Qianjiang Evening News·Hourly News Reporter Chen Yuhao
"If we still tolerate and slack off, then Your Majesty! Decades later, the Central Plains will have few soldiers who can defend the enemy, and no money to pay... With this in mind, my lord, Trembling all over!" When Lin Zexu, played by Pu Cunxin , narrated this monologue on the stage, the patriotic enthusiasm of the audience seemed to be instantly ignited.
html From August 12th to 14th, the original drama "Lin Zexu" jointly produced by the National Center for the Performing Arts and Guangzhou Dramatic Arts Center will be performed at Hangzhou Grand Theater for three consecutive days.
It is no exaggeration to say that this is also the drama closest to the ceiling level in Hangzhou in 2022. Just looking at the leading actors, Pu Cunxin, Hong Tao , Guo Da , Guan Dongtian , Li He... How often can we see such a magical lineup?
More importantly, in this era, we need a "Lin Zexu"-style stage masterpiece so much, and we also need the "Lin Zexu spirit" too much. As Pu Cunxin said, today when the country is prosperous and the nation is strong, we sometimes need to ignite the pain in our hearts. "It is especially important in this era of great changes."
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html On the evening of August 12, Hangzhou Grand Theater, " When the curtain came down on the first performance of "Lin Zexu", the audience burst into applause that lasted for several minutes. A few aunties sitting in the front row had red eyes, cheering and taking pictures with their mobile phones.In the past two hours, the protagonists used textbook-level performances to lead the Hangzhou audience through the smoke and clouds of history for more than a hundred years. They saw a flesh-and-blood Lin Zexu and truly felt the power of this national hero.
Perhaps you have only read the story of Lin Zexu in textbooks, but when you enter the theater, everyone will have a new understanding of this period of history.
In history, Lin Zexu fired the first shot against oppression in modern China. “If smoking is not strictly prohibited, all Chinese people will be sick!” With the will of "", Lin Zexu embarked on a pioneering road of "no turning back and no turning back". "If the opium continues for a day, Xu will not return for a day." This powerful but simple sentence summed up the story of Lin Zexu's life. Persisting, Emperor Daoguang also reluctantly left the farewell words "Lin Zexu and I will never meet again in this life." In these turbulent times, some people are destined to become the pioneers of history.
But you are wrong if you think that " Humen Detoxification " will be performed on the stage for more than two hours.
The first half begins when Emperor Daoguang sees Lin Zexu’s inspiring memorial, “If you still tolerate and slack off, then Your Majesty! Decades later, the Central Plains will have few soldiers who can defend the enemy, and no money to pay... Thinking of this, I tremble all over!" A sense of national sadness came over, which also kicked off the "" campaign.
The second half, starting from the separation between Lin Zexu and his wife Zheng Shuqing, to Wang Ding's corpse remonstrance and then to Lin Zexu's exile Ili , all permeate the atmosphere of the decadence of a dynasty, as well as the "changes unprecedented in three thousand years" for the country and the people. Destiny direction.
According to director Wang Xiaodian, if the first half is about the stirring ups and downs of national dignity, then the second half is about the dawn of seeing the world with open eyes.
An audience member posted on Weibo after walking out of the theater: "I used to only regard Lin Zexu as a hero, but now I see more of him as an ordinary person."
Indeed, surrounding the relationship with his wife, Emperor Daoguang, Wang Ding, The conflicts between Qi Shan and other important figures, the whole play uses dramatic means to reshape Lin Zexu, a great figure who "only appeared in hundreds of years", vividly and without facial expressions.
For example, the scene of parting with his wife is particularly touching. Zheng Shuqing said: "Shao Mu, come back to your hometown. The mountains and rivers of Fuzhou are waving to us, right in our humble room. Even if we eat and drink, we will wait." Spring grass grows in the pond, and garden willows turn into songbirds. I will spread paper and ink for you, and you will decorate our lives with couplets. This is the greatest happiness. "Everyone knows this simple happiness. , but in the face of national justice, it is so fragile and vulnerable.
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When "Lin Zexu" was performed in Beijing before, the audience gave it a "super high score" of 200 points; when it was performed in Guangzhou, many theater critics labeled it a "must-see" ...In 2022, when the epidemic is recurring, it is also a blessing for Hangzhou audiences that such a top-notch drama can come to Hangzhou.
Whether it is the magical cast of actors, the production team of the "National Team", or the artistic conception and character to be expressed, "Lin Zexu" can bring multiple sensory and spiritual satisfactions to the audience.
At the press conference before the performance in Hangzhou, Pu Cunxin said that he was a little nervous now and wanted to go to the theater quickly to check out the location. This exactly reflects the professionalism of a stage artist - before each performance, letting yourself feel a little unfamiliar with the role will put you in a better state and avoid falling into a "systematic performance" that is familiar to you.
Who would have thought that after three years of acting, what Pu Cunxin thinks about every day is still how to improve the role of Lin Zexu.
"After I had been acting for a while, a good friend of mine called me and said, 'I think you are playing yourself instead of Lin Zexu.'" This sentence made Pu Cunxin frightened and reflected for a long time, "Indeed, At that time, many of the plots were processed and the starting point still brought too much of my own emotions."
In Pu Cunxin's view, this drama also has an important significance, which is to let the audience understand that Lin Zexu's contribution to history is not only. It’s just that Humen is selling out cigarettes. After he realized the gap between China and the world, he began to organize many people to translate a large amount of geography, history and other information from Western countries to compile the "Records of the Four Kingdoms". In the end, he was unable to complete it himself, so he entrusted his friend Wei Yuan to help him continue. Completed, " Haiguo Tuzhi " was finally born.
"What he did was not just to ban smoking, he was also a man of insight." Pu Cunxin said frankly that he didn't know this before arranging this drama.
Qi Shan, played by Guan Dongtian, also left a deep impression on the audience. "When many people mention Qi Shan, they say he is a villain and a traitor. His political philosophy is different from that of Lin Zexu, and he feels that he cannot defeat the British. Everyone can negotiate slowly to strive for more benefits."
Director Wang Xiaodian is nicknamed the "Award Harvester" and has won the Wenhua Award, the Wenhua New Play Award, the Wenhua Director Award, and the Chinese Drama Director Golden Lion Award . ...I have won all the awards I can, but during the process of arranging "Lin Zexu", I still kept thinking, "Because this character is so familiar to Chinese people, so when I was creating it, I was thinking about what angle to use." and aesthetics, to communicate with contemporary Chinese people and young people.”
Therefore, after three years of performance and three years of adjustments, what the audience finally saw was the changing situation of the country, and every possibility that determines the fate of the country. People, their choices, "return to human nature itself."
What also surprised the audience was that for such a "positive" historical theme, the stage design was full of creativity throughout, constantly creating excitement.
As soon as the show started, someone whispered, "Why is this stage...a little tilted?" It was not that it was not installed properly, but that the stage was specially designed with a tilt of 11 degrees. The audience in the front row could clearly see what was happening in the deepest part of the stage, and then The audience in the rows also had a level line of sight to the back of the stage, making it possible for the four-sided stage representing time and space to present different plots at the same time.
For example, even if the dancers in front are dancing, the audience can clearly see that Emperor Daoguang behind the stage is reading Lin Zexu's memorial.
Every device and every light will not be redundant. The hanging roof symbolizes the crumbling imperial power of the Qing Dynasty; the other large mirror reflects the chaos of the world's current situation at that time, and also shines into Lin Zexu's determined heart. In addition, two light strips made of special materials were wound into the shapes of the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, freehandly outlining the territory of China at that time.
As Wang Xiaodian said, every actor and every detail on the stage is interconnected, making the historical figure Lin Zexu more vivid and making the audience understand a truth better - no matter how the times change, there will always be There is no shortage of heroes who dare to "retrograde". Recording this period of history is also to not forget the original intention and continue to move forward.
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