Sleepers and rails build a circular railway, 1:1 simulated trains gallop on the stage, guerrillas pick up trains, grab supplies, be bold and brave, flexible and maneuverable... This is the scene of "thrilling, dangerous, strange and absolute" in the large-scale original acrobatic drama "Railway Hero".
A few days ago, the acrobatic drama "Railway Hero" created by the Shandong Provincial Acrobatic Troupe premiered in Jinan. The shaping of the "hero group portrait" of industrial workers, the stage presentation of "sound, light, electricity and shadow" in one, and the innovative means of telling stories with high difficult skills all make this work "interesting", and at the same time, it also brings a new exploration of acrobatic stage performance methods.
"Technology" and "drama" are integrated, and stories are told in innovative ways
The railway guerrillas active in the Zaozhuang area of Shandong Province were a well-known anti-Japanese armed force. Historically, in the face of the brutal atrocities of the Japanese army, this contingent was brave and fearless, did not fear sacrifice, and won one victory after another in the anti-Japanese struggle.
"Railway Heroes" is based on the heroic deeds of the Lunan Railway Guerrilla Led by the Communist Party of China during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the Lunan People's Anti-Japanese Volunteer Brigade in resisting the Japanese invaders, and takes the love story of the railway guerrilla leader Lao Tie and the underground traffic officer Fenglan and Fenglan, who grew from ordinary people to outstanding members of the Communist Party of China, and strives to show the people's loyalty and faith in the Cpc.
How does this heroic legend on the railway line mix with acrobatics? How can the "acrobatic drama" version stand out from the success of other art forms such as film, television, fiction, etc.? Obviously, the higher the audience's psychological expectations, the greater the challenge for the creative team.
"In order to break through the limitations of the previous acrobatic dramas of 'suffering from lyricism and clumsiness in narrative', at the beginning of the intention, the creators started from the combat form of the railway guerrillas, considered the acrobatic actions and techniques that matched, and insisted on taking drama as the leading, so that acrobatic techniques served the narrative, showing the optimal form of 'technology' and 'drama'.
Zhang Guilin, artistic director and screenwriter of the play, introduced that to this end, the play boldly abandoned some of the traditional advantages of the Shandong Acrobatic Troupe, creatively structured the original skills such as "hanging ring", "rolling ring", "rope technique", "pedaling man" and "trampoline", and created many new acrobatic props according to the dramatic situation.
On the stage, common living objects such as bicycles and benches evolved into auxiliary props for acrobats to flip and move, which not only highlighted the regional characteristics, but also had the fireworks of the city; on the U-shaped rope, the protagonist Lao Tie and Fenglan danced, adding a bit of beauty and poetry to the arduous revolutionary struggle.
These new props, while forcing the innovation of acrobatic skills, are closely related to the situation and characters, and play a fascinating effect of promoting the development of the plot.
Multi-layered ideographic space constructs a new type of viewing relationship
Different from the traditional theater form, the ideographic space of the acrobatic drama "Railway Hero" is multi-layered.
In the acrobatic world, generally speaking, "ground actors do not go high" is a common practice, but in "Railway Hero", in order to better serve the development of the plot, the actors "go to heaven and earth" to show emotion, strength and beauty in multiple dimensions.
In the play, with the help of rope skills, after witnessing his son "Little Boy" being picked up by Rikou, Fenglan, who was suspended, danced like a heart-rending lung, and the inner torment and hatred were vividly displayed; with the help of Weiya, Lao Tie led the guerrillas to "descend from heaven", holding a large knife to fight with the enemy, saving the people from water and fire, and practicing the righteousness of heaven and earth. The high degree of unity between the high difficulty technique and the plot structure makes the audience look thrilling.
In "Railway Hero", the props and actors are in motion, becoming a special kind of "moving time and space". Among the many stage art forms, only acrobatic art can open up the ground and the high sky, presenting a unique "vertical movement aesthetic characteristics".
"The program list is a 'War of Resistance Newspaper', the entrance to the theater has people dressed in the 1930s and 40s to release the 'outside' message, the train passes in front of the line of sight, and the gunshots ring in the ears..." Wang Xiaoyang, an audience member, said that from the moment he entered the theater, he felt the difference of "Railway Hero", in addition, the audiovisual effect of the whole play was shocking, just like the film and television "reality show".
In addition to the vertical performance space from the sky to the ground, the circular railway separates the "inner ring" performance area and the "outer ring" audience area, but through the sports stage effect created by the speeding train and the actor's "jumping in and jumping out", the two areas are very cleverly linked - the revolutionary masses' feats of "picking up trains, killing enemies, grabbing supplies", and the tragic narrative of Fenglan's loss of children are all completed in the same field, which really happens around the audience and brings the audience an immersive theater viewing experience.
Heroes also have feelings, creating intriguing red classics
As a red literary and artistic masterpiece created by Shandong to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, the acrobatic drama "Railway Hero" takes the love story of Lao Tie and Fenglan as the main line, and simultaneously shapes the "hero group portraits" of industrial workers such as miner DaZhao and train driver Lao Sun, breaking through the current form of red theme art works mostly rural themes, and making up for the lack of such themes in stage art.
"Taking 'Old Iron' as an example, his emotions in the play are multi-layered, his faith in the party transcends everything, and the red cloth on his left wrist is actually a party flag, which is derived from the real case of the Lunan Railway Brigade in history." In the face of his love with Fenglan, he has the simple and shy side of Shandong Hanzi; whenever the struggle is won, he is also like other guerrillas, and his joy is overflowing. Zhang Yi, the general director of the play, said that in order to make the hero image flesh and blood, plump and vivid, the main creative team used the "spirit of history" to delve into every detail and strive to show the different logical dimensions of each character.
"Railway Hero" achieves the perfect combination of revolutionary heroism and romanticism. In the play, there are not only tense struggle scenes such as the descent of divine soldiers, but also the aesthetic love of the hero and heroine, and the humorous expression of the "scattered" characters outside the main line, all of which give people a refreshing feeling.
The emotions of the characters in the play are also "infused" into the external acrobatic movements. In "Railway Hero", Fenglan is deeply inspired, and grows into a revolutionary fighter step by step, requiring the development and change of the characters, which is different from the traditional acrobatics in the past that only focus on performance skills.
Zhang Xu, a actor who plays "Fenglan" in the play, said that even if the U-shaped rope, cage and other passages in the play are inseparable from the technical support, it is more necessary for the actor to experience the character with feelings in order to enter the role and perform her inner "temperature".
The original acrobatic drama "Railway Hero" is also an artistic visual feast. The play is made entirely according to the 1:1 simulation of the train, rich in industrial style design of Zaozhuang Tiehualong, with black, white and gray as the main colors to highlight the solemnity and color tension of the stage, the industrial style, modern sense and historical era creatively blended together.
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