The Paper's reporter Wang Yi
Poster of Wilderness
From November 30th, in order to celebrate the opening of the Cao Yu Theater of Beijing International Drama Center, the new version of "Wilderness", the "finale" of three classic dramas of Beijing Renyi, officially met with the audience. The mysterious and symbolic stage beauty on the stage and the performance of the actors full of vitality collide with the huge stage energy, allowing the audience to feel the modern spirit and aesthetic impact conveyed by the work while watching a classic. "Classics can always give us the strength and reflection of our present people." Director Yan Rui said.
Director Yan Rui
"Bringing to life people and lives"
Since the official opening of the Beijing International Drama Center in early September this year, the Cao Yu Theater in the center has staged the newly typeset "Sunrise" and "Thunderstorm". Also as a classic of Cao Yu, "The Wilderness" can be said to be very different from the author's previous works in terms of creative background, drama style and dramatic content- an obvious fact is that in other plays, the author's origin of large families and urban life experience can be glimpsed. "Wilderness" is the only "rural drama" in Cao Yu's work sequence, and it is also recognized as the "most difficult to perform" work in his pen.
The new typesetting of "Sunrise" and "Thunderstorm", although there are also many young actors "changing blood" to take over, are still directed by the theater's "old xingzun" Feng Yuanzheng and Pu Cunxin. This time to create the "Wilderness", Beijing Renyi launched a "new" young lineup - young director Yan Rui, young actors Jin Han, Zhang Keying, Fu Yao, Lei Jia, Lian Xudong, Wei Jiacheng and other creative teams, giving a new perspective in the interpretation of the text. Speaking of this lineup, the only person who has a direct connection with the last version of "Wilderness" (2010, on the occasion of Cao Yu's birth centenary) is the actor Lei Jia, who played the star of Wei Nogio in the play, who played a crazy idiot eleven years ago.
Actor Lei Jia (front middle) wears a mask similar to a Japanese noh drama and is surrounded by a doll played by a real person. Photography / Li Chunguang
In the view of director Yan Rui, "'Wilderness' is not telling a simple revenge story. Rather, it is a dilemma, a human dilemma, which is a big proposition. People want to break through this barrier and eventually run to an ideal spiritual world, which is what we want to express, to show fresh people and lives on the stage. "Through the combination of different versions of the text of the original work, the version that conforms to the current aesthetic and performance rhythm is presented, which is the focus and point of this new layout." To make the audience feel nervous and suffocated, there is an extreme sense of perception. Yan Rui said.
"Digging humanity above the story"
As an all-youth stage attempt, the creators of "Wilderness" defined their expression as bold. Beyond the story itself, more excavation of human dimensions, so that each character in the work has a distinct color while hiding a complex human nature.
Zhang Keying, who plays Jinzi, made her debut on the renyi stage and is a complete stage newcomer. Just graduated and entered the art of people, in addition to trying to quickly "fit the groove", but also to give this traditional sense of "Hua Dan" belongs to the interpretation of young people, "I am slowly to understand the gold, she not only has love, but also the struggle against the current dilemma, she is not only spicy, but also cute, agile and forbearing." It is worth mentioning that in the previous new typesetting of "Sunrise", it was also played by newcomer actor Lu Lu as "Qingyi" Chen Bailu. The fact that the two can take on such an important role at a young age shows the high expectations of Beijing Renyi for them, and also the confidence of the theater in the talent reserve.
Zhang Keying, who plays Jinzi (front)
Jin Han as Qiu Hu (post)
Jin Han, who has played a number of well-known roles in the audience on the stage, played Qiu Hu this time. In addition to his wildness, he tries to give the characters multi-faceted, "The difficult thing on the stage is not to play a good person or a bad person, but to play a 'person'." He is savage and humane, and I want to give Qiu Hu the truth and complexity of being a human being. Another important male character in the play, Jiao Daxing, under the role of Lei Jia, also has another layer of humanity in addition to cowardice. In his opinion, Jiao Daxing is also a tiger, "unlike the wild tiger of Qiu Hu, he is a tiger in captivity." There is resistance and contradiction in his heart, and his attachment to gold is not only love, but also a yearning for freedom in her. ”
Lei Jia as Jiao Daxing (front right)
And Jiao Mu, who has always appeared on the stage as an "evil person", is played by young actor Fu Yao this time. Across her own age gap, she interprets Jiao's mother's abnormal love for her son, her resentment toward her daughter-in-law, and her fear of Yoshiko to the fullest, "Her hatred comes from extreme love, and the audience may not necessarily sympathize with her, but should understand her." Fu Yao said.
Young actor Fu Yao plays Jiao Mu (left)
"Let the audience be both in and out of the play"
The subversive stage design is a highlight of the new typesetting of "Wilderness" - on the stage, whether it is a natural landscape or a social landscape, almost all of them have been distorted and deformed to a considerable extent, which is very in line with the artistic appeal of the original work in expressionism. This is first embodied in the "wilderness" in the ontological sense, on the rough stage shaped like the surface of the moon, almost into a "wasteland" where there is no grass. Jiaofu, above the "wasteland", is constructed with "representations" of Buddhist niches, tables, cradle beds and other household objects that show people in a crooked image. It not only indicates the crumbling of the Jiao family, but also symbolizes the quagmire of the fate of the people in the play.
Compared with the Jiaofu scenery "Jian Province", the presentation of the natural environment on the stage can be described as colorful and ingenious - the dark clouds in the sky are hanging down, which is a forest with heavy fog on the ground and cannot always go out; the poppy-like bright mountain flowers on the ground, and the soil rooted in it are lifted up, and it has become a dream bubble like the upside down of heaven and earth...
Still
"The fifteenth day of the first year, the temple that opens, the bull's head and horse noodles are lined up on both sides, the judge holds the book of life and death, the little ghost holds the ghost card, the old master of Yama sits on the top, and a gust of yin wind blows into a female ghost to come..." This rural minor tune that runs through the whole play can be described as familiar to the ear. The imagery in the lyrics was activated into a highly symbolic doll played by a real person. They form a song team, fish on the stage, assume the ideographic function, and also extend the imagination space. A three-piece band set up in the front area of the stage simulates natural sounds and emotional melodies with live music. The music is sometimes urgent, sometimes whimpering, sometimes poignant, which not only helps the development of the plot, but also sets off the dramatic atmosphere of the inner activities of the characters.
Director Yan Rui uses visual, auditory and other comprehensive means to create a very impactful stage effect. In his view, these on-stage innovations are a form, "external forms can not be separated from the text", in order to reflect the spirit of the original work, "we want to let the audience be both in the play and outside the play." Give the audience a perspective to watch the play from the inside and outside, while allowing the audience not only to stay at the story level, but also to see the spiritual world of people. It is reported that the play will be performed until December 5.
Responsible Editor: Liang Jia Photo Editor: Shen Ke
Proofreader: Ding Xiao