This year marks the 103rd anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, and around the birthday of the "July 1st" party, more than 20 sets and dozens of red-themed works such as "Long March", "Awakening Age", "Xiang Yan'an", "Sister Jiang" and "Red Starting Point" were staged on the stage of the capital, covering operas, musicals, dramas, operas, concerts and other art forms. It is understood that the National Centre for the Performing Arts alone arranged 9 red-themed performances and 21 performances before and after the "July 1st".
opera
"Long March" ushered in the 12th round of performances
On June 25th, 26th, 28th and 30th, the National Centre for the Performing Arts' original opera "Long March" ushered in the 12th round of performances of the play. Famous singers such as Yan Weiwen and Wang Hongwei joined hands again to perform the great feat of the Red Army's 25,000-mile Long March.
"March of the Volunteers" On July 5 and 6, the opera "March of the Volunteers" will be staged at the National Center for the Performing Arts. The play is based on the documentary literary work "Rise Up - Documentary of the Filming of "Children of the Storm" and the Creation Process of "March of the Volunteers" by Wu Haiyong, an expert in party history, as the documentary basis, which not only tells the story of Tian Han, Nie Er, Xia Yan, Situ Huimin, Xu Xingzhi and other progressive young people who participated, experienced and witnessed the birth of "March of the Volunteers", but also created a group portrait of literary and artistic workers represented by them who "use the pen to make knives and guns".
Drama
Each of the five works has its own focus
The spy war drama "Xiang Yan'an" made its debut at the National Center for the Performing Arts, reflecting the great beliefs of the little people through rich group dramas, and leading the audience to experience the glorious history of the light of ideals that will never be extinguished.
"Red Beginning" is a key play launched by the National Theatre of China on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China in 2021, and will be performed five times in a row from July 24. The play is directed by Tian Qinxin, director of the National Theatre of China, and directed by Luo Lan, based on Mr. Ye Yonglie's long-form documentary work "The Red Beginning: A Documentary of the Birth of the Communist Party of China", and selects the three-year "memorabilia" from 1919 to 1921 to show the birth process of the Communist Party of China in Shanghai.
"Sanwan, That Night" is an original drama of the National Theatre, which tells the story of the famous "Sanwan Adaptation" in the history of China's Red Revolution, and will be staged again on the stage of the National Theatre from June 27 to July 1 to celebrate the 103rd anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China. The play artistically expresses the "Sanwan Adaptation", a milestone event in the history of party building and army building, and focuses on explaining the ideological essence of "the party commands the gun", "the branch is built on the company", and "the equality of officers and soldiers", which is the ideological magic weapon for our party and the people's army to move towards victory.
"Iron Flow Eastward", which was staged again from July 10 to 13, is adapted from the novel "The Last Radio Wave" of the People's Literature Award, focusing on the fighting life of the signal soldiers of the New Fourth Army during the National War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, integrating the mysterious Morse code and the battle of the Iron Army to form an eastward iron stream on the stage.
"Xiang Yan'an" will be staged at the National Centre for the Performing Arts from June 27 to July 1. The play is adapted from the novel of the same name by writer Hai Fei, who won the "People's Literature Award and Biennial Award for Novels", written by Hai Fei himself and directed by Li Bonan. The whole play is set in Shanghai after the Battle of Songhu in 1937, and tells the story of Xiang Jinxi, the protagonist of his youth, who accidentally performs a latent mission as a chef, and grows from a young and ignorant student to an outstanding revolutionary soldier, known as "a chef's revolution".
Beijing opera
The melody of "Red Plum Zan" is intoxicating
Since its performance in 2001, the Peking Opera version of "Sister Jiang" has been passed down from the famous Peking Opera actor Zhang Huoding to the young actor Zhou Jing, and has become one of the repertoire of modern Peking Opera of the National Peking Opera Company. On June 29, the play was staged again at the Mei Lanfang Grand Theater, and the melody of "Red Plum Zan" is still deeply intoxicating.
"Red Classic Peking Opera Concert" Beijing Peking Opera Company performed "Red Flag Blooming in the Wind and Glory Forever - 2024 Beijing Peking Opera Company Red Classic Peking Opera Concert" at Chang'an Grand Theater on July 1. Through the five chapters of "Ludang Fighting Wisdom", "Red Light Shines", "Cuckoo Stacking Peaks", "Lin Hai Annihilating the Enemy" and "Gilded Age", the classic revolutionary modern Peking Opera "Shajiabang", "Red Lantern Story", "Azalea Mountain" and "Outwitting Tiger Mountain" that have been handed down to this day are extracted, and the wonderful clips in the excellent new modern Peking Opera "Shi Pingmei", "Langya Mountain", "Song Family Sisters" and "Li Dazhao" created by the Beijing Peking Opera Company in recent years profoundly show the passionate years of the Communist Party of China in breaking new ground, daring to be the first, and leading the people to make unremitting efforts.
Musical
Use the "cinematic" texture to convey the light of faith
"The Age of Awakening" has been staged at the Century Theater since June 29, and the revolutionary historical musical "The Age of Awakening" focuses on the New Culture Movement and the early days of the founding of the Communist Party of China, and many of the stories in the play took place in Beijing more than 100 years ago. The 2024 edition of "The Age of Awakening" has added the scene of Mao Zedong communicating with Li Dazhao, Chen Duxiu, and Hu Shi in the library of Peking University when he was a student.
From November 27 to December 1, 1934, the Central Red Army, which had broken through three blockade lines in succession, was surrounded and intercepted by the Kuomintang army when it passed through Guanyang, Quanzhou and Xing'an in Guilin, Guangxi, in the Xiangjiang River Valley. In order to ensure that the main force of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Central Red Army crossed the Xiang River and smashed the enemy's attempt to encircle and suppress the Red Army east of the Xiang River, tens of thousands of Red Army soldiers stained both sides of the Xiang River with blood, which became an extremely heroic battle since the Long March of the Central Red Army. From July 6th to 7th, the musical "Scarlet Xiangjiang" staged at the Shunyi Grand Theater used a "cinema-style" texture to convey the light of faith and the fire of ideals in the deep affection of the singers, which was inspiring.
concert
Singing "Melody Engraved in DNA"
On June 30th, conductor Zheng Jian joined hands with the choir of the Beijing Musicians Association to launch a concert of classic choral works at the National Centre for the Performing Arts. The repertoire of the concert includes mixed chorus "Sing a Mountain Song to the Party", "The Boat of Nanhu, the Cradle of the Party", "Nanniwan", "Three Disciplines and Eight Attentions", "Seven Laws: Long March", female chorus "Big Red Dates are Sweet and Fragrant" and "Frontier Spring Water is Clear and Pure", "Heavenly Road", "Without the Communist Party, there would be no New China", "Singing the Motherland" and so on.
"Dongfang Hong", "Long March Songs" and "Yellow River Cantata" were called "melodies engraved in the DNA of the Chinese people" by netizens, and on the eve of "July 1st", these three red classic music works were sung on the same stage in the Zhongshan Park Concert Hall, accompanying the audience to spend a passionate evening.
Text/Reporter Tian Wanting Guo Jia
(Beijing Youth Daily)