On December 1, Beijing Renyi Small Theater's new work, "Farewell My Concubine" written by Mo Yan, held a meeting. Directed by Lin Cong and starring Sun Yilin, Lu Lu, Wang Junqi, Zhang Hansheng, Wei Jiacheng, etc., this work will be staged at the same time as the new drama "Zhang Juzheng" at the Capital Theater on December 20, 2023 as a New Year's Eve work at the Beijing International Theater Center. Feng Yuanzheng, president of Beijing Renyi, and Qin Xinchun, vice president of Beijing Renyi, attended the press conference. "Teacher Mo Yan used a modern spirit to create this historical drama, and we used a more modern spirit to interpret Teacher Mo Yan's works. I hope to bring another 'spring breeze' to the drama stage at the end of the year and the beginning of the year. Feng Yuanzheng said.
Farewell My Concubine poster.
"Farewell My Concubine" is another drama work in which writer Mo Yan was put on the stage of Beijing Renyi after "Our Jing Ke". Founded in 1997, "Farewell My Concubine" tells a story about people's self-perception and choices through the classical story structure of characters such as Xiang Yu, Yu Ji and Lu Pheasant. At the beginning of the formation of the play, Mo Yan made a special trip to Renyi to give lectures to young actors, communicate creative ideas with the director, and re-polish the script for this creation and rehearsal. At the press conference, **Mo Yan specially sent**, he said that he believed that Beijing Renyi's second creation will definitely bring "new ideas" to this play. "Farewell My Concubine" is different from traditional historical dramas, and the poetic language, imaginative character creation and novel dramatic structure in the work have the distinctive style of the author Mo Yan, which also provides space and challenges for stage presentation.
What we show in the play is people. Lin Cong, the director of the play, said that Mo Yan's works are best at portraying people, and this deep understanding of people makes the work have a kind of "avant-garde" from its birth to the present. As a female director, Lin Cong examines the different aspects of the two female characters in the play from a more delicate perspective, thus giving the work a new interpretation. "We're trying to push the two female characters to the front of the show. Lin Cong introduced, "Lu Pheasant's true courage and firmness, Yu Ji's pursuit of ideals are different aspects of women, and we want to refine them." At the same time, the positioning of the overlord Xiang Yu will also be different from the audience's Xi perception. ”
Director: Lin Cong. All of this article was taken by Li Chunguang.
In the opinion of director Lin Cong, "Mr. Mo Yan just borrowed a familiar historical story background and structured the relationship between the characters to ** a troublesome problem." It uses a contemporary perspective. "We are not telling a historical story, not about the emotional entanglement of three people, but about the individual's own struggle and entanglement, understanding and choice, troubles and solutions. As Mo Yan said: "In fact, all dramas are historical dramas, and all historical dramas are modern dramas." ”
Speaking of which, Mo Yan's initial literary creation actually started with writing scripts, and he even thinks that his ** writing is also greatly influenced by drama. Mo Yan once recalled that his real literary "** work" was a six-act drama called "Divorce" created in 1978, which was not put on the stage and was later burned by him. After "Divorce", Mo Yan has not touched drama for nearly 20 years. It was not until 1996 that Mo Yan was invited by screenwriter Wang Shuzeng and director Wang Xiangming to start drama creation again. But the work, titled "Farewell My Concubine," was not brought to the stage until 2000, both for market reasons and for the playwright's own prudence.
Group photo of the main creator on the spot.
Lin Cong told the surging news reporter that "Farewell My Concubine" appeared on the stage of Beijing Renyi in 2000, "but at that time, it was the main creator of Kongzheng, starring Wu Jingan and Xiao Xiong, and this time it was completely created by Beijing Renyi." In terms of the structure of the play, we have adjusted the six scenes in order this time, and the first one is the siege of the wall. Teacher Mo Yan has his own perspective when writing historical dramas, and the portrayal of Empress Lu is particularly bold. In terms of stage design, we adopted the form of a center stage, wrapping the audience seat and the performance space together to enhance the sense of immersion. We want to get the audience involved, to involve their feelings, to have them talk to the characters, and then to talk to themselves. ”
Wang Junqi (right) plays Xiang Yu.
Lu Lu (front right) plays Yu Ji.
As another work of Beijing Renyi's youth team, Sun Yilin, Lu Lu, Wang Junqi, Zhang Hansheng, and Wei Jiacheng not only brought dynamic and rich imagination to the work during the rehearsal process, but also constantly helped the opponent to find the best expression together. "Everyone puts their own ideas in, and the characters are rich. Lin Cong said. This scene seems to give the actors a problem, but in fact, every dialogue has a psychological basis for realism. "The directors and actors will find a modern language form based on realism and poetic expression of the work.
* The Paper).