Published in July 1934 in the Literary Quarterly, of which Barkin was a member of the editorial board, Thunderstorm has become one of the most widely performed works in The Country for 86 years. "Thunderstorm" has not only been restructured and put on the drama stage many times, but also made into various film and television works, adapted into operas, dance dramas, various local opera dramas, etc., from the number to the type, it is impossible to use the number of estimates.
By looking back at the birth of "Thunderstorm" and the changes in the adaptation and performance of various performance versions over the past 80 years, people can clearly see what kind of development process Chinese drama has gone through. Although we can't present all the adaptations of "Thunderstorm" works one by one, the versions we have selected are representative, and they have historical significance in the history of the development of "Thunderstorm" performances.
Cao Yu. Image courtesy of Wanfang
Premiere of "Thunderstorm": Zhejiang Chunhui Middle School
Date: December 2, 1934
Venue: Auditorium of Chunhui Middle School in Zhejiang
According to the examination of the premiere of "Thunderstorm" by the history of modern Chinese literature and drama, the performance of Chinese students studying in Japan at the Kanda Hitotsubashi Lecture Hall in Tokyo from April 27 to 29, 1935 in the name of the Chinese Drama Alumni Association has been regarded as the premiere, but there has been new information to support the overturning.
In 1991, coinciding with the celebration of the Hangzhou Alumni Association of Shangyu Chunhui Middle School, the elderly Liu Kewei, a former doctor of Chunhui Middle School, mentioned that in December 1934, when he told the past with the alumni Jing Jincheng of that year, he mentioned that they had participated in Mr. Cao Yu's drama "Thunderstorm" in December 1934. As it has been continuously proved by newly discovered physical and personal evidence in recent years, the premiere of "Thunderstorm" has been re-determined after argumentation at Chunhui Middle School in Shangyu County, Zhejiang Province, China. In fact, on December 2, 1934, the year of the publication of "Thunderstorm", 8 students of Shangyu Chunhui Middle School, including Jing Jincheng, Hu Yutang, Zhang Zhiqian and Jing Juying, publicly performed "Thunderstorm" at the school celebration commemoration meeting, 5 months earlier than the students who stayed in Japan.
Japanese Version of "Thunderstorm"
Date: April 27-29, 1935
Venue: Kanda Hitotsubashi Lecture Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Several Chinese students performed "Thunderstorm" in Tokyo. The picture is from the exhibition "The Past and Present Life of "Thunderstorm" at the National Centre for the Performing Arts
In 1935, after the publication of "Thunderstorm", two young scholars in Japan who paid attention to the Chinese literary world, Takeda Taijun and Takeuchi Yoshi, after reading "Thunderstorm", were deeply touched by it, and then took the "Literary Quarterly" to the Maozaki Seashore together to find Du Xuan, a Chinese student who was on vacation there. Du Xuan was a man who loved drama and was a left-wing literary youth, and the discrimination Chinese in Japan at that time was obvious to all. Chinese students are suffering from humiliation, and that resentment has long been unable to be expressed in the aggressor's country. Du Xuan immediately found Wu Tian and Liu Ruli to work as directors, and asked someone to translate "Thunderstorm" into Japanese. In order to cope with the curfew policy in Japan at that time and evade the raids of the Japanese police, this version could not remove the prologue and epilogue of the original work. From April 27 to 29, 1935, "Thunderstorm" was performed for the first time in the name of the Chinese Drama Alumni Association at the Kanda Hitotsubashi Lecture Hall in Tokyo.
The first professional theater troupe in China to perform the version of "Thunderstorm"
Date: October 11, 1935
Venue: Tianjin New Film Theater
In 1935, the Chinese traveling theater troupe performed stills of "Thunderstorm" at the Tianjin New Film theater. Photo courtesy of Mr. Tamoto
In 1935, Cao Yu, a teacher in the Department of Foreign Languages at Tianjin Hebei Women's Normal College, received a letter hoping to give the performance rights of "Thunderstorm" to the Chinese traveling theater troupe, and the payment was Made to Tang Huaiqiu, the leader of the China Traveling Theater Troupe. As The first professional drama group in China, although the Chinese travel theater troupe at that time was not very famous, Cao Yu was still very excited after receiving the letter, and he was also grateful for Tang Huaiqiu's acquaintance, and immediately replied to the letter to agree.
After receiving Cao Yu's reply, Tang Huaiqiu personally served as the director, and when rehearsing the first two acts of "Thunderstorm" in Beiping, the authorities regarded the plot of "Thunderstorm" as "incest" and 'offensive to morality' and was not allowed to perform according to the so-called orthodox concept. In August of the same year, the Lone Pine Troupe of Tianjin Municipal Normal School performed "Thunderstorm" in the school auditorium, and before the premiere of Chunhui Middle School was demonstrated, it was regarded as the domestic premiere of "Thunderstorm".
After three rejections, the China Travel Theater Company's version of "Thunderstorm" was finally premiered at the Tianjin New Film theater on October 11, 1935, which was also the first professional theater company in China to stage "Thunderstorm". This time, "Thunderstorm" was staged at the Tianjin New New Film Theater for more than 50 days, and the venue was almost full. Cao Yu later recalled that part of CTS's commercial success was due to Thunderstorm. After its success in the North, the Chinese traveling troupe returned to its birthplace of Shanghai and quickly entered its peak period.
Beijing Renyi version of "Thunderstorm" version
When: 1954-2020
Venue: Beijing Theater (now Chinese Children's Arts), Capital Theatre
Unlike the previous "banned performances" by the authorities for various reasons, after 1949, "Thunderstorm" was listed as "excellent repertoire since May Fourth", and under the instructions of developing the people's theater industry, professional theater troupes in Beijing, Shanghai, Liaoning, Hunan and other places began to rehearse "Thunderstorm", of which the Beijing People's Art Theater version of "Thunderstorm" is the most representative.
In 1954, the premiere version of "Thunderstorm" was performed by Zheng Rong, Zhu Lin, So Zhi, Lu En, Su Min, Hu Zongwen and others. Courtesy of Beijing Renyi
On June 30, 1954, the first edition of Beijing Renyi's "Thunderstorm" was successfully staged, directed by Xia Chun, performed by Zheng Rong, Zhu Lin, So Zhi, Lü En, Su Min, Hu Zongwen and others, and was regarded as a classic. Due to the times, the characters in this version of "Thunderstorm" have been simplified to "class struggle", and people are full of hatred between people. The 1979 remake of "Thunderstorm" did not do it thoroughly despite its breakthroughs.
In 1954, he premiered the version of "Thunderstorm", so he played Zhou Ping. Courtesy of Beijing Renyi
In 1989, Xia Chun rearranged "Thunderstorm" with a new lineup. The second edition of "Thunderstorm" interprets the characters from a new perspective and returns to Cao Yu. This is the fourth time that director Xia Chun has rehearsed "Thunderstorm" for Beijing Renyi after 1954, 1959 and 1979, and has used a new cast: Gu Wei as Zhou Puyuan, Gong Lijun as Fan Yi, Pu Cunxin and Wu Gang as Zhou Ping, Zhou Tiezhen as Lu Shuping, Zheng Tianwei as Si Feng, Han Shanxu as Lu Gui, Gao Dongping as Zhou Chong, Zhang Fuyuan and Wang Gang as Lu Dahai.
In 1954, director Xia Chun (center) and the actors of "Thunderstorm" analyzed the script. Courtesy of Beijing Renyi
1979 remake. Courtesy of Beijing Renyi
1989 edition of "Thunderstorm". Courtesy of Beijing Renyi
The second edition of "Thunderstorm" Xia Chun's in-depth explanation of the personality of the characters, get rid of the shackles of the past conceptualization, return to the nature of the characters, and return to the base point of Cao Yu's plays. In 1997, Beijing Renyi rehearsed "Thunderstorm", which was the first performance version of the second version of "Thunderstorm" directed by Gu Wei after the death of director Xia Chun, without major changes.
1997 edition. Courtesy of Beijing Renyi
In 2004, Beijing Renyi once again rearranged "Thunderstorm" with a new lineup. According to the historical evolution, this is the third edition of Beijing Renyi's "Thunderstorm". Under the guidance of the old artists of the first two versions, "Thunderstorm" was rehearsed again, the director was still Gu Wei, and Fan Yi retained the second version of Gong Lijun, and added Yang Lixin, Wang Ban, Xia Liyan, Bai Hui and other actors.
2004 edition of "Thunderstorm". Courtesy of Beijing Renyi
September 24, 2020 is the 110th anniversary of Cao Yu's birth, on which Beijing Renyi officially opened a series of commemorative activities with a new version of "Thunderstorm". Gong Lijun, who has played Prosperity for 31 years, has served as a director with Gu Wei this time, and Wang Ban has also been upgraded from young master to old master to play Zhou Puyuan, while Zhou Ping and Fanyi have been played by young actors Liu Zhiyang and Zhang Pei.
The 2020 edition of "Thunderstorm". Photography by Li Chunguang
Delete Lu Dahai's version of "Thunderstorm"
Date: 1993
Venue: China Youth Art Theatre
Of the various versions of Thunderstorm, one is the most special. In 1992, director Wang Xiaoying, a doctoral student at the Central Academy of Drama, arranged a version of "Thunderstorm" without Lu Dahai at the China Youth Art Theater at that time. He once explained that the deletion of the character of Lu Dahai is to interpret "Thunderstorm" in a different way of thinking, through the superficial conflicts brought about by the differences in social classes between the characters, and into the complex emotional world of the characters. Before rehearsing the play, Wang Xiaoying's mentor Xu Xiaozhong, who was in the Chinese opera at the time, took him to the Beijing Hospital to meet Cao Yu, and Cao Yu said to Wang Xiaoying: "The play "Thunderstorm" is very, very difficult to perform! You have a new view, a new way, others can't think of it, this is taking advantage, opening up a new way Is a very good thing. This edition has been controversial in academic circles for many years.
Plum Blossom Version of "Thunderstorm"
Date: April 2, 2003
Venue: Capitol Theatre
"Plum Blossom Version" "Thunderstorm". The picture is from previous news reports
In 2003, in order to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Drama Plum Blossom Award, Xu Xiaozhong directed the "Plum Blossom Version" "Thunderstorm" co-performed by the winners of the Plum Blossom Award. This version restores the original appearance of Mr. Cao Yu's plays, that is, retains the "prologue" and "epilogue" deleted during previous performances. In each scene, there will be a change of a group of actors, and the audience can see three "Zhou Puyuan" (Wang Weiguo, Wei Jiquan, Song Guofeng), three "Prosperous" (Xiao Xiong, Gao Xia, Xia Jun), three "Zhou Ping" (Pu Cunxin, Kang Aishi, Chen Xiguang), three "Lu Shuping" (Zhang Jiumei, Liu Meihua, Wang Liyun), and four "Four Phoenixes" (Xiao Hong, Yang Chunrong, the other two are special actors). Even the two grandmothers and two children who have only appeared for a few minutes are "Plum Blossom Award" actors.
Star Edition of "Thunderstorm"
Date: November 7, 2004
Venue: Shanghai Grand Theatre
Stills from the star version of "Thunderstorm". The picture is from previous news reports
In 2004, the star version of "Thunderstorm" created by producer Ye Huixian and director Chen Liyi caused a sensation. The star cast of this version of "Thunderstorm" is particularly eye-catching because it brings together three generations of actors, including Pu Cunxin, who re-interprets "Zhou Ping"; Pan Hong and Da Shichang, who are always known for interpreting complex characters and play "Prosperous" and "Zhou Puyuan"; Tian Hairong, who re-starred in "Four Phoenixes", and Gu Yongfei, Lei Kesheng and Tong Ruixin, who play "Lu Ma", "Lu Dahai" respectively. In order to restore the original tragedy of "Thunderstorm" on the stage, Chen Liyi made a big fuss about "Thunder and Rain", so that the character emotions, the fate of the characters, and even the conflicts of the characters rose and fell with the rhythm of the thunderstorm. In this version, Tong Ruimin, the brother of Tong Ruixin, one of the actors of "Lu Dahai", starred in "Zhou Puyuan" in the 2020 Yanghua version of "Thunderstorm" 16 years later.
Poetic version of "Thunderstorm"
Date: 29 January 2007
Venue: Shanghai Theater Academy
The picture is from previous news reports
In 2007, director Wang Yansong led a number of senior artists from the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center, as well as students from the Shanghai Theater Academy and the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, to bring a new version of "Thunderstorm", which focused on the poetry in Cao Yu's original work. This version restores the prologue and epilogue of the original play "Thunderstorm", and the director found Cao Yu's poem "Not Long" from the middle school era as the lyrics, and the song team sang it after composing the music. This version of "Thunderstorm" is completely different from the past, is a "new interpretation" that abandons "incest" and emphasizes the "cycle of love", for this reason, Wang Yansong has reduced the nearly 90,000 words of the original book to 35,000 words, focusing on "digging out the mental distress and emotional loss of the characters in "Thunderstorm".
Wang Chong video version of "Thunderstorm 2.0"
When: July 11, 2012
Venue: Trojan Theater
Stills from Thunderstorm 2.0. Photo by Edward-T_-Morris
Wang Chong, a young theater director known as the "most experimental temperament", deconstructed classic texts in 2012 in postmodern drama based on "Thunderstorm". All the lines in the play are from "Thunderstorm", and the main characters and character relationships can also glimpse the shadow of the original play, but the audience sees a new play that has almost nothing to do with "Thunderstorm", and even this is not a play, but a movie and its shooting process. Four cameras worked simultaneously with about two dozen "actors" on the scene, like a hectic film scene, with all the images projected on the screen in real time. The stage film section shows a feminist art film.
Lin Zhaohua Commemorative Event Edition "Thunderstorm"
Date: May 16, 2014
Venue: Tianjin Grand Theatre
Commemorative Edition of Thunderstorm 2014. The picture is from Drive Media
In 2014, the 80th anniversary of the publication of "Thunderstorm", director Lin Zhaohua's work "Thunderstorm 2014" was unveiled as the only domestic original play in the 4th Lin Zhaohua Drama Invitation Exhibition. The 80-minute play takes more than half of the nearly 200-minute play from the original script — in fact, it's not a "complete" theatrical performance at all, the creators just cut out a few clips from the "Thunderstorm" work, with Zhou Puyuan as the performance center, pulling out the characters and passages related to it, like a radio drama with pictures. Lin Zhaohua stressed that his "Thunderstorm 2014" is "not a play", but a commemorative event. Even on the program list, his identity has changed from "director" to "event curator". The stage is minimalist in modern style and is accompanied by a live chamber orchestra.
Yanghua version of "Thunderstorm", "After Thunderstorm"
When: December 23-27, 2020
Venue: Beijing Poly Theater
Yanghua version of "Thunderstorm". Courtesy of Yanghua Drama
On the occasion of the 110th anniversary of Cao Yu's birth, Yanghua Drama Production's stage plays "Thunderstorm" and "After Thunderstorm" are the latest versions of this great work. The "Thunderstorm" and "Thunderstorm After" pioneered the works of Cao Yu's father and daughter in the afternoon and evening respectively, and Wanfang's "Thunderstorm After" is also an extension and deepening of "Thunderstorm", and the father-daughter relationship is connected in a special way through the stage, through drama, and through works. This time, Yanghua invited French theater director Eric La Casscade to direct the play with the Chinese team, which is the first time that a foreign director has directed "Thunderstorm" in China.
Beijing News reporter Liu Zhen
Edited by Tian Kaini Proofreader Lucy