Jiao Yuan: Everyone has a golden lock to carry

(Southern People Weekly reporter Jiang Xiaoming/Photo)

Energy field

A full moon-shaped light hits the lower right side of the stage. Chang'an bent down, and Tong Shifang also bent down slightly, returning a flower to Chang'an's hands. Chang'an's waist bent lower, Tong Shifang took off the ring on her hand and turned away.

The two silhouettes here are silent and sound, causing sighs and even sobs in the audience. It was precisely because Cao Qiqiao's evil was laid out to the extreme that people were full of sighs for Chang'an, and her daughter's life was buried like this. On November 7, 2023, an audience member at the Grand Theater of Beijing Tianqiao Performing Arts Center told a reporter from Southern People Weekly.

Cao Qiqiao is the core of Zhang Ailing's original novella "The Golden Lock", and it is also the most important character that brings people different levels of perception. "Is the Tangram in the first half and the second half of the Cantonese version of "The Golden Lock" really played by the same person?" someone couldn't help but ask.

Cao Qiqiao, a girl who first came into her eyes, was sold by her brother into the Jiang family, a large family, and became a wife to the second master with hypochondria. The blazing heat of "Call me Tangram, call me Tangram!" made everyone on and off the stage tremble.

Jiao Yuan (left) and Wang Anyi (provided by the interviewee/photo)

Ten years later, her daughter Chang'an was dragged into the quagmire of smoking by her mother, and her love with Mr. Tong was also cut off by her own hands. As soon as the scenery turned, Cao Qiqiao, who was lying on the couch, had sharp eyes, and her shoulders were high due to her long years of lying on her side, and her body couldn't help trembling when she stood up. As soon as he opened his mouth, his voice was sometimes gloomy and sometimes sharp, and the language was full of the high and low of ancient Cantonese, and the murderous aura came to his face. Finally, when she lay on Ji Ze's back and shouted out the desperate line: "Your hatred has long since destroyed me, do I still need you to whip me?!"

14 years ago, when I saw this version of "The Golden Lock" written by myself, Wang Anyi was deeply shocked by the performance of the leading actor Jiao Yuan. In such a restricted movement, she spoke a few minutes long lines full of emotion. Jiao Yuan is full of a primitive vitality. ”

Originally, Jiao Yuan was interested in the role of Chang'an, but director Xu Anhua said: "You are Cao Qiqiao." In 2005, after watching the Mandarin version of "The Golden Lock" directed by Huang Shuqin at the Shanghai Dramatic Art Center, she was thrilled to perform in Hong Kong and took the initiative to contact Wang Anyi and Xu Anhua, and the cooperation that lasted for several years began. Since 2009, Jiao Yuan's masterpiece has toured nearly 130 performances in Hong Kong and mainland China, and Jiao Yuan won the "Best Actress Award" at the "One Drama Awards" of the "2016 Shanghai Jing'an Modern Drama Valley" for her performance in this play.

On the night of the premiere of Tianqiao in 2023, the play will also return to Beijing as a special guest play at the 7th Lao She Theatre Festival. The curtain call to the audience lasted for three rounds. Jiao Yuan pointed to the sky with a solemn expression: "Thank you, Miss Zhang, for bringing us such a great work." ”

Half an hour later, in the theater hall, a female audience member in her twenties talked to a friend, "I can't imagine a mother (Cao Qiqiao) would do this to her daughter?"

Literary critic Chen Sihe once mentioned that many years ago, a veteran drama actor in the mainland refused to accept a role like Cao Qiqiao "because he couldn't find the seed of his heart." ”

Jiao Yuan's "finding" is very natural. "When I look at Cao Qiqiao, she is a typical 'resentful girl'. It's not bad, it's that there's too much depression in life. In Jiao Yuan's view, the shackles tied to Cao Qiqiao have existed since before she married into the Jiang family. "Because of greed, she wants to get out of her current life. You see her sprinkling and abusing her daughter, she is a beast. There must be a reason behind this. ”

This golden shackle should be created by the greedy uncle, the snobbish Jiang family, and the third master who is affectionate to her. But this version of the drama "The Golden Lock" has not given much description of Cao Qiqiao's beauty when she was young and the Jiang family's contempt for her. makes people hate her deeply, and pity is hard to find. "If there is some foreshadowing, wouldn't the plot be more reasonable and complete?"

Jiao Yuan's understanding is, "The main creator should think that only by handling her more extremely and the plot is more concentrated, the tragic fate of Chang'an will be more natural and the drama will be better." She has expressed her appreciation for choreographers on countless occasions. Wang Anyi's book deleted the line of his brother Changbai, which is particularly bold. Director Ann Hui added the treatment of the film to the stage play. For example, Qiqiao and the third master are playing and stealing fun, which is behind the small table and high stools, and the feeling of 'stealing' comes out at once. ”

She cherishes the ending monologue and the group scene of dividing the family property that others talk about. But her favorite scene was that Cao Qiqiao was lying on the bed smoking a big cigarette, thinking that the future third master for a long time finally revealed his true feelings, but he still calculated her money. "When there is no hope, the flower in my heart reopens, but I find that it is the pain after being deceived, and I enjoy it very much. ”

At the end, did Cao Qiqiao reflect on himself a little?

"Nope. Jiao Yuan replied categorically. "She kept drilling in that direction. She always feels that she is the worst, and she is always feeling sorry for herself. Cao Qiqiao will not commit suicide. ”

"Butterflies are Free"

"Life Affects Life"

I met Jiao Yuan backstage at the show, she was only 1.6 meters tall, and her eyes were bright and bright under her thick black eyelashes with makeup. She loves to wear dark colors, and on this day, she wears a long dress and waist-length hair to make her figure look thinner, and she speaks softly and forcefully, just like her temperament.

"She is now getting more and more into the play, and she is becoming more and more Cao Qiqiao. I stood on the stage and was a little scared of her. Actor Li Runqi, who has cooperated with Jiao Yuan for more than 20 years and has played Brother Qiqiao and Jiang Jize, said with a smile.

Jiao Yuan, who has maintained a weight of 40 kilograms for many years, is known for her full emotions and physical explosiveness on stage. She admits that "before every performance, it seems that the cells in my body are dead, I can't breathe, and I really want to escape", but as soon as the lights hit, the tension instantly disappeared and was replaced by a huge exhilaration.

Behind this is the tempering of the years.

Before the age of 20, he was admitted to the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts behind his parents' back, and he didn't have a role until his third year. "When you discover yourself, you will find a lot of bad shortcomings, low self-esteem, and the process is painful. ”

In her junior year, she starred in "A Girl's Dream", which was expressed in the form of a Western musical, and her form, singing and dancing and enthusiasm for acting attracted Hong Kong Repertory Theatre playwright To Kwok-wai and founder of Spring Stage production company Ko Chi-sum. Du Guowei said at that time, "You still have one year (graduation), it's not you waiting for us, it's us waiting for you." ”

Drama fan Zhang Jiapeng has been chasing Jiao Yuan's performance for more than ten years. In his opinion, lines and physical performance are the basic skills of a good actor, and there is not much difference between good actors. But there is a natural tacit understanding between Jiao Yuan and the stage, which is difficult. This is the reward that a person gets after years of dedication to a cause. The most important thing is that she treats the character she plays as a living person. ”

At the end of the 60s, American playwright Leonard Gersh's play "Butterflies Are Free" was brought to Broadway. The title of the play is taken from Dickens's novel "Bleak Hill" - "I want you to give me freedom, and free butterflies are to fly." Jiao Yuan recalled that this play was a repertoire at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. Geo's personality is flamboyant and outgoing, and on the other hand, it is fragile and nihilistic. The birth of "Butterflies Are Free" is also closely related to the confusion and hopelessness of the "Beat Generation" in the United States among young people. What exactly is love? Can you take responsibility for your own emotions? How to face the moral pressure of others and the kidnapping of family affection? This is the reflection that the creator and Jiao Yuan hope to bring to the audience. "Geo doesn't dare to love. In this respect she was not as sound as the blind young Donard. ”

Vaginal Monologue

In 2001, the play, a collaboration between the Shanghai Dramatic Art Center and Jiao Yuan, set a national record of 158 performances. The pomp and circumstance were also mixed with controversy. In an intimate scene between Geo and Donard, Jiao Yuan was naked on the stage, and public opinion was in an uproar. Yang Xiaoran, a theater operator who once took care of Jiao Yuan's performances in the mainland, recalled, "In fact, on the mainland version of the stage, the moment the woman wanted to take off her underwear and unbutton it, the lights were already dim. But some audience members will 'come prepared' and shine a flashlight on the stage. Including the Hong Kong version of the play, the title is 'Butterfly Spring Love', and some publicity will also rub off the edges and create selling points. On the contrary, I don't know much about the goodness of this play. ”

But in Jiao Yuan's view, half-naked is just a plot need. "Nudity is not a problem if there is a need. ”

At the end of the last century, the American writer Eve Ensler interviewed more than 200 women from different groups and wrote the drama "Vaginal Monologue", which caused shockwaves around the world. In the play, through the mouths of many women, it seems that a large number of nouns and sexuality related topics involving women's bodies are directly stated, but in fact, it is to express women's indispensable sense of autonomy and self-reliance in any behavior. Huang Zhan, a Hong Kong cultural person who watched the play in the United States, highly recommended it to Jiao Yuan after returning to Hong Kong.

Jiao Yuan rehearsed with her colleagues for six years, and by the time it was staged in 2007, Huang Zhan had already died. The play has been performed in Beijing and Shanghai, and since then students from many universities have written their own versions. Jiao Yuan starred in the initial version of "Vaginal Monologues", and shared the stage with Hong Kong veteran artists Luo Guanlan and Guo Jinen. "One of them is avant-garde, sophisticated and delicate, and the other is quite professional, and the performance is very exciting. Some viewers left a message: "After watching the drama, I went home with a smile and a smile, as if I had exchanged thoughts with my good sisters, and I was comfortable!"

"Putting aside the professionalism of the actors, do you need to break through some kind of inner barrier to perform so directly on stage?" the reporter asked her.

"Not at all. Jiao Yuan replied without hesitation. But she also feels that although this play has been done in Hong Kong for ten years, the audience's understanding of its scale and topics has not improved. "We didn't really face ourselves. I didn't look at my vagina before this scene. When you have never known yourself, how can you talk about love and care for yourself?"

The Golden Lock

In 2005, at the age of 30, she founded the Jiao Yuan Experimental Troupe. It is said that it is a troupe, and there are three fixed members: producer, publicity, and accountant.

Before the establishment of the troupe, Jiao Yuan was the most "diligent and obedient" type of actor in the eyes of directors and screenwriters, and rehearsals were always an hour earlier than the agreed time. But her ambition doesn't stop there: she wants to plan and perform plays she loves, "without being too influenced by others and the market." ”

From "Impression Susie Huang" and "Wild Rose Love", to the later "Song of Long Hatred", "Lust and Caution", etc., Jiao Yuan and her troupe have been labeled as "feminist" by the outside world. She emphasized that she is not feminist, "That is to fight for women's rights, we are doing women's theater, just want to share their inner world with the audience in the process of expressing women." She said that she is not good at doing grand themes, and the dramas she chooses are often because she has feelings in her life and gets some answers to her life puzzles from the drama.

Rehearsing "My Fair Lady", Jiao Yuan realized from the transformation of the heroine Du Lanxiang that it is not evil to walk to the upper passage alone, but be very careful not to slide to the other extreme. "The current public opinion emphasizes too much on the improvement of appearance, but those are short-lived. The emptiness of the heart is the most terrifying. Only upbringing, knowledge, and ideas will not be taken away. ”

In "I Love Bill", the heroine Ah San perceives herself and practices the aesthetics of life by constantly changing the objects of love and sex. Jiao Yuan felt that this character was "willful and unwilling, even if he was bruised all over his body, he would not admit defeat". In "Good Night, Mom", the daughter Jesse, who is determined to commit suicide, and her mother, Thelma, reveal their pain in an all-night conversation. The mother went from initial confusion to comfort and anxiety, but in the end she could not change her daughter's determination. Jiao Yuan's realization is that we need to express ourselves too much.

A few months ago, a girlfriend who was forty years away committed suicide and died, and Jiao Yuan was very sad. My girlfriend cares a lot about her parents' eyes, and although her marriage is unhappy, she can't say it. "There are many people who still live within the framework given to them by society and can't easily be themselves. What is right and wrong in this world? As long as it does not hurt people, everyone is unique. ”

During the tour of "Good Night, Mom" starring Michelle, a female audience member once posted to Jiao Yuan on Weibo, because her parents passed away one after another, she was very melancholy, and after watching "Good Night, Mom", she changed a lot. Jiao Yuan felt more about the mission on her shoulders. "The stage play really can't be messed around, it has to be performed well. You don't know when you might change someone. Life affects life. She hopes that one day, she can make a play that reflects the emotional illness of today's society.

My Fair Lady

In Hong Kong, folk drama companies can receive financial subsidies from the government through application and review. Jiao Yuan also tried. It was possible to perform for free for 10 weeks a year, but it didn't continue for six years – "because every three years it was a different troupe." For Jiao Yuan, who is not good at dealing with administrative processes and interpersonal relationships, this is the end of the experience of receiving assistance in her drama career. "It's so troublesome, I still don't want it. Since then, the troupe has relied on tickets to perform one by one. "A lot of theatre people in Hong Kong are working hard to get government funding. Jiao Yuan does her own thing, focuses on acting, and does not deal with awards and funding, she is 'I ask for my own way'. Gao Zhisen was a little uneven.

However, Hong Kong is still a rich land for theatrical innovation. Local theatre attaches more importance to the recombination of various elements and the intersection of Eastern and Western cultures. In the summer of 2023, in the new work "Hong Kong Ghost Comedy" in collaboration with the Hong Kong Drama Society Jinnian Icosahedron, Jiao Yuan performed all kinds of ghosts such as "beating villains, raising ghosts, Saucer Immortal Pen Fairy, Headless East Palace Happy Ghosts, and Seeing Ghosts on Yin and Yang Road" circulated in the 18 districts of Hong Kong, and once again started the play. Jiao Yuan's rich physical performance in "The Golden Lock" made the audience Lilith feel in a trance that Jiao Yuan on the stage seemed to be a tree, static and very attractive. Jiao Yuan's eyes lit up when she heard the reporter's relay, "Really, my future creative form may not necessarily be drama, it may be a combination of body and language." I was particularly fond of Pina Bausch (the late modern choreographer and performer) and would love the opportunity to experiment with dance-based theatre. ”

"Good Night Mom", Jiao Yuan (right) and Michelle

Open the heart window

"Don't look at Jiao Yuan unrestrained on the stage, he is a relatively quiet and low-key person in life. Old friend Li Runqi said. "Will hide. If there is a line of people in front, she will stand a little behind. ”

Jiao Yuan in the eyes of writer Zhang Xin is not likable, and there is a sense of disobedience, "It seems that he is standing on the opposite side of the world, and he doesn't care." But in other places, she seems to hold back: 'In my life, good bonds can be kept.' If it's not good, break free. Jiao Yuan also said that he has the so-called "avant-garde boldness after repression, wandering between tradition and the so-called avant-garde".

Her self-discipline and diligence are due to a strict family education, but a certain forbearance in her character also comes from this. But fortunately, her parents' discipline of her is always based on love, and how the next generation should understand and digest this kind of love and seek a more appropriate way to get along, it took her half a lifetime to slowly learn.

In the play, after Cao Qiqiao vented his emotions with a long scolding, the tip of his nose continued to "hum...... Hum ......", this action is coming from Jiao Yuan's mother. "When I was a child, my mother scolded us, and she hummed like this, saying that she was going to die of anger. The adolescent Jiao Yuan was full of irritability, but she didn't dare to refute it. My sister, who is six years older than her, is not, always choking with her mother.

On the other hand, the mother who was born as a ballet dancer has nothing to say about Jiao Yuan's acting career, and she must watch a play. "What is dressed thinly and revealingly, what is "vaginal monologue", there is no problem with her. ”

Now, her mother, who is already in her old age, still can't help but say, "Why don't you go home, why don't you call me today?" "Sometimes when I come back late from talking about the script, my mother is watching TV on the sofa, and she is actually waiting for me. According to her heart, thinking about her mother and waiting for her to come home will affect her creation. Later, they simply lived separately, but they lived very closely. In her heart, she didn't understand that she didn't eat with her mother for the sake of rehearsals, "In fact, if the rehearsal is canceled for one night, she won't die." Now she will naturally hug her mother and say, "Mom, I understand you, really, you are not easy." Jiao Yuan patted the reporter on the shoulder for a demonstration.

Father, on the other hand, is another unspeakable pain.

Jiao Yuan's ancestral home is Baoding, Hebei, and her father is patriarchal. When Jiao Yuan was born, he only glanced at her lightly and sent her to his grandmother's house in Beijing. As a child, Jiao Yuan only knew that his father was a Peking Opera actor, fascinated by art, hospitable, and liked to eat with friends.

When the family moved to Hong Kong, their parents switched from art to garment factory handyman and restaurant foreman, and the pressure on their lives increased dramatically. "My dad is a well-behaved person, he has to practice every day, he is not flexible, and he doesn't change. Ever since I was a child, I was taught that we are not smart people, and if we relax, we will make mistakes. ”

A middle school classmate invited her to a birthday party, but her father did not allow it. "Parents will be very worried, what if something goes wrong? What rape, robbery, there were a lot of people in Hong Kong in the 80s. All extracurricular activities, you don't think. Jiao Yuan therefore felt that she was very resonant when she played those depressing roles. "Because I really wanted to do something, but the family didn't allow it. ”

In the days of the Academy of Performing Arts, Jiao Yuan was estranged from her family when she was rehearsing and performing all day long, leaving early and returning late. One day she received a letter from her father, asking if she was unhappy and if there was a problem with everyone's communication. She suddenly felt that she was so "dull" that she would think that after coming to Hong Kong, every weekend night, she would fall asleep to the sound of her father's storytelling.

At the audience meeting after the Beijing premiere of "The Golden Lock", someone asked her, "Why do you work so hard, every performance is like dying on the stage, and it makes people feel distressed to watch?"

"Because life isn't perfect. Find an exit. ”

When his father died of lung cancer at the age of 58, Jiao Yuan's theatrical career had not really begun, "I hope that my father will give me criticism for every performance", but it is no longer possible. For more than 20 years, every time she rehearsed and performed, Jiao Yuan must memorize the lines twice, and the rehearsal must also be as powerful as a formal performance. This is not only a love for drama, but also a kind of psychological compensation - a tribute to his father, "replace" him to become a good actor.

Years later, she became him too. If there is a problem with the road, she will lash out at the staff. If the row is not up to standard, she will not be able to sleep all night. Thinking of something in the middle of the night, she immediately sent a message to others, "You can ignore me, just get up the next day and execute it." She hopes that everyone who does publicity can come to the rehearsal, and not wait until the synthesis time to come, so that they can learn more and know how to promote it. She wants her colleagues to work together to be more creative, and she doesn't just ask, what do you want, but she also knows that it may all be in vain. "They're like, okay, okay, knowing you're great, knowing that you're loving art. "Now I finally know that my high standards may be expressed in a different way. "It's so stubborn. Why don't you ask the other party softly if there is something wrong with your body and can you maintain the previous state?"

This high-intensity state lasted until 2019, Jiao Yuan suddenly felt physically and mentally exhausted, and her body had eczema: she didn't itch at work, she itched when she rested, and she was very tired and tired. I have insomnia and don't dare to take sleeping pills, "Because I'm afraid of affecting my memory, I want to memorize my lines." She went to see a psychiatrist and gave herself a long vacation. finally understood that for too long, she carried her father's unfulfilled dream on herself, "In fact, he may not want me to be so tired, maybe he just wants me to be healthy and happy." This is the shackle I put on myself. ”

Before that, she never made a decision except for choosing a play. "Is life casual, is it really casual, or do you dare not make decisions? What do you really want, what kind of person do you want to be?"

In the first half of her life, what was lacking in life, Jiao Yuan desperately looked for it in the drama. Now in the gradually slowing pace and introspection, she has gradually changed from a "resentful girl" to a stretched Jiao Yuan, and she has also learned to communicate better. "If you change yourself, you will see the world beautifully. When you realize that everyone has difficulties and learn to relax and understand, everything is not so hard to accept. ”

Deng Yu, reporter of Southern People Weekly, Wu Peipei, Xi reporter of Southern People Weekly

Editor-in-charge: Yang Jingru