"The New Language of the World: Dream Chicken"
"Erxu Ji Crying Qin"
Peach Blossom Fan
"The World Speaks a New Language: Breaking the Game"
◎ Zhang Zhiwei
In 2011, Shi Xiaomei Studio, which focuses on the collation and excavation of traditional Kunqu opera repertoire, was officially established. In 2013, the brand of "Spring Breeze on the Sky", which relies on Shi Xiaomei Studio, came into being. As a Kunqu opera creation team relying on the Kunqu Opera House of Jiangsu Performing Arts Group, they have created a number of Kunqu opera works with unique styles in the nearly ten years of Kunqu opera creation, from the whole book "Peach Blossom Fan", "Peony Pavilion", "Bai Luo Shirt", to "One Play, Two Looks" and "Peach Blossom Fan", to "Guantu", "Crying Qin", "Dream of the Red Chamber", "The New Language of the World" and other original folding plays. As China's first Kunqu opera brand, "Spring Breeze on the Sky" has gradually explored the formation of a stage style with a black background curtain and a table and two chairs, and established a modern aesthetic character modeled by the traditional performance of Kunqu opera. In October 2021, after a two-year absence, "Spring Breeze on the Sky" met with the Beijing audience again.
Interlocutors: Shi Xiaomei, Kunqu opera performance artist, Gong Xiaosheng, Shi Chengshen Chuanzhi, Zhou Chuanying, Yu Zhenfei; winner of Plum Blossom Award and Wenhua Award.
With the fake real "Peach Blossom Fan" because of the drama "Bai Luo Shirt"
Beiqing Art Review: My interest in "Spring Breeze on the Sky" comes from the performance of "Peach Blossom Fan" by you and the Kun Theatre of Jiangsu Performing Arts Group, which was a performance at Peking University in 2017. I think back, what really moved me at that time was not entirely because of Kong Shangren's legendary "Peach Blossom Fan", but because of the presentation of your version of the Kunqu opera "Peach Blossom Fan", including some insignificant changes to the classic. I once saw a report that when you and Teacher Zhang Hong created "Peach Blossom Fan Inscription Painting" 30 years ago, the experts did not suspect that it was an old drama that was handed down, and later you told everyone that it was actually you who pinched it.
Shi Xiaomei: We were young at that time, and we were in awe of the origami play, and we felt that the origami play should have been passed down by Mr. Shi, and we had concerns about pinching the play ourselves. So we decided to do it first, and it was recognized by everyone. But some people also asked for confusion: why haven't you seen this old play before? Later, Xu Chengbei, a teacher at the China Academy of Arts, learned about the creation process of our "Inscription Painting" from Teacher Wu Baizuo in Nanjing, so he wrote an article revealing the creation of our pinch drama.
In fact, the play "Peach Blossom Fan" was lost at the end of the Qing Dynasty for various reasons, and no one in the contemporary era has ever seen the performance of the "Peach Blossom Fan" folding play. We have no reference basis when creating, and the first thing that needs to be solved is the problem of the return of Hou Chaozong in "Peach Blossom Fan". We want to work with the two professions of Towel Sheng and Xiao Guansheng, who are more dashing and elegant, and Hou Chaozong is a person in the political whirlpool, and should reveal some official spirit on top of the temperament of pure literati, and the combination of the two professions may be more plump. The final presentation also proves that we are right.
The creation of Kunqu opera needs to be appropriate to the characters, the characters must have a psychological structure, just singing is not enough, the delicate grasp of the characters under the industry is the key, such as Lü Bu and Liu Mengmei's method of throwing water sleeves is different.
Beiqing Art Review: The performance of Kunqu opera is closely combined with literature, which may be the characteristics and advantages of Kunqu opera.
Shi Xiaomei: Yes, it is the literary nature that determines the delicate performance of Kunqu opera and the actor's grasp of the characters. I think that literary nature can be said to be the first step and a key step in the development of Kunqu opera.
Beiqing Art Review: In your eyes, can "Peach Blossom Fan Inscription Painting" reach a god-like appearance with the old bone drama taught by the teacher?
Shi Xiaomei: Mr. Shen Chuanzhi, Mr. Zhou Chuanying, and Mr. Yu Zhenfei are my three teachers, and I have learned a lot from them. When I pinched this play, it was not accurate to say that there was no basis, and I relied on the old play that the three gentlemen had taught me before. What kind of body and what kind of scheduling Hou Chaozong should use, I dug out from the old play, so this play is very similar to the old folding play, and even has the feeling of being fake and real.
However, there must be an element of change in this. Especially in the singing voice, there is a main cavity called "Pouring Cup Jade Furong", I did not play cards according to the convention, but used the method of qi sound when singing to the point of love, which is not found in traditional Kunqu singing. However, I think that at this moment, the emotions of the characters are in place, and the emotions of the audience can be completely pulled by the singers' singing. After this pinch play, I came up with an experience: singing and playing, singing is the first. The voice should not only open widely without closing, close and sing, the audience will also be absorbed by you, which is also a different kind of charm.
In the future creation, I will also look for the appropriate point to use this method. As for the workmanship and other aspects, I still follow the norms of the Kunqu tradition.
Beiqing Art Review: "Inscription Painting" is tailor-made for you by Teacher Zhang Hong, what benefits do you think is this idea of setting up a drama according to people?
Shi Xiaomei: Write a play for an actor! This is very necessary for opera. As I was growing up, I realized the fact that if an actor could meet a good screenwriter to write a play for him, it would be a great blessing for an actor. The screenwriter knows where your strengths and weaknesses are, and then embedded your performance personality and voice characteristics in the play. For example, when creating "White Luo Shirt", Teacher Zhang Hong combined my conditions and designed a large number of white mouths to maximize my strengths.
"Visiting Dai" is poetic
"Breaking the Game" is a good fit
Beiqing Art Review: Can pinching plays and writing plays for actors be said to be the basic creative mode of Jiangsu's "Provincial Kun"?
Shi Xiaomei: If we go back to the first generation of actor Zhang Jiqing of "Provincial Kun", it is actually such a creative model. The gentlemen passed on to her "Peony Pavilion, Garden Dream" and "Rotten Keshan Dream", in addition to "Garden Dream", they also tailored "Dream Hunting, Photography and Leaving the Soul"; because her "Dream" was very, very good, and "Zhu Maichen Divorced Wife" was tailor-made for her. As a junior, we are also learning from the creative experience of Zhang Jiqing's generation of actors. When I created the whole book of "Peony Pavilion", "Picking Up Paintings and Calling Paintings" was taught to me by the teacher, and we pinched out "Youyi, Meditation Oath and Rejuvenation" under the core of this folding play. Although we are expanding outwards, the tone of the characters completely follows the old drama "Picking Up Paintings and Calling Paintings".
This method of creation can be said to be the tradition of our "provincial Kun", and it is also a unique method. That is to say, the old drama that has been handed down we keep the original appearance, extend outward under the core of this old play, forming a unified whole, and the newly pinched part and the appearance of the old play are inseparable from each other.
Beiqing Art Review: How are the artistic standards of pinching opera set?
Shi Xiaomei: The highest standard of pinch play is that there is no end, which depends on where your aesthetic height is, and the aesthetic height determines the height of pinch play. Life experience is changing, aesthetics will also change, and the pinched drama may continue to improve.
Beiqing Art Review: This time the "World Speaks New Language" origami drama series, you appear as a director and a storyteller, right?
Shi Xiaomei: Pinching a play is to pinch myself, saying that the play is what I tell others, I need to use my creative experience according to the conditions of the actor, and the creativity of the actor is also involved, which is the joint creation of me and the actor.
Our origami plays involve different family trades, and can be performed independently, and need to be played by the teachers of the corresponding professions, which must have a team of storytellers, and the director needs to coordinate to ensure the consistency of the overall aesthetic style. In the general sense, the director is the leader of the actors, lighting, stage, costumes and other aspects, our plays do not have large productions, and my directorial duties are completely completely completed under the discourse system of the performance.
Beiqing Art Review: Which one are you most satisfied with in the folding play "The New Language of the World"?
Shi Xiaomei: In the eight folding plays performed by Peking University this time, I think "Visiting Dai" is the best, a small student, a small flower face, a wang huizhi in a red cloak, and a white-clothed head, which constitute a painting and are full of reverie poetry. It is both virtual and real, and the "real" lies in the actor's singing and can stimulate the audience's imagination; the "virtual" has no plot in this play itself, that is, the sentiment of the pedestrians.
"Breaking the Game" I am also very satisfied, a big crown student should work, a small crown student should work, both are life lines, creating the beauty of difference in "the same". On the stage, Xie An, played by Zhou Xin, and Xi Chao, played by Shi Xiaming, move quietly, one is convergent, the other is crazy, and the confrontation between the two is hidden between movement and static, and the contrast of contrast forms an ornamental. When Zhou Xin sat in the chair, there was no way to produce the dynamic performance of traditional Kunqu opera with songs and dances, and completely expanded the performance possibility through the upper body, resulting in a different dynamic beauty; when he stood up, the movements of the two were consistent, coordinated, and tacit, making them very cp on the stage, and then they had to admire the beauty of Kunqu. In fact, in the past, using a "beauty" word to describe Kunqu opera was too thin, and our play was to use the performance of Kunqu opera, the scheduling of Kunqu opera, the family business of Kunqu opera, and other aspects to specifically tell the audience what is the beauty of Kunqu.
I believe that our work will be better, the actors at different ages, different states, will summarize the characters, their own performances, they will move in a higher direction. Art is endless, learning is endless, it is really so.
Beiqing Art Review: It can be seen that the "World Speaks New Language" origami drama series integrates many modern aesthetic factors.
Shi Xiaomei: In the "World Speaks a New Language" series, we have made some new attempts. When I created "Peach Blossom Fan Inscription Painting", I still took it from the old play and from the existing warehouse. In the creation of "The New Language of the World", we not only take it from the warehouse, but also have new means to supplement the deficiencies in the warehouse, which is to integrate the thinking of modern people.
The folding drama is inexhaustible
Can't play "Nankun demeanor"
Beiqing Art Review: I think that the creation of "Spring Breeze on the Heavens" and even the "Provincial Kun" in Jiangsu is inseparable from a kind of folding drama thinking, that is, it can be taken out alone, and it can be staged in the whole book, this kind of creative thinking was identified at the beginning, or did you gradually establish it in your Kunqu career?
Shi Xiaomei: Only the folding drama can stay, which is a problem that I realized when I studied drama. When I was young, I had a teacher teach me that the folding play is an inexhaustible treasure, and I will definitely benefit from it in the future. Indeed, when we see the "Peony Pavilion" that has been staged today, the audience's favorite thing to watch is still the most famous folding plays. Therefore, when we created "Peach Blossom Fan", we also created it with the thinking of folding drama, and finally staged in parallel with the whole book "Peach Blossom Fan" and "One Play, Two Looks" "Peach Blossom Fan". "Dream of the Red Chamber" created by "Provincial Kun" is also such an idea. I think that this kind of thinking of the folding play, or the creation method of connecting the whole play with the folding play, is our increasingly firm belief in the past thirty years, and at the same time, it is actually inseparable from the taste of today's audience.
Beiqing Art Review: The thinking of origami drama is not aimed at telling stories, but with performance as the core, can it be said?
Shi Xiaomei: The folding play is very particular about the details of the performance, just one or two actors performing on the stage, relying on what to attract the audience? It depends on the performance of the actors. Therefore, the thinking of the creation of the origami play is naturally based on the actor as the core.
Beiqing Art Review: Shi Xiaomei Studio and the works of "Spring Breeze on the Sky" have a team of storytellers with you as the core, what is the core of the brand's aesthetic style and creative philosophy?
Shi Xiaomei: Founded in 2013, "Spring Breeze on the Sky" is closely linked to Shi Xiaomei's studio, and it should be said that our team's understanding of art, the direction of art, and the aesthetics of art are all consistent, so it is possible to become a team. Ten years we have always been moving forward, the 1991 version of "Peach Blossom Fan" still has a stage set, as well as a green fan, from 2013 to now, the performance under the "Spring Breeze on the Sky" brand is a black background, so the purpose of this processing is to highlight the actors, the opera stage is a stage to see the actors. Therefore, "Spring Breeze on the Sky" does not advocate large-scale production, which is also a style that we will continue in the future, and we believe that this is the most advanced presentation of the Kunqu opera stage.
Beiqing Art Review: "Spring Breeze on the Sky" has now become a very loud Kunqu brand, the actors of Jiangsu "Provincial Kun" have basically formed an intergenerational inheritance, a group of young actors have emerged, and the four words of "Nankun Demeanor" have also become the label of "Provincial Kun". So, what exactly is "Nankun demeanor", and can this be regarded as the unique style of Jiangsu's "Provincial Kun"?
Shi Xiaomei: I think it refers to a kind of singing norm. Kunqu opera is very exquisite, singing should be particularly exquisite, such as into the sound of words, Zhongzhou rhyme, etc., to have the taste of Kunqu opera itself, at the same time the performance should also be delicate, can not let go of every detail that can be played by the actor. "Nankun demeanor" is not only our starting point, but also the goal we set for ourselves, and it is also the true appearance of Kunqu in the hearts of our "Provincial Kunqu" Kunqu people.
Fix the old as old
Re-establish the old as new
Beiqing Art Review: What do you think of innovation and creation?
Shi Xiaomei: I am not an absolutely conservative person, people live in the present, we must accept new things, we must have a certain degree of innovation, but I think the steps can not be too big. What I acted must be different from what my teacher did, and this is the space for innovation. It's just that innovation must be carried out on the basis of tradition, and without tradition, innovation is wishful thinking. We have been "spring breeze on the sky" for ten years, not from the beginning is to perform new creations, but from the "Peony Pavilion", "Bai Luo Shirt" these traditional dramas that have been sorted out and adapted step by step, then the whole new as the old "Peach Blossom Fan", and then in 2017, there was "one play and two looks" "Peach Blossom Fan", with "The World Speaks New Language" folding play and so on. In terms of stage, we used to have sets, and now we have black backgrounds, which are all styles that are formed step by step. Therefore, for the Kunqu people, slow down and walk step by step, instead of walking in a hurry and making a fuss, is my idea.
Beiqing Art Review: Recently, Jiangsu "Provincial Kun" has created three modern plays in succession, do you think that Kunqu modern opera is suitable for the creation method of pinching opera?
Shi Xiaomei: Modern drama should also be taken from tradition, and the reason why the modern drama of "Provincial Kun" has been affirmed by everyone is actually inseparable from the actor's inheritance of tradition and his own creativity. Modern drama creation is inseparable from taking things from the program, and has not forgotten the essence of Kunqu Opera, which includes using rhymes and whites, including the screenwriter Luo Zhou writing lyrics completely in accordance with the style of the song, including our teacher Chi Lingyun and Sun Jian'an who follow the Kunqu tradition to set the score. However, I think it can be better, the process of Kunqu creation is not easy to give up every detail of the process, by my standards, if these modern plays can use more programs, it may be better.
Beiqing Art Review: Mr. Zhang Geng once wrote an article about your performing arts in 1991, and he spoke highly of you, mentioning the three points that opera actors should have: solid basic skills, performing their own style, and being good at creating diverse character images. How do you rate your style and ability to create diverse characters?
Shi Xiaomei: I have never been satisfied. My artistic experience and my understanding of Kunqu opera are growing with age. I often think about the characters in the dead of night, and even if there is a little new thing that is thought out and put on the stage and becomes a shining point, it makes me excited. At that time, Teacher Zhang Geng said that I was very diverse in shaping characters, which was a compliment to me. However, I have always believed that everyone has their own characteristics, even if the teacher passes on the old drama to you, you can play each actor's understanding of the character in the norms.
(The author is an associate researcher at the China Academy of Arts and a 2021 contract critic of the Beijing Municipal Federation of Literature and Literature)
Photo courtesy of Shi Xiaomei Studio