Mandarin drama "Love! Chekhov premiered in April

Mandarin drama "Love! Chekhov premiered in April ——

Explore the eternal mystery of human beings and construct "love parallel time and space"

Known as the "father of modern theater", Chekhov was an outstanding representative of the Russian realist literary genre at the end of the 19th century, and drama was a dazzling pearl in his creative achievements. The first round of five performances will begin on April 14-18. Chekhov is based on Chekhov's three one-act comedies - "Stupid Bear", "Proposal" and "Wedding", and integrates his "Man in the Set", "Teasing", "The Bride", "About Love" and other novels, constructing classic stories from a contemporary perspective and a new narrative method, exploring the eternal life mystery of love.

"Stupid Bear" humorously portrays the process of a pair of men and women facing a sudden tornado of love, from panic and dodging to brave acceptance; "Proposal" shows the ironic quarrel and love between the elderly "leftover man" who came to propose and the older "leftover woman" who was proposed; "Wedding" is a story that takes place at a wedding banquet of a middle-class family in Russia, and due to the dislocation of the characters' identities, it triggers a series of absurd chain reactions, satirizing the "profitable" concept of marriage and love.

Drama "Fall in Love! Produced and performed by the National Theatre of China, Chekhov is translated by Tong Ning, director Cha Wenhao, adapted screenwriters Cha Wenhao and Liu Jinni, stage designer Xu Haidong, lighting design Huang Yi, starring Hou Yansong, Chang Yuhong, Jiang Jiaqi, Zhang Jie, Zhou Chuanjie, Xue Fei, She Nannan, etc. At a press conference held in Beijing a few days ago, Tian Qinxin, president of the National Theatre of China, attended with the main creative team of the play and shared their experiences and insights in creation.

Tian Qinxin said, "Fall in Love! "Chekhov", which was launched on the 160th anniversary of Chekhov's birth last year, as the first newly created play staged in 2021, is a new interpretation of Chekhov by the Chinese drama industry, and is also a sincere tribute by Chinese drama artists to Chekhov's "immortal great man". "The choice of Chekhov's drama embodies the creative concept of the Chinese dialect 'Chinese originality, world classic, experimental exploration'." Tian Qinxin said.

Tong Ning introduced that the peak period of Chekhov's writing was around the 1890s, which was the period when Russia entered the ranks of world powers and Russian literature and art began to flourish. Chekhov's works are closely related to the social environment of the time, including deep insights and reflections on the weaknesses of human nature, and also reveal the drawbacks that hinder people from obtaining a happy life. Chekhov lived in the 19th century, but his plays and ideas span time and space, accompanying us until now and into the future. ”

In Cha Wenhao's eyes, Chekhov, as a world-renowned playwright and "short story saint", is an "unparalleled artist", and he both cherishes the opportunity to direct Chekhov's works and feels pressure. Cha Wenhao believes that in order to eliminate Chekhov's unique style, it is necessary to find the symbolism of Chekhov in every line, every action and even every pause. "In the second creation, we use the technique of parallel cross-narrative, so that various highly distinctive characters are interspersed and integrated in the plot, forming a 'love parallel time and space' in Chekhov's literary world. In the end, the arcs of multiple groups of characters shine together, creating a gorgeous aurora of love on the stage. Cha Wenhao said, "Fall in love! "Chekhov" will let the audience appreciate a Chekhov who is wise, humorous, optimistic and warm in the mixture of tragedy and joy.

"Chekhov is one of the writers and dramatists I admire the most, his strokes are accurate, sharp and compassionate, his works are full of Russian romantic steadfastness, sadness with optimism and hope, ridicule with understanding and sympathy, and his soul that never dies is a precious treasure of human culture." Liu Jinni said, "Love! Chekhov deals with the eternal topic of humanity—love. "When we are troubled and confused about love, this play will make us find that even for Mr. Chekhov, who has a deep understanding of human nature, love is a difficult puzzle." 」

Hou Yansong, the winner of the "Plum Blossom Award", played multiple roles in the play, and he hoped to abandon the previous creative inertia, explore the characters with an attitude of "doing subtraction" in the performance, accurately grasp the measure of the performance, and strive for new breakthroughs. Chang Yuhong plays the role of "Popova" in the play, she feels that Chekhov's works are good at exploring human nature through the surface of life, which is endlessly evocative, and she hopes to show the multi-faceted nature of the character as much as possible, portray some of the character characteristics of the character to impress herself, and make it more rich in the texture of life.

Jiang Jiaqi plays Nadalia, she believes that this rehearsal is extremely challenging, to string together the three plays, while retaining Chekhov's original dramatic charm, but also to present to the audience with contemporary performance techniques, which requires the actors to be unified in their performance style and fluent in the rhythm of the play. Zhang Jie plays the groom Aprompov, who believes that the characteristics of this role are greedy for money, calculating, and pursuing a profitable marriage, and he hopes to make the audience feel the hypocrisy and vulgarity of the character by focusing on portraying these character traits. Zhou Chuanjie plays Smirnov, who believes that the "laughter" in Chekhov's popular comedy is gentle and bright, which is a kind of intelligent humor. Xue Fei plays Lomov, who said that the characters in "Marriage Proposal" are cute, Chekhov uses this to criticize the weaknesses of human nature, and the audience will examine themselves and take warnings while pitying and sympathizing with the characters. She Nannan plays Nastasia, who tries to profoundly present the ignorance, selfishness and arbitrariness of the life of the Russian landlords and citizens criticized by Chekhov in the stage space of the existing space, so that the audience can experience the joy of the heart in the play.

Author: Li Bo

Source: China Art News