The "Cold Plum" was heard and people were filled with tears. The revolutionaries' persistence in faith is like a red plum in the snow, and a noble heart reflects people's hearts. Recently, the urban new Huai Opera work "Cold Plum", created and rehearsed by the Shanghai Huai Opera Troupe, was successfully premiered in Shanghai. The play attracted many drama critics to watch the show. As audiences, they gave applause and cheers to "Cold Plum" with other audiences in the theater. At yesterday's work seminar, they evaluated and suggested the works from the perspective of industry experts.
's discussion of human nature makes the red play more modern conscious
"The relationship between the male and female protagonists in the play changes from ordinary comrades to my husband and wife, strengthens the dramatic conflict, enhances the dramatic tension, and makes the drama more watchable." Wang Renyuan, an opera music theorist and former deputy director of the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Culture, expressed his affirmation of the character relationship setting of "Cold Plum". And this is also a point that many critics are concerned about.
Stills of "Cold Plum", photography: Zu Zhongren
Urban New Huai drama "Cold Plum" is based on Wang Yuanjian's novel "Party Fees". In 1958, the movie "The Daughter of the Party" adapted from "Party Duties" was released. In 1963, the Shanghai Huai Opera Troupe brought it to the stage and became the first theater troupe in the country to bring "The Daughter of the Party" to the stage. In the 1990s, the Shanghai Huai Opera Troupe rehearsed this drama for the second time and renamed it "Cold Plum". This time the rehearsed the second version of "Cold Plum". The play tells the story of the failure of Jinggangshan's "fifth anti-encirclement and suppression", the underground party organization in Meihua Township was massacred due to the betrayal of a traitor. Han Mei survived by chance, but found that her husband Li Binghui had turned against him. During the storm, Hanmei and her husband went up the mountain at the same time. One wanted to protect the revolutionary comrades, and the other wanted to kill the guerrillas... The changes made by the new version of "Hanmei" in the relationship between the main characters are considered a successful attempt. Because it can better reflect the severity and complexity of the struggle situation in Jinggangshan area during the story, and further highlight Han Mei - the daughter of the Party's persistence in her faith. Zheng Rongjian, deputy director of the News Department of China Arts News, believes that this is "returning to the relationship between people that should have in the real historical situation at that time to find drama." The portrayal of human nature in the play also allows such red-themed dramas to move beyond the previous black and white and very conceptual presentation, making the characters more full and credible. This conflicting design and discussion of human nature are more in line with the aesthetics of modern and contemporary people and have a strong modern consciousness.
Stills of "Cold Plum", Photography: Zu Zhongren
"Traitors are also humans, with multifaceted and complexity of human nature." Zhang Zhiwei, associate researcher at the Institute of Opera of the Chinese Academy of Arts, said that in the first two scenes, Li Binghui planned to go far after his rebellion. But, he was in a dilemma; he learned that Hanmei might not die, so he went to Hanmei's mother's house to look for Hanmei, and the emotions and love of children revealed in the "Don't blame me" sing, including asking Hanmei who was shot with tears, "Does it hurt?" The kind of love of children; he persuaded Hanmei to escape, but was rejected and criticized by Hanmei. He changed his face in a second, and the selfish and cowardice of threatening Hanmei when he raised his gun to threaten Hanmei, all made the character more plump, three-dimensional and more credible. "Writing about people, the real conflict should be the inner conflict of the characters. In this drama, we see the psychological changes of the traitors and the inner conflicts and entanglements." The innovation of expression techniques of
makes the opera more in line with the contemporary aesthetics
The stage design in the drama also allows experts to not only feel the freehand painting of traditional opera, but also has a strong symbolic meaning of modern art.
"For example, in the opening execution ground, after the gunshot, the party members betrayed by the traitor fell down, and a large red cloth fell from the air, covering their bodies. On the one hand, it avoided the tragic visual impact, and on the other hand, it was also a pursuit of expressing aesthetics."Li Xiaoqing, director of the China Tianhan Research Association, editor-in-chief of the "Chinese Drama Yearbook" by the Chinese Dramaists Association, playwright, and drama critic, gave examples of the use of the "bare hat" in the play. A black bamboo hat was used by Li Binghui to cover his wife who fell down in the gun, showing his feelings and guilt for his wife, and also brought doubts and speculations to Han Mei who escaped from death. He was also used by Li Binghui to block his appearance as a traitor in front of the "old security chief". Later, Han Mei was thrown to the ground, suggesting her determination toward her husband, the "traitor". "It is truly an object that shows the character's heart, promotes the development of the plot, and is very symbolic. "
Stills of "Cold Plum", Photography: Zu Zhongren
The presentation of a cold plum dream with a montage effect in the play also attracted praise from many experts. "The dream scene was handled very novelly, borrowing film and television expression techniques, and flashing virtually and reality, which conforms to the plot and the psychology of the characters, and increases tension. "Liu Yuqin, former director and critic of the Literature and Art Department of the People's Daily, believes that this drama is very design-oriented and modern, and it can be seen that the innovation and borrowing of Shanghai Huai Opera Troupe in its expression techniques.
" The urban new Huai Opera "Cold Plum" has a red theme, including the re-adaptation of some classic works, opening up a new perspective. "Liu Yuqin said.
's return to tradition makes "Cold Plum" more opera and more Huai Opera
In addition to the pursuit of modernity, "Cold Plum" also has its adherence to and inheritance of tradition. As the screenwriter Luo Huaizhen said, "Stage art needs to return to tradition, not only the return of details, but the return of aesthetic spirit. "Cold Plum" we want to make it more dramatic, more operatic, and more Huai opera. ”
Liu Yuqin believes that "Han Mei" reflects the return of Huai Opera's tradition of being good at lyricism and taking Dan's role as the center of performance. "I think many of Han Mei's singing segments focus on expressing emotions, and highlights her persistence in faith. "
The protagonist Xing Na's characterization and control of the characters also made experts praise her. "Xing Na's voice is round, bright, free to retract and relax, and her accent is very particular. And this kind of attention is particularly important in local dramas. "Wang Renyuan, an opera music theorist and former deputy director of the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Culture, believes that local characteristics are their core and the foundation for their survival, and traditional characteristics cannot be lost.
Stills of "Cold Plum", photography: Zu Zhongren
Wang Renyuan emphasized the singing segment of Xing Na at the end of the play, believing that this large section of Huai tune formed the climax of the whole play. It is not only the climax of the dramatic emotions, but also the climax of artistic appreciation, and the climax of the artistic aesthetics of this drama, which is amazing. "This episode is worthy of our attention because it is particularly traditional. It is this kind of music that particularly has the essence of Huai Opera tradition that presents an artistic charm that can withstand the test of time and space. Among them, the use of gongs and drums is unique to Huai Opera. "Wang Renyuan suggested that the singing music of the whole play should be based on this singing style and benchmark.
In addition to singing music, experts also put forward some suggestions, striving to make the plot more reasonable, make the character shaping more plump and three-dimensional, and the emotional expression is more distinct. In this regard, the head of the Shanghai Drama Troupe Gong Xiaoxiong, editor Luo Huaizhen, and director Han Jianying all listened carefully, and expressed that they would refer to the expert's opinions to continue to carefully polish the play.
Stills of "Cold Plum", photography: Zu Zhongren
html l0 "Han Mei" Shanghai Huai Opera Troupe has changed three versions. In fact, its original novel "Party Duty" has currently been performed in multiple versions, including the movie version, the opera version "The Daughter of the Party", the Huai Opera "Han Mei", the Shanghai Opera "Look Back", the Peking Opera "Red Lantern" and so on. The movie "The One Later" later also performed the Shanghai Opera and Peking Opera version of "Red Lantern". Recently, the Shanghai Kun Opera Troupe has also rehearsed the Kun Opera version of "The One Later".In this regard, Wang Renyuan said that from ancient times to the present, all the operas that have been able to perform for a long time are "a sword that lasts for ten years", "not seeing the beginning of creation, nor the end of creation." Without this process, it cannot be a classic.The reason why classic works have been performed for a long time is that they have condensed the wisdom of generations of creators and experienced the verification of generations of audiences. Wang Renyuan said that he had collected different versions of performing arts and creative materials from some classic works. From the evolution of different versions, he could see that art has achieved success due to its proximity to the regularity. "A good work does not fall from the sky, it cannot be achieved overnight. It must be modified again and again, polished over and over again."
