The sarcophagus symbolizing death resides in the center of the stage. The sons have their own spaces distributed around the stage, and each character has design ingenuity about personality characteristics. On October 28, the Chinese version of the musical "The Brothers of Karamazov" produced by Shanghai Grand Theater and produced by Shanghai Grand Theater Creation Center was premiered at the Shanghai Grand Theater Buick China Theater. Fu Xiang , Jin Shengquan, Zhong Shunao, Yang Haochen, Zhang Ze appeared as the "Karamazov Family" first group.
The musical "Brothers of Karamazov" is adapted from Russian literature master Dostoevsky novel of the same name, which revolves around the mystery of father-killing. At first, it starts with the sons' questions about "who killed his father". As the plot progresses, it expands to the discussion of "who wants to kill his father more". After each other's attitudes to life conflict with their beliefs, the sons discovered their cowardice, fear, shame and anger. South Korean director Wu Shi-chan said, "The process from discovering pain to discovering love is the core of this work."
Fei Yaodor, played by Fu Xiang and Zhai Song, is a complete mistress, extremely greedy and selfish. From this perspective, the father is the person who dares to face the true self in the whole drama. The eldest brother Dmitry, played by Jin Shengquan, Xu Hao and Wang Hanyu, is the son with the most significant conflict with his father. He is impulsive and irritable, has an extreme personality, and is both eager and afraid of love. As the character's solo clip "The Unfooted Bird" describes: "No one can give me long-term love, I am a bird that cannot stop."
Liu Lingfei , Zhong Shun Ao and Xu Hao play the second son Ivan and Zhong Jiacheng , Yang Haochen plays the third son Alyosha is the child of Karamazov and his second wife Sofia. The two brothers have completely opposite choices for life paths. Ivan became a complete rationalist and atheist. In his personal singing, he poured out his questioning: "We are just a group of weak and pitiful people who follow you devoutly and wait until they are empty."
Not only Alyosha was deeply influenced by Ivan, but also Smergakov, the servant in the family. Smergakov was the illegitimate child born to the old Karamazov and the crazy woman on the street. In his contact with Ivan, Smergakov was gradually attracted by his theory that "everything can be granted permission." When the theme song of "Episode" sounded, everyone was shocked by the actor's physical tension and hoarse singing style on the stage. During the 100 minutes, the audience's focus also shifted from the externalized suspense plot of the father-killing case to the discussion of love and faith.
The entire musical has only one piano accompaniment, and the melody is turbulent, comparable to the complexity of the band. Music director Jiang Qinghua said that this is related to the creative logic written in the play using symphony. The quintet "A Nonsense" circles in the audience's mind like a storm. Sometimes, the musical melody softly touches the heartstrings. "Even if Only Once" and "Want to Love" are lyrical singles that make people want to replay repeatedly.
Wu Shixi said: "When we face death, we may still be full of doubts. Do we have nothing to do because we don't know the final answer of life? Obviously not. It is because we don't know the answer that we have to constantly struggle, constantly collide, and constantly find answers that belong to ourselves."
The first round of the Chinese version of "Brothers of Karamazov" will be performed 19 consecutive shows starting from October 28 and end on November 13. Actors Fu Xiang, Zhai Song, Jin Shengquan, Xu Hao, Wang Hanyu, Liu Lingfei, Zhong Shun Ao, Zhong Jiacheng, Yang Haochen, Zhang Ze, Guo Jiaxuan will take turns to create chemical reactions between different fathers and sons of the Karamazov family.
column editor: Li Junna Text editor: Li Junna Picture editor: Zhu Qing
Picture source: Photo provided by the organizer
Source: Author: Zhuge Yi
