Stills from the song and dance drama "Cat God in the Forbidden City" Courtesy of China Children's Art Theater.
I want the 'little things' back, are the kittens all back? After the performance ended, the young audience with the "cat face" raised their heads and asked their mothers. The mother replied: "The kittens are going to guard the cultural relics of the Forbidden City and protect their homes, they have always been by our side, and every kitten in the Forbidden City is a 'little thing'." ”
In the 2024 winter vacation season, a group of children with kitten whiskers painted on their faces run happily in the theater, or pose for photos with cat-shaped dolls in the front hall, or queue up at the stamp collection area to be stamped. What makes them happiest is the wonderful performance in the theater - the song and dance drama "Cat God in the Forbidden City" jointly produced by China Children's Art and the Palace Museum. The play is adapted from the picture book of the same name, telling a story about love and companionship, memory and history, life and eternity through the perspective of a cat, providing new ideas for the innovative expression of China's excellent traditional culture.
Breaking the circle of cooperation, the Forbidden City cat incarnates as a "little thing".
In the Forbidden City, a kitten named "Bao'er", because of his deep attachment to human companions, traveled through time through strange chances and became a kitten named "Little Thing". At this time, the Forbidden City has become the Palace Museum, where "little things" are looking for their partners who once accompanied them, and also looking for their own ......In 2020, the picture book "Cat God in the Forbidden City" created by Feng Li, the dean of Chinese children's arts, came out. Director Jiao Gang recalled that when he first saw the picture book, he was moved by the infinite affection and mutual love between cats and humans in the story. Based on the popular IP of the Forbidden City Cat, the picture book story has gained wide attention from the industry and readers with a novel perspective and profound cultural heritage, and has also planted the seeds of drama creation.
After a long period of preparation and rehearsal, the lively and vivid image of the Forbidden City cat came to the audience. The four-clawed guard "Baby" in the Forbidden City, the "Little Things" who came to the Palace Museum through hundreds of years, the domineering and flamboyant "Partial Cat", the heroic and free "Big Orange Cat", and the festive and cute "Dundun Cat" ......They are kind, optimistic, brave and strong, they are good companions to children and witnesses to the changes of the land under their feet over the years.
A good work lies in the plot, but also in the details. On the stage of "Cat God in the Forbidden City", the organic integration of traditional culture and elements of the times can be seen everywhere. In the nearly 2-hour performance, every audience member can find their favorite elements in the play, such as the character modeling that combines traditional costume elements with national style comics, and spreads the national costume culture in a way that is more acceptable to teenagers and children.
From December 2023 to February 2024, "Cat God in the Forbidden City" completed the first round of 50 performances, and successfully "broke the circle" by combining offline performances and online communication. At the performance site, there was no shortage of "three brushes" and "four brushes" of small audiences, and there were even many young audiences outside Beijing who made a special trip to watch the play with suitcases.
"Cat's Eye" watched the play, and the small story showed big feelings
There are always people who are worried about whether the child can understand the plot, and I think the child should be provided with some 'stimulation' to watch, listen and feel. This is the real experience of an audience member after watching the play. The success of a play is judged not only by the audience's reaction in the theater, but also by the thoughts left by the audience after they walk out of the theater. Although "The Cat God in the Forbidden City" is mainly aimed at children, the philosophical ideas contained in it are not limited to age, and they also move parents who enter the theater.
At the beginning of the creation, "thinking about the relationship between cats and people" was a special concern of the main creative team. Feng Li usually uses the term "companion animal" instead of "pet", and these companion animals treat human emotions without reservation and with humanity. In the play, this "humanity" is enriched by theatrical expression. Before the arrival of the "little things", the kittens in the Forbidden City were not friendly to humans, and they were either deceived or hurt by humans. But "Little Things" firmly believes that "humans are not the owners of cats, but companions". Under its influence, the angry kittens saw the possibility of all things for good, and the world in their eyes became peaceful and bright.
The significance of drama education is to make people aware of the richness of the world. Through a pair of smart "cat's eyes" on the stage, the young audience can see the complex human emotions and multi-faceted human society. "Little Things" became brave and confident through a series of experiences, established friendliness and goodwill towards the world, and became the guardian of the Forbidden City. The growth of characters also inspires children to think about how to deal with the relationship between individuals and groups, and how to build friendship with the world.
Step into the theater and listen to the "living history" told by cultural relics
"Cat God in the Forbidden City" not only integrates the historical background, but also deeply portrays the emotional connection between the kitten and the cultural relics, giving the cultural relics of the Forbidden City anthropomorphic life and emotion. For example, when the "little thing" was first ostracized, the "copper lion" and "can" gave it comfort. They are not only the kitten's good friends, but also the embodiment of the cultural relics of the Forbidden City and the Chinese homeland.
This play is performed in a form that is easy for children to understand and accept, with both a delicate perspective and a grand pattern. "The child not only understands it, but also keeps reminiscing about it when he goes home, and takes the initiative to learn to make up for his understanding of this period of history. Seeing the audience's heartfelt comments, Feng Li said very happily: "The story of the Forbidden City is very rich, we can't tell the story of 100 plays, but we can use one play to arouse everyone's curiosity and imagination about the Forbidden City." She hopes to inject richer connotations into this play, and let every audience have the right to interpret this work.
The cat god in the Forbidden City allows the cultural relics of the Forbidden City to "speak", and the behavior of kittens guarding friends and human beings guarding cultural relics runs through the children's consciousness, and through the integration of dramatic art and historical stories, they touch the mystery of inheriting the excellent traditional Chinese culture in the "Living Forbidden City". The young audience walked into the theater with curiosity about the world of kittens, perceived and understood the weight of history in the drama, and turned into an inexhaustible driving force for inheriting and promoting the excellent traditional Chinese culture.
March 5, 2024 China Culture Daily
A special report was published in the 5th edition.
The song and dance drama "Cat God in the Forbidden City" "Cat's Eye" looks at the Forbidden City, and the childlike mind understands history
Editor-in-charge: Chen Chen.