Located on the coast of the East China Sea, Ninghai, Zhejiang Province, has a long history and rich products, which is not only a well-known tourist coordinate in the Yangtze River Delta, but also the hometown of Roushi, a writer, revolutionary and one of the "Five Martyrs of the Left Alliance".
In 1960, Ninghai renovated the former residence of Roushi, which is now a patriotic base in Zhejiang Province, as well as Roushi Road and Roushi Middle School, and there are traces of revolutionary martyrs everywhere.
The Shanghai opera "Early Spring", which was original by Shanghai Wenhui Shanghai Opera Troupe and vividly shows the soft stone image of "taking the pen as the spear and devoting itself to the revolution", will be unveiled at the Ninghai International Convention and Exhibition Center Theater tomorrow night, and thus open the curtain of "2021 Shanghai Excellent Private Theater Troupe Red Theme Drama to the Yangtze River Delta Publicity and Promotion Tour". Mr. Roushi's descendant and grandson Zhao Weimin also came to the scene and paid direct tribute to the hard work of the creators and performers of the script.
Trace the roots, remember the martyrs, and find inspiration for the creation of red themes
Coinciding with the centenary of the founding of the Party, "red" is the theme color of this year's tour. In the past year, the Shanghai private academy group has created a number of original main theme works with both market and reputation, which are well received by the audience. The New Dongyuan Shanghai Opera Troupe gathered an excellent creative team, and according to the historical background, created a large-scale original modern Shanghai opera "Flying Over the Seventh Bridge", and at the same time, rearranged the classic red Shanghai opera "Ludang Tinder" (selection).
"Flying Over the Seventh Bridge" is based on the historical materials of Qibao Town and the "Seven Bridge" bunker, and at the same time exerts artistic imagination to construct the performance in a smooth and beautiful scene with artistic tension. The work focuses on the inner world of the patriotic businesswoman Zhao Chunmei, showing that in the months when the Liberation War was gradually advancing to Shanghai, she gradually grew from an ordinary cotton merchant who did not care about the disputes of the world to a progressive woman who loved the party and the country and understood the general situation. Since its premiere at the end of June, the work has won the love and pursuit of the majority of opera fans, and has successively appeared in major professional theaters such as Huiyin Theater, Poly Shanghai City Theater, Wanping Theater, and Tiantou Yifu Stage.
"The heroine of this play, Zhao Chunmei, is a native of Nantong," said Shen Huiqin, head of the New Dongyuan Shanghai Opera Troupe, "it is of special significance to carry out a 'root-seeking' trip on the occasion of the Yangtze River Delta performance, visit the place where the story takes place, and deliver the good drama to the doorstep of the local people." It is reported that on November 8, "Flying Over the Seventh Bridge" will first go to the Taicang Grand Theater to perform, and then leave for Nantong to start the tour. At the same time, another play of the New Dongyuan Shanghai Opera Troupe, "Ludang Tinder", will also return to Shajiabang and debut at the Changshu Poly Grand Theater.
"The Yangtze River Delta region has always been a rich mine containing the historical themes of the Red Revolution, and for the founding of New China, many stories of singing and weeping have occurred in this land." Wei Zhi, president of the Shanghai Performance Industry Association, said, "Returning to the hometown of the revolutionary martyrs to perform is not only to trace the roots and remember the martyrs, but also to set out again for the Shanghai private academy troupe to find inspiration for the creation of the red theme." ”
In view of the fact that the epidemic prevention work is still the first, the scale of the publicity tour to the Yangtze River Delta this year has been reduced, and the number of people has been controlled. Four outstanding troupes and five red plays are only toured in Ninghai, Zhejiang and Changshu and Taicang in Jiangsu Province, with an exhibition period of nearly two weeks.
Bring excellent repertoire, but also bring useful experience, so that the Yangtze River Delta performing arts work together
In recent years, with the support of government policies and funds and the help of forces from all walks of life, Shanghai private academies and groups have made great progress, with distinctive characteristics such as diverse categories, flexible mechanisms and emphasis on creation, and have become an important force for Shanghai's prosperity in literary and artistic creation and helping the construction of the "Shanghai culture" brand. According to statistics from the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, there are 400 private theater troupes in Shanghai, of which 20 to 30 are leading troupes, and the annual number of performances accounts for half of the market.
Seeking survival based on the market and strengthening creation as the basis for survival has become a significant feature of the Shanghai private academy group. In the past year, under the background of the national performance market is still affected by the epidemic, the box office of Shanghai Happy Twist Annual Performance has reached more than 60 million yuan, and a new space for resident performances has been opened, and "Crazy Barbershop" with "Twist Style" has achieved a good result of 4 million yuan a month, and the market response is enthusiastic. Wenhui Shanghai Opera Troupe "raises performances with performances", with a new work a year, accumulating more than 10 newly created plays.
Founded 20 years ago, the Shanghai Qinyuan Shanghai Opera Troupe insists on serving the grassroots and serving the rural areas as the focus of its work, and almost all the villages and villages on the outskirts of Shanghai have left their footprints. "Distant Mother's Road", "51 Keys", "Pomegranate Red" three "Chinese good people" stories, let the audience applaud continuously.
This is a "Shanghai opera light cavalry", not only to stand on the stage of commercial performances, but also to deliver performances at the doorstep of the people, and to meet the cultural distribution needs of nearly 200 grass-roots units in the city every year. Once, in the hot summer, the crew performed 45 consecutive "Relatives", fearless of the heat and heat, which deeply touched the hearts of the audience. During a performance in Guanghui Village, Xuanqiao Town, Pudong, there was a sudden rain, and nearly a thousand seats under the stage were still full.
"318 performances in 2020 and 460 performances in 2019," said Wang Qin, head of the Qinyuan Shanghai Opera Troupe, who developed in the fierce market competition, relying on a "diligent" word, achieved a double harvest of social effects and economic benefits, and has formed a unique "Qinyuan model".
Shanghai Acor Art Troupe has always insisted on combining artistic creation with social welfare and the main theme. The anti-Japanese theme suspense drama "Desperate Situation" debuted on the platform of "Learning to Strengthen the Country" and became a vivid story theme for the study and education of the "Four Histories". "Art is constantly improving, the audience's aesthetic is also constantly changing, in order to adapt to these changes, we have not stood still, but have been trying to innovate," said Sun Feng, director of the Anke Art Troupe, such as the drama "Desperate Situation", which tells the story of shanghai's civilian heroes' anti-war war, although the theme is not novel, but for the first time in the anti-war drama to use the suspense drama method, but also the performance method of the three forks of Chinese opera into the stage performance, "The facts have proved that such innovation is successful and recognized by the audience." ”
"Grasping creation in advance and paying attention to the development of ecological peacebuilding platforms, the experience from Shanghai private academies and groups provides a good perspective for our creation, guidance, support mechanism, and market-oriented operation." Shi Haipin, deputy director of the marketing department of the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, said.
"Shanghai private theater troupe is very well-known in the country," Jin Baosheng, executive vice president of the Zhejiang Performance Industry Association, sighed, "from 2020 to 2021, Shanghai private theater troupe has created as many as 50 plays, of which 14 have won awards, developed particularly well, and strongly entered the mainstream market of performances." "There are a lot of private theater troupes in Zhejiang, there are more than 200 in Taizhou alone, but there is a big gap between quality and Shanghai, and improving the quality of performances and improving creative ability is a top priority," he hoped, the Shanghai Performance Industry Association can "pass on the scriptures and send treasures" to Zhejiang.
The Yangtze River Delta region is one of the regions with the most dynamic, open and innovative ability in China's economy, and it is also one of the most prosperous, active and fastest growing regions for cultural and performing arts activities. "The performance market in the Yangtze River Delta has always been interconnected," Wei Zhi issued an invitation to various cultural and performing arts units in the Yangtze River Delta, working together to develop into a "weather vane" for the development trend of the national performance market.
Stills from the Shanghai Performance Industry Association
Author: Tong Weijing
Edit: Jiang Fang