At present, on the theatrical stage, some so-called "big productions", the stage art setting makes the stage too full and too solid, which not only squeezes the performance space of the actors, but also brings a series of problems to the later performance, communication and promotion.
A theater troupe rehearses in a "big production" way, just like a bird's wings are tied to "** can't fly."
Chinese drama creation should adhere to the spirit of oriental aesthetics. We must strengthen our cultural self-confidence and base ourselves on our own advantages - we have endless Chinese stories to tell, and we have the Chinese aesthetic spirit that we can be proud of in the field of world art, which is the source of our theatrical creation and our unique identity.
I have performed in many countries around the world with the crew of the Henan Opera "Cheng Ying Saves the Orphan", which I wrote, and I have witnessed the high recognition and strong resonance of Chinese opera by Western audiences, and I feel extremely proud of my culture. In the process of communicating with friends in the international theater circles, especially colleagues from the International Theatre Association, they mentioned that in the early years, some Chinese theater troupes consciously chose to perform some Western-themed plays, such as Greek plays and Shakespeare's plays, in order to shorten the distance between them and Western audiences and resonate with Western audiences. Although this kind of theatrical exchange has a certain significance, it cannot well meet the viewing needs of Western audiences, and it is contrary to what it wants to cater to. What they want to see most is precisely the works that can best demonstrate the spirit of Chinese aesthetics and adhere to the characteristics of their own nation.
Rabindranath Tagore has a poem in The Birds: If a bird has its wings tied, it will never be able to fly freely in the sky. Looking at the current theatrical stage, some so-called "big productions" blindly tailor our aesthetics with Western theories, and the stage art setting makes the stage too full and too solid, losing the spirit of oriental aesthetics, which not only squeezes the performance space of the actors, but also brings a series of problems to the later performance, communication and promotion. Based on this situation, it is necessary to talk dialectically and realistically about the "big productions" in the field of theater.
Specifically, in terms of the type of work, Chinese opera should be different from Western drama. Western drama pays attention to realism, while Chinese opera is a national drama produced in the soil of traditional Chinese culture, focusing on freehand, with its own aesthetic paradigm, paying attention to the coexistence of virtual and real, both form and spirit, ethereal poetry, freedom of time and space, creating something out of nothing, winning more with less, concise and concise, concise and modest, and it is unwise to blindly compare realism with Western drama and "big production". Drama works cannot be compared with thematic evenings, which are generally one-time investment and one-time performances, without considering the cost of later performances.
In terms of performance form, touring performances must not be compared with resident performances as "big productions". Touring shows incur high transportation, staging, and theatrical costs, and residency performances greatly reduce these costs. Some theater troupes pursue "big productions" regardless of the cost, and in the end they will only overwhelm themselves. For example, when you go to Beijing for a performance, you first need to use multiple trucks to transport the stage equipment and scenery, and you have to set up the stage a few days in advance before the performance, and unload the stage and transport it back after the performance. This is not the end - the storage capacity of the general theater group is limited, and in order to store this stage equipment and scenery, it is necessary to rent a warehouse, which generates another rental expense ......The cost of such a performance is often hundreds of thousands or even millions, more performances and more losses, less performances and less compensation, and no compensation if you don't act, which eventually leads to some works being shelved after only three or five performances, and the day of winning the award is the time of "the end of life", which is a pity.
A theater troupe rehearses in a "big production" way, just like a bird's wings are tied to "** can't fly."
To show the oriental aesthetic spirit of drama, the importance of stage art is self-evident. As far as my personal experience is concerned, I have created nearly 50 stage plays, and in so many stage plays, there are various stage art presentations, which often inspire and even shock me. When it comes to Chinese opera, we often talk about virtuality and freehand, which is talking about "virtuality";Even the "real" on the opera stage can give birth to "virtuality", as the so-called virtual has reality, reality has virtuality, and virtual reality is born together. The stage setting of the Henan opera "Cheng Ying Saves the Orphan" fully reflects this point. In the play, although Xue Dianjie's stage design uses two city-shaped scenes throughout the play, as the plot progresses, the scenery depends on the actors' upper and lower stages and the dramatic situation, changing the space it refers to at any time, sometimes it is a palace, sometimes it is a city gate, sometimes it is a street market, sometimes it is a flyover......When Cheng Ying committed suicide, the stage lights focused on his body, and the high platform was promoted, gradually pushing the characters to the foreground and to the audience, just like a close-up of a movie, and the characters were immediately distinct.
Good stage design can not only establish a meaningful environment for the drama that carries the charm of oriental aesthetics, but also help shape the characters, reveal the theme of the play, and convey ideas together with the play. In the opera "Lu Zhen", I designed the following lyrics for the fictional character Lu Dingping: "When I return to my hometown after school vacation, I am sad and hesitant. Lu Zhen is still the same scene, and the air is dull and presses on the chest. It's like an iron house, and the people in it sleep soundly......At the beginning, Lu Xun's image of the "iron house" was mentioned. The stage designer Xiu Yan captures this point, and when the curtain opens, the stage is a row of house facades running up and down, like a huge iron house, full of metaphors and shocking.
Literary and artistic workers should show Chinese characteristics, Chinese style, and Chinese style in their creation, and for drama creators, it is necessary to take the initiative to think about how to create a drama style of Chinese drama in the new era, and actively explore the modern expression of the spirit of oriental aesthetics, rather than blindly pursuing "big productions". Chinese drama represented by Chinese opera has never rejected advanced concepts and advanced technology, from the use of torches and night pot lights when performing in the fields, to the later use of gas lamps and electric lights, and then to the sound and light, multi-technology, and AI technology ...... on today's drama stageChinese drama has always been upright, innovative, open and inclusive, and advancing with the times. However, we must realize that technology is the means, and only by better integrating with the content and serving art can it really play a positive role on the stage, presenting a drama that fully embodies the spirit of oriental aesthetics and has a distinctive Chinese drama style. Such a drama must not only be deeply rooted in the fertile soil of China, but also be able to represent China to the world and win dignity for Chinese drama.
Author: Chen Yongquan, playwright, secretary of the party group of the China Drama Association, and vice chairman of the meeting).
*: "Bright**" January 10, 2024 16th edition).
*: China Art Daily.
Co-ordinator: Li Chunli, Li Jinrong, Li Xiaomeng.
Editor-in-charge: Zhang Yongqun.
Editor: Sun Dai.