The Double Legacy Led by Boat to the Sea This edition of "The Six Chapters of a Floating Life" performed "International Fan"
In recent years, the contrast between the increase in the number of newly-written opera repertoire and the unsatisfactory market expectations has gradually attracted the attention of experts and scholars in the field of traditional opera. The newly edited garden version of the Kunqu Opera "The Six Chapters of a Floating Life" has its unique artistic presentation and immersion style. The sensory experience has received attention and praise from many parties, and has become a phenomenon worthy of attention. The play is based on the Qing Dynasty Suzhou literati Shen Fu's autobiographical prose "The Six Chapters of a Floating Life". It is produced by Suzhou Haozhengzheng Culture Media Co., Ltd. It is the Suzhou Gusu District People's Government and the Suzhou Garden and Greening Administration The "drama +" innovative cultural project created by Qingli has performed more than 100 times since its debut in Qixi Festival in 2018. Its communication strategy is based on the international perspective, and is mainly manifested in the two dimensions of "bringing in" and "going out".
In order to develop and attract more potential audiences at home and abroad, the play is unique in its theme selection and presentation methods. In the play, Shen Fu and Yun Niang were cousins. Due to a bowl of flower porridge, the two married and lived in Canglang Pavilion, Suzhou, building a period of poetic life. Suzhou's Canglang Pavilion, Huqiu, Dongting Junci in Vinegar Lane, Cangmi Lane, Wannian Bridge and Taihu Lake all left their footprints. Going to a real place to follow the real story that happened hundreds of years ago is a great attraction of the show. At the same time, this drama with the theme of marriage and love is quite different from the talented and beautiful legends often found in Kunqu opera. It is not only different from the Peony Pavilion, which is the most sensational crying ghost, but also different from the Palace of Longevity, which is hated by the imperial court, and it only tells about mortal things and "one person, one life, two people", but not Ordinary-In the feudal society where women's doors are not two doors away, Shen Fu encourages his wife and women to dress up as men and accompany her to go out to watch the lights, flashing the modern light rarely seen in Chinese opera in subtleties. "Wish to be a husband and wife forever" ended with the tragedy of "love of husband and wife is not head", seeming to level and stretch the pen, in fact contains the tragic factors in the history of Chinese literature. In addition, since the English translation of Lin Yutang was published in 1935, Six Chapters of a Floating Life has been translated into German, French, Danish, Swedish, Japanese, Malay and other languages. Translators and translations enjoy a certain popularity in the western world, which is an important prerequisite for it to attract foreign audiences and open international channels.
The performance of the garden version of the Kunqu Opera "The Six Chapters of a Floating Life" is one of the places in the drama where the story occurred and Suzhou's oldest garden Canglang Pavilion. In this play, the Suzhou Gardens listed on the World Cultural Heritage List and the Kunqu Opera "Double Legacy Couplet" on the World Intangible Cultural Heritage List have greatly enhanced the cultural connotation of the play. The performance is not fixed in a scene in the garden, but allows the audience to change the scene with the characters' plots. This immersive experience of the real scene is completely different from the performance in the sit-in theater, which makes the audience's sense of substitution and participation double. In addition, the garden version of the Kunqu Opera "Six Seasons of Floating Life" also designed sunny and rain routes for different weather conditions, tailored private editions for different audience needs, and successively launched theme activities outside the venue, such as planning meet-ups, stories Meeting, clear appreciation party, Soviet-style life exhibition, children's experience camp, etc., and then developed the Suzhou section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal tour line performances and a series of cultural and creative products, integrating opera, cultural and creative life. This multi-channel promotion model is also a highlight of the show.
As a new drama that was born shortly, the main creative team has paid full attention to the development of its "international fan" since its creation. Throughout China's opera performances, there are very few English subtitles on the scene. Even if there are, the quality of the translation is uneven. This is one of the important reasons that seriously affect the "going out" of Chinese opera. The garden version of Kunqu's "The Six Chapters of a Floating Life" has done a good job in this respect. Chinese and English subtitles have been installed in multiple performance locations in the garden, either embedded in flower windows or standing at the foot of a rockery, blending perfectly with the plot scene. The English subtitles were translated by Guo Ranlai, an Englishman who is proficient in Chinese and specializes in the study of Chinese Kunqu opera. These sinologists who are proficient in Chinese culture and Chinese are not only familiar with the psychology of Western audiences, but also have the inherent advantage of foreign language expression. Inviting them to join the Chinese opera translation team is undoubtedly a wise move for Chinese culture to "borrow the boat to go to sea".
Many classic operas of Chinese opera have been passed down for centuries, and their popularity in western countries is still low. One important reason is that there is too little exposure. The garden version of the Kunqu Opera "The Six Chapters of a Floating Life" is different. When it was born under one year old, it had already won the opportunity to go abroad and be displayed on the world stage. In July 2019, the play was selected by the “Focus on China”, which was commissioned by the China Performance Industry Association, commissioned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Tourism, and appeared at the French Avignon Theatre Festival. It also performed cultural exchange performances on behalf of Suzhou in Paris, France.
The garden version of the Kunqu Opera "The Six Chapters of a Floating Life" is a distinctive one among many new operas in recent years. Although it is not a classic repertoire with a genealogical lineage, it still needs to be continuously improved in the vocal disciplines of the Kunqu Opera, and the current high votes The price also makes some viewers discouraged, but its "introduction" and "going out" communication strategies are truly unique and ingenious, especially in today's cultural diversity of "the wine is also afraid of the alley", it is more worthy of other dramas And repertory learning.
Zhu Ling