she looked at the places where the prisoners lived one by one and asked them about their living conditions and understanding of the crime.
After the xining performance, Ding Shi'e also drove to the Qinghai Lake Re-education Through Labor Farm, which is 1200 kilometers away from Xining, bringing the warmth and expectations of the Shanghai people to the re-education through labor personnel.
Ding Shi'e, "lifelong pursuit" of the perfection of stage art; "unswerving" to be a qualified actor. (This article was originally published in the 9th issue of Shanghai Caifeng magazine in 2016.)