The Paper's reporter Pan Yu
The whole stage is white, three huge "white walls" open and close with the plot, the red border appears on the stage like a boundary, the actors wear various colors of white tone costumes, supplemented by cinnabar, crimson, daisy, crow blue and other colors, on the minimalist stage, sometimes there are flying "falling red", or exquisite wooden palanquins, carved tables and chairs embellished, pure, is "white and the earth is really clean".
The masterpiece of classical Chinese literature "Dream of the Red Chamber" was adapted into a drama by the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center and presented on the stage in the form of two performances, which seems to be the first attempt of the Chinese drama industry. Prior to this, the film and television dramas and Yue opera versions of "Dream of the Red Chamber" were once the topic works and artistic benchmarks of an era.
"Dream of the Red Chamber" upper "Spring and Summer Wind and Moon Prosperity" poster
On September 2, the upper part of "Dream of the Red Chamber", "Spring and Summer, Prosperous wind and moon", was first premiered at the Shangshu Art Theater. On September 3, the lower part of "Autumn and Winter, Eating Birds Returns" continued to appear. The full performance lasts about 6 hours, and in the upcoming weekend, this "Dream of the Red Chamber" will be performed in one day. The audience's enthusiasm for "Dream of the Red Chamber" is high, and the interest in the whole performance is even stronger. It is reported that the full performance tickets have been sold out.
"Dream of the Red Chamber" lower part of the "Autumn winter • eat all the birds return" poster
The whole performance was in the midst of extreme prosperity, prosperity, wealth and swelling, and made a contemporary aesthetic and interpretation of "Dream of the Red Chamber". The 6-hour performance is basically based on the original work, but a synthesis, condensation and reorganization of the original storyline, and a reading and interpretation of what is thought and thought from the perspective of contemporary people.
The whole drama breaks the linear time and space in the narrative, so that time and space can intersect at any time. In the original work, the two major families, the friendship of the three people of Bao Daichao, and the fate of the twelve golden noodles and sentient beings are almost all presented, and many well-known fragments and scenes of the audience have been interpreted. However, the characters in the play are constantly changing, the actors jump in and out, and when they interpret the people in the play, they will be judged and considered as a communication with contemporary audiences.
According to the words of screenwriter Yu Rongjun, this is a perspective of looking down on all sentient beings from a historical point of view, hoping that the creators and the audience will "stand in mid-air" to re-examine the novel "Dream of the Red Chamber". In the theater, this way of narration will always remind the audience how to intervene and how to evacuate, which is also the inspiration brought to us by traditional Chinese opera.
Stills from the drama "Dream of the Red Chamber" (part I, Spring and Summer, Prosperous Wind and Moon).
Putting such a well-known classic work on the stage is undoubtedly a great challenge for all creators. In this regard, Yu Rongjun said that the presentation of "Dream of the Red Chamber" on the drama stage may have been thought of by many people, but it is almost impossible to present it in the form of a whole book. This is a very meaningful challenge, we interpret the classics through the form of drama, in order to show our own perspective and uniqueness.
Director Cao Yan is a professor at the Central Academy of Drama, has been a visiting scholar in the United States, and has also created many opera works, and has been committed to exploring the collision and integration of Eastern and Western theater arts. In this "Dream of the Red Chamber", the collision of East and West, tradition and contemporary, has become a very significant feature of the work.
Cao Yan believes that the drama "Dream of the Red Chamber" is a very contemporary creative practice, and the text of screenwriter Yu Rongjun is a modern expression of pursuing classical themes in today's context. The direction of the drama "Dream of the Red Chamber" is to try to open the spiritual world of "Dream of the Red Chamber", establish expressive psychological time and space in the theater, and show the spiritual map of all sentient beings.
As a huge production, even if it is condensed in 6 hours, the drama "Dream of the Red Chamber" is still a big production. There are a total of 28 actors in the whole drama, including Chen Shan who plays Baoyu, Fu Yawen who plays Daiyu, Li Li in Baochao, Ding Meiting in Wang Xifeng, Tian Shui in Jia Mu, Wen Yang in Liu Grandma, etc., all of whom are middle-aged and young actors who are on the stage, and many of them have played several roles.
In order to interpret this classic masterpiece, the crew conducted two workshops last year and at the beginning of this year, and began to conduct more than two months of intense rehearsals day and night since June. The actors in the play have previously done a lot of opera and modern dance training. Cao Yan said that the training of opera and modern dance is to find and construct a performance form suitable for the drama "Dream of the Red Chamber". "Dream of the Red Chamber" needs classical charm. Opera has a very strict procedural nature, and the addition of modern dance can break the program to a certain extent, so that the catharsis and expression of emotions are more free, and finally into the performance mode of drama.
Stills from the drama "Dream of the Red Chamber" (part II, Autumn and Winter, Eating Birds).
The visual presentation of the drama "Dream of the Red Chamber" is particularly impressive. The stage design is by Liu Xinglin, and the whole stage is based on white, minimalist and pure, contemporary and classical. Liu Xinglin said that "the white expanse of the earth is really clean" is not only the end of the story, but also means that there is and is not in the world, and it is good to have a cycle of repetition, which is also the concept and visual theme of stage design. In the white stage set, the lighting design Tan Hua also uses its lighting language to present a metaphor like a dream.
All the costumes of the characters in the play are made of white, and the modern and simple cuts and designs are based on the classical Chinese costumes. Traditional Chinese fabrics such as silk and ramie are used extensively in the play, and various whites such as tea white, moon white, tooth white, and silk color are used to reflect the layers. Costume designer Yang Donglin said that "no scale" is his aesthetic tone setting for this character modeling creation. I also hope that this version of "Dream of the Red Chamber" has its unique aesthetic world view and leads the audience to think about how we should face this pale and powerless sense of fatalism.
It is worth mentioning that the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center has designed a set of exquisite peripheral cultural creations for this "Dream of the Red Chamber", including ticket holders, hand-painted coloring books and aromatherapy gift boxes, etc. The contemporary design of the Chinese style has made many audiences fall in love with it, and they have bought it between watching the drama. The contemporary presentation on top of Chinese aesthetics also extends from stage creation to the periphery.
Editor-in-charge: Cheng Yu
Proofreader: Zhang Liangliang