On January 30th, the exclusive version of "Dream Like a Dream" press conference was held at the Shanghai Theater in Shanghai. Lai Shengchuan, Chinese dramatist, artistic director of Shanghai Theatre, screenwriter and director of "A Dream Like a Dream", Ding Naizhu, a famous producer and CEO of Shanghai Theatre, Huang Wei, costume designer of the exclusive version of "A Dream of a Dream", and Ni Ni, an actor of the exclusive version of "A Dream of a Dream", Wen Wen and Fan Guangyao attended the press conference and shared the story of creating, producing and performing a "dream" with the audience. The show will be held at the Shanghai Theatre for three consecutive days from February 2 to 4.
"A Dream Like a Dream" is the first of its kind in a surround theater, and the performance time of "A Dream Like a Dream" is 8 hours long, with three intermissions. In these 8 hours, dreams and reality are intertwined, and the story of two lifetimes slowly unfolds, and the audience follows the actors from the end of the 20th century to the beginning of the 20th century, from Asia to Europe, from life to death, from pain to the possibility of liberation, witnessing a mandala-like surrounding life from a "panoramic" perspective.
In this play, director Lai Shengchuan created a precedent for surround theater. He boldly placed the audience on the stage**, forming a landscape of "lotus pond". This subversive stage design was inspired by a trip to Bodh Gaya, India. He witnessed the monks walking around the sacred stupa in their minds, and a special inspiration came – putting the audience on the stage** and the actors walking around the audience. It is also during this journey that the past life experience and the stories heard are all connected, and Lai Shengchuan completed the outline of "A Dream Like a Dream" under the big tree in Bodh Gaya, which he said was a "small fire and slow simmer of life experience".
In May 2000, "Dream Like a Dream" was premiered at Taipei University of the Arts. In 2002, the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre completed its first production of Dream Like a Dream and performed it professionally in the theatre. In 2005, "Dream Like a Dream", co-produced by the Acting Workshop and Taipei University of the Arts, was performed in two theaters in Taipei. In 2013, "Dream Like a Dream" premiered in the mainland, and its backstage was full and it was hard to find a ticket.
In 2023, the exclusive version of "Dream Like a Dream" will be born on the stage of the Shanghai Theater, which will be newly produced by the Shanghai Theater team. The unique "circular lotus pond" of the theater can rotate as a whole by itself, and then cooperate with the actors who walk around the stage, so that the audience can feel the story in an immersive way and see the cycle of the characters' lives. In addition, Huang Weite, known as the "fashion godmother", is responsible for the costume styling design for the exclusive version of "Dream Like a Dream", and she has created more than 400 sets of costumes and shapes for more than 200 characters, with styles spanning ancient and modern things, among which the "Gu Xianglan" cheongsam that integrates intangible cultural heritage skills is particularly dazzling and has become a major attraction of the exclusive version.
Ni Ni admitted that her feelings for the stage are getting deeper and deeper, and in this round of the exclusive version of "A Dream Like a Dream", Ni Ni once again starred in "Gu Xianglan". In her opinion, "Gu Xianglan is a character full of changes, her life is full of ups and downs, love and hate, and she has a tough undertone under her gorgeous appearance, she is a legendary and charming woman", and she is also invested in it with a strong desire to shape the character.
As early as 2019, Ni Ni starred in the drama "The Cave", which was also written and directed by Lai Shengchuan, in which one of them played two roles. In January this year, Ni Ni, Lai Shengchuan and Ding Naizhu co-starred as the drama initiator of Huichang Drama Town, speaking enthusiastically for the Huichang Drama Season, hoping to convey the charm of the stage and the power of drama to the audience. "From the first time I came into contact with drama to standing on the stage to perform drama, my feelings for drama have become deeper and deeper, and I have begun to truly understand how important the energy of drama is to people's spiritual support. I hope that I can continue to act, and I also hope that there will be more excellent young actors to be seen by the audience, so I hope to make more attempts in the theater area. Ni Ni said that she hopes that she can grow up with the characters of "The Cave" and "The Dream of the Dream", "Although there is still a lot of film and television work this year, I can be sure that the roles of "The Cave" and "The Dream of the Dream" are roles that I will not lose and will continue to act." ”
Talking about the difference between the performance of film and television dramas and stage plays, Ni Ni sighed: "The difference is too big! The drama stage requires more comprehensive skills of actors. I act in general film and television dramas, and I feel that I am OK now in terms of body and lines, but sometimes I don't feel enough on the drama stage. During my rehearsals in the past two days, I was still thinking about how to deal with some explosive lines and how to deal with my body. For film and television dramas, actors may not need that much explosiveness, because the camera will amplify your expression. But the stage is completely different, so now I am still in a state of learning, not afraid of losing face, try more. After nearly five years of experience in stage plays, Ni Ni admitted that she began to "relax" on the stage, not thinking about how to "act", but really turning herself into a character to "feel". "Every time I come to perform at the Upper Theatre, I feel like I'm coming home. As an actor, I began to enjoy the stage and the emotional ups and downs that the drama brought me, which was completely my own, a very hearty experience. Text丨Reporter He Jing.
*丨Upper Theater.