Watching a play
Text: Niu Yongchao.
It's been a long time since I've seen a play, and I can't remember the last time I saw a play.
One morning last winter, I was reading a book in my room, and suddenly there was a sound of "dong dong bang" in the living room. I asked him, "What are you singing?" Answer: Cui Lantian's "Flower Gun". I listened carefully, and it was! asked him again: Why didn't you listen to Ma Jinfeng's singing?
Next, my father-in-law and I discussed the difference in the singing voices of Cui Lantian and Ma Jinfeng, two masters of Henan opera. I think Cui Lantian's singing of "Qin Xianglian" is very good, her low tone and soft voice are more suitable for singing tragic scenes, while "Flower Gun" is a comedy, and Ma Jinfeng's voice is better sung.
My remarks surprised my father-in-law. He only knew that I loved to read and could teach, but he didn't expect that I could also understand opera.
In fact, when I was a child, I was a big fan of drama, not only did I love to watch dramas, but I also often learned to hum. However, my viewing is limited to performances in the amphitheatre.
Maybe it was because there was no TV at home at that time, or because there were too few books to read, or maybe it was because of the influence of my parents, whenever I sang in the village, I always read from the beginning to the end, and I could still remember some of the lyrics. In retrospect, that seems like a distant thing to do.
There is a custom of rushing to meet in my hometown, where two or three or five villages meet together. Whenever there is a meeting, the big village invites a troupe to sing alone, and the small village invites a troupe to play together. Our village has a meeting on the eleventh day of the second month of the lunar calendar, if it is a singing, the village primary school will have at least one day off, one is because the teacher's home will also entertain guests on the day of the meeting, and the other is that the gongs and drums outside sound, and everyone has no intention of listening to the class.
When I first started watching the play, I was similar to Mr. Lu Xun watching the social drama, and I couldn't distinguish the characters on stage at all, and I couldn't understand what the actors were "babbling" about. Therefore, I only ran backstage to watch the actors put on makeup, change clothes, and wear props.
watched a lot, and felt that it was not interesting, so I honestly sat down and watched the play. When you can understand it, your mood will be happy or sad with the plot, and you will be immersed in it. As the saying goes: It is a madman who sings a play, and a fool who watches a play. Since then, I have become a "fool of the play".
When the meeting is sung, there are a lot of people watching the play during the day. Therefore, before the start of the play, the village cadres often have to stand on the stage first, holding a loudspeaker to emphasize the order, such as not to make loud noises in the middle of the play, and adults to watch their children not to run around, but these "warnings" usually do not work.
Middle-aged and elderly people love to watch plays, so they all move stools to sit in front, and the young people who join in the fun are standing to watch the play. Although the stage is relatively high, those sitting in the back still have to stand up if they can't see clearly, which is bound to block those who are further back.
Sometimes, the maintainer simply stands in the corner of the stage and sweeps down with a long pole in his hand. Those who were worried that the bamboo pole would fall on their heads hurriedly sat down or squatted, but after only a few moments, they stood up because they could not see or hear clearly.
In addition, there are adults in the theater who keep standing up to look for their children, some children calling for their parents outside, and some occupying seats in advance to call relatives and friends, which seems to be noisy from beginning to end.
When I was in the fifth grade, there was no singing in our village at the time of the meeting. One night, my friend Xiaojing invited me to go to Poliu Village, four or five miles away, to watch a play. That night we sang the opera "Kou Zhun Back Boots", and we had already started the play. The actress who played the Lord of Cheshire not only had a good look, but also a sweet voice, and the audience was attracted by her humor.
Xiaojing is bigger than my drama addiction. Because I had to go to school the next day, I urged her to go at about ten o'clock, but she insisted on watching it a little longer. I didn't dare to go back alone, so I had to wait. After repeated this several times, she finally agreed to go with me.
Since the play has not yet ended, after leaving the village, there is no one on the road. Approaching the fifteenth day, the moonlight shone brightly, illuminating the earth like day. We walked down the main road, with empty wheat fields on either side and black woods in the distance. The silence around people was inexplicably terrifying.
On early spring nights, the temperature is still cooler. Due to the long time of standing, I felt a little chill all over my body, so I grabbed Xiaojing's arm and deliberately stomped my feet to walk.
At the beginning, Xiaojing was still enthusiastic to discuss the play he had just watched with me. Seeing that I didn't want to say more, she stopped. When we reached the head of the neighboring village, we suddenly heard the call of an owl from a large poplar tree.
In my hometown, people think that owl calls are unlucky, and there is even a saying that "if the owl is calling, it will die". So we started running.
When I got home, everyone in the family was asleep. I didn't dare to alarm my parents, so I gently flicked the latch of the door and lay down in my kimono. The next day, my mother asked me when I would be home the night before, and I prevaricated. After that, I never went to the village to watch the play at night.
When I was about the first year of junior high school, an old man surnamed Sun in a neighboring village celebrated his 80th birthday. He sang opera when he was young, and I heard that his wife also stayed in the troupe. He and Mr. Tang Xicheng, a famous actor in Henan Opera, are brothers, so Mr. Tang specially brought the troupe from Zhengzhou to congratulate his uncle on his birthday. It became a sensation for us. The villagers in ten miles and eight villages all helped the old and the young to come to watch the play. Because I went to school, I only watched one show, and I sang Mr. Tang's specialty play - "Three Crying Palace", Mr. Tang played the role of King Tang, and Old Man Sun's wife played the princess in person.
It was the first and only time I had experienced the charm of the famous characters up close. After so many years, although I can't remember the scene of watching the play at that time, this incident is unforgettable for me.
As I got older, I went to the theater less and less, and then I watched it on TV altogether. Now that I think about it, my enthusiasm for opera has decreased, probably after the Internet.
In recent years, in order to promote traditional Chinese culture, the state has launched activities such as "sending opera to the countryside" and "bringing opera to campus". For college students who are mainly born in the 90s and 00s, this quintessence of the country seems to be far less attractive than the "glory of kings". I think what interested them was probably the fights between the actors on stage. As for the pure dialogue and lyrics, it doesn't matter.
One day, I heard that there was a pear orchard club in the student club, which was really unexpected and aroused my great interest. It seems that one day I really have to go to see their rehearsals and have a good time.
Written on March 13, 2019).
About author】Niu Yongchao, female, from Xinzheng, Henan, is an associate professor at Henan Forestry Vocational College. He has been teaching for more than 20 years, focusing on education and teaching research in economic management and marketing, occasionally dancing and writing, finding warmth in words, cultivating self-cultivation in code words, and making the heart clear and transparent in the opening and closing of words.