On December 14, 2021, the 11th National Congress of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the 10th National Congress of the China Writers Association opened in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, President of the People's Republic of China and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, attended the conference and delivered an important speech. On December 25, 2021, General Secretary Xi Jinping replied to the artists of the National Drama Theatre, extending warm congratulations and sincere greetings to all cast and crew for the 80th anniversary of the founding of the National Drama Theatre and the 20th anniversary of its official establishment. The general secretary's important speech and reply to the letter have aroused heated discussion in the literary and art circles, and the national literary and art academies and troupes have learned the spirit, enlightened the mind, and promoted practice in various forms. Chinese art headlines are featured for readers.
Walk with the city, keep pace with the times
Shanghai Shanghai Theatre
General Secretary Xi Jinping's speech at the 11th National Congress of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the 10th National Congress of the Chinese Writers Association and the reply to the artists of the National Drama Theatre of China have also deeply inspired us.
Shanghai Shanghai Theater is a state-owned theater troupe that grew up under the care of the party and the state, and is about to usher in the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the theater. Seventy years of growth and accumulation, let us deeply appreciate that the city gives the drama a steady stream of nourishment, the people give the drama endless vitality, and the times give the drama a thriving development. "Originating from the people, for the people, belonging to the people", Shanghai Shanghai Theatre will bear in mind the "great power of the country", keep in mind the original mission, tell the Chinese story with heart and soul, spread the voice of Shanghai, and make new and greater contributions to the comprehensive construction of a modern socialist country and the realization of the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
As a local culture in Shanghai, Shanghai opera has a history of more than 200 years. Shanghai's urban spirit of "embracing all kinds of rivers, pursuing excellence, enlightened and wise, and being humble" makes the local culture shanghai opera have an innate and unique temperament. The diversified urban cultural atmosphere provides important nutrients for Shanghai opera to keep right and innovate and improve the pattern. As a national intangible cultural heritage "Shanghai Opera" protection unit, Shanghai Shanghai Theatre will usher in the 70th anniversary of its establishment in 2022. Along the way, Shanghai Shanghai Theatre has always aimed to "make people play and influence", and has become an indispensable cultural symbol in the lives of shanghai people.
Based on creation: inheriting classics and being eclectic
Over the past 70 years, Shanghai Shanghai Theatre has made great achievements in the creation of traditional classic plays, suit cheongsam plays and modern plays. In 1952, the Shanghai Municipal People's Shanghai Opera Troupe was established, and under the care and guidance of the party and the government, revolutionary modern opera successfully appeared on the stage of Shanghai opera. Shanghai opera artists represented by Ding Shi'e strive to reflect the new era and new characters, and have achieved outstanding results in their creation and performance. "Luohan Money" and "Spark of Stars" were made into movies and were widely acclaimed. "Ludang Tinder" and "Red Lantern" were transplanted and adapted into modern Peking Opera, and Shanghai Opera set a model for how opera art can be created and shape modern characters. After the reform and opening up, Shanghai opera has shown its vigorous vitality, and new works such as "Xuanzi", "Sisters", "Bright Moon Illuminating Mother's Heart", and "Today's Dream Circle" have been stacked, and the influence of Shanghai opera has been expanding.
1956 film version of "Luohan Qian" Ding Shi'e as XiaoFei'e (middle), Xiao Aiqin as Ai Ai (left), Xing Yueli as Yan Yan (right)
In 1962, "The Spark of Stars" Xiao Aiqin played Yang Guiying (fourth from the left) and Shao Binsun played Liu's eldest brother
Compared with other traditional operas, Shanghai opera is more innovative, and Shanghai opera has always been seeking innovation and change with the changes of Shanghai metropolis from theme to creation to singing. Without artistic innovation, there would be no achievements of Shanghai opera today. Only by working with the people, walking with the times, and synchronizing with the city can Shanghai opera embrace a better future.
In recent years, the pace of creation of Shanghai Shanghai Theater has never stopped, and on the occasion of the 120th anniversary of the Sino-Japanese War, the Shanghai opera "Deng Shichang" has been launched, a national hero song, and the dream of building a maritime power;
"Deng Shichang" Zhu Jian as Deng Shichang
On the occasion of the 95th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China and the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Long March of the Red Army, the Shanghai opera "Looking Back" was launched, which triggered contemporary young people to look back at the road ahead and firmly move forward;
"Looking Back" grassroots performance
In the first year of the spirit of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the 40th anniversary of reform and opening up, the Shanghai opera "Daughter of Dunhuang", which has been polished for many years, focused on the ingenuity of contemporary Chinese intellectuals and praised the "Mogao Spirit" of generations of Dunhuang people;
Shanghai Opera "Dunhuang Daughter"
On the occasion of the centenary of the founding of the party, the Shanghai opera "Secret No. 1" was launched, telling the red story of Shanghai, the birthplace of the good party;
2021 "Secret No. 1" Zhu Jian as Chen Dawei (left), Mao Shanyu as Han Huiling (right)
On the occasion of the 120th anniversary of the birth of Comrade Chen Yi, the founding father of the People's Republic of China and the first mayor of Shanghai, the Shanghai opera "Chen Yi in Shanghai" was launched, highlighting the Chinese Communists' ruling philosophy of "people's city built by the people, people's city for the people"...
Shanghainese opera "Chen Yi in Shanghai"
Shanghai opera is no longer stuck between square inches, and the focus of the theme has changed from the "little children and little girls" that are good at gorgeous to "the sea, the desert, the big events, the big people", creating a number of thoughtful, exquisite and well-made masterpieces. Among them, the word-of-mouth works "Thunderstorm" and "Dunhuang Daughter" also borrowed the wings screen to let Shanghai opera enter thousands of households.
The theater actively explores and carries out the activities of "going out, inviting in, blending in, having experience and being popular", opens up new ideas, promotes the integration of online and offline with the help of new media platforms, and relies on new media platforms such as Douyin, b station, WeChat public platform, Weibo, etc., to carry out performance appreciation, activity overview, rehearsal live broadcast, interactive teaching, so that shanghai opera can spread more novel, more extensive and more convenient, and meet the new needs of the people's spiritual culture.
Talent as the basis for development: take morality as the first, inheritance relay
Shanghai opera is the local culture of Shanghai, and to retain the roots of culture, it is necessary to continuously cultivate young people. In terms of talent training, Shanghai Shanghai Theater actively does a good job in internal transmission and leadership, gives full play to the important role of old artists in the cultivation of young talents, and always adheres to "extensive training, key selection, and morality first". Help them find a development path that suits them and constantly hone their acting skills in practice. The theatre offers young actors a variety of opportunities to practice through a variety of original and rehearsal plays. In order to increase the training of young artistic backbones and cadres in Shanghai Shanghai Theater, the theater actively formulated the "14th Five-Year Plan" talent plan, launched the "Reservoir Plan", proposed by actors, performances, stage art, new media, marketing departments, selected and selected a group of young talents under the age of 40 to form a training echelon, for the theater to strive to cultivate a group of politically firm, morally passed, capable, hard-working young talents, to provide long-term driving force for the sustainable development of the theater, to establish a dynamic reserve talent training model.
Mao Shanyu and student Hong Doudou
Teachers and students on the same stage "The Great Thunderstorm"
Teachers and students on the same stage "Lu Yachen Sells Women"
Increase the intensity of artistic exchanges, research and promotion, and carry out art summary activities. The theater has successively completed the recording of 4K stage film versions of the Shanghai opera repertoire, promoted the oral history plan of the theater, interviewed and recorded video materials for the old artists, made artistic summaries for them, and also accumulated learning materials for the cultivation of young talents in the future, recorded history, and done a good job in inheritance.
Take word of mouth as the first brand: tailor-made, cultural education
In order to further enhance the influence of Shanghai opera and cultivate new audiences, Shanghai Shanghai Theatre has launched brand activities tailored to different groups of people in recent years.
Shanghai Shanghai Theatre led the Shanghai opera community to launch the annual brand event of "Shanghai Shanghai Opera Art Festival". The event has been successfully held for five sessions so far, and the famous Shanghai opera artists have entered the community, the countryside, and the square, and the "deep-rooted" work has been implemented in place, which has a wide influence in the Yangtze River Delta and has played a leading and exemplary role in the development of Shanghai opera genres. It has become a cultural business card to show the charm of Shanghai city.
In 2015, Mao Shanyu performed at the first Shanghai Opera Arts Festival
Group photo of all the actors at the closing ceremony of the 3rd Shanghai Opera Arts Festival
Shanghainese training camp. The main participant group of the project is 5-12 years old children, which has been operating for 7 years, and has cultivated nearly 10,000 Shanghai opera students, so that children can contact Shanghai opera in the process of learning Shanghainese, so as to cultivate potential new audiences. Among the young students of the "Shanghainese Training Camp", they have won many good results in the "Little Plum Blossom Award" and "Little Magnolia Award", and the figures of children can also be seen in major performance activities, and they have truly implemented the practice of educating people with culture and culture.
Opening ceremony of The Shanghainese Training Camp
The Wonderful Garden Club. This is a Shanghai opera intangible cultural heritage promotion brand activity tailored for college students, white-collar groups and foreign friends. Through participating in the experience activities such as painting troupe fans, chanting poems, and learning to sing Shanghai opera, you can taste the elegance of Shanghai opera art and the charm of Shanghai culture. Through immersive performances, Shanghainese reading scripts and other ways that young people like to circle fans, the praise is overwhelming.
The Wonderful Garden Club
Symphony concerts and rehearsal open days. In order to meet the cultural needs of the audience, in the annual "Small Chinese New Year's Eve", Shanghai Theatre will launch a Shanghai Opera Symphony Concert and Rehearsal Open Day, allowing the audience to walk into the rehearsal hall and explore "how a Shanghai opera performance is made". The event has been held for five consecutive years, and more than 1,000 Shanghai opera lovers gathered together to visit the Shanghai Shanghai Opera Transmission Hall and interact with famous artists at zero distance, and they praised the cultural benefit project of Shanghai Theater, thinking that such activities are very grounded.
Symphony concert rehearsal open day
Campus Shanghai Opera Competition. In order to use art to condense and enhance young people's understanding of local culture, understand the cultural heritage of Shanghai School, and promote the all-round development of young students, Shanghai Shanghai Theater launched a campus Shanghai Opera Competition. In the first competition, more than 400 players from more than 70 primary and secondary schools in the city were attracted to register, with an age span from 4 to 18 years old, and the online live broadcast of the awards party reached 330,000 hits.
The first campus Shanghai opera competition in 2019
Immersive experience. In terms of performance form, the theater constantly breaks the limitations of the theater space, actively explores the "Shang Shanghai Performing Arts New Space" at No. 150 Fenyang Road, launches personalized customization services such as immersive performances and literary and art party classes, and has reached cooperation intentions with Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China, China CITIC Bank, Shanghai Pharmaceutical Holding Group, Waigaoqiao Group, etc.
Immersive performances
With deep roots as the core advantage: culture for the people, culture for the people
Shanghai Shanghai Theatre has always attached importance to the people's nature of creating and performing, actively practicing cultural consciousness, and achieving culture first. As a local culture of Shanghai, the family style of Shanghai Shanghai Theater has been passed down from generation to generation: from the people to the people.
For decades, the Shanghai Shanghai Theater has insisted on performing at the grassroots level and in the countryside every year, and without a suitable theater, it has used the small conference room as a stage, and even set up a stage in the open air, and the matter of sending plays to the countryside has always been unimpeded. Following the initiative of Ding Shi'e, the first president of Shanghai Shanghai Opera, to "Return Shanghai Opera to Her Mother's Home", Mao Shanyu, president of Shanghai Shanghai Theater, launched the Shanghai Shanghai Opera Arts Festival. Shanghai opera masters go to the grass-roots community cultural salons to guide exchanges and interact with the fans' homes for teaching, so that Shanghai opera can not only perform in provincial capitals and important landmarks, but also benefit the people at the grass-roots level in rural areas. After each grassroots performance, the famous team is always surrounded by fans, and this kind of "star chasing" that has been like a day for decades has moved the actors. The people have made Shanghai opera, and Shanghai opera must always give back to the people.
Shanghai opera masters under the countryside, five new cities to send warmth
In response to the development requirements of the "Five New Cities" in Shanghai's "14th Five-Year Plan" and to help the construction of "Asia's Performing Arts Capital", Shanghai Shanghai Theatre actively arranged various performance seasons. About 40 performances of the "Five New Cities" theme series of performances were launched in Jiading New Town, Qingpu New Town, Songjiang New Town, Fengxian New Town and Nanhui New Town for a period of three months. There are both famous Shanghai opera dramas and a platter of folding operas with various genres, inviting local Shanghai opera lovers to perform on the same stage, and the performances have been welcomed and recognized by the local leaders and ordinary people in the five new cities, showing the advantages of Shanghai opera as the "voice of Shanghai". In the future, we will also strive to attract foreign tourists with the word-of-mouth works of Shanghai opera, so that they can travel to Shanghai while watching a good play, enhance the ability of cultural adsorption, and show the cultural heritage and connotation of the city.
The theater will continue to adhere to the people-centered creative orientation, focus on important time nodes, do a good job in theme creation and performance work, launch more high-quality works that highlight the characteristics of the times and Shanghai characteristics, attract more young audiences to understand Shanghai's local culture, use Shanghai's voice to tell Chinese stories with emotion, and inherit the Chinese spirit.