Chinanews client, Beijing, August 9th (Yuan Xiuyue) After nearly two hundred days, the Beijing Poly Theater reopened its doors to the audience. On August 8, the drama "Love Letters" performed its first performance after the epidemic. That night, about 400 spectators walked into the theater to watch this work showing the emotional outlook of the Chinese people in the 40 years of reform and opening up.
"Love Letter" stills
After nearly a year, Zhou Tao and Sun Qiang are very special
This is also the first time that the leading actors Zhou Tao and Sun Qiang have "dated" with the audience in a theater this year. "Love Letter" is directed by Russian national treasure director Yuri Yeremin and produced by Yanghua Drama. The drama premiered in 2018 and is now the third round of performances. The last performance was at the National Grand Theater in October last year.
After being on the stage for nearly a year, the mood of the two protagonists is also different from the past. Zhou Tao said that there was no performance in Beijing this year, and the two performances at the Poly Theater were not in the original plan. She learned that the performance was more than a week ago, and the preparation time was very short, but since the two had collaborated for nearly a hundred performances, the rehearsal was relatively smooth.
Especially when facing the audience's mood, the auditorium was always full in the past. Now due to the epidemic, the number of audiences in theaters and other performance venues must not exceed 30% of the seats in theaters. In Zhou Tao's view, the audiences who walk into the theater now have a true love for drama, because they may have to take some risks, so they will cherish the 400 audiences in each show even more. "Thank you very much for supporting us in this situation. I hope that the audience can feel the warmth that we pass by in 90 minutes."
Poly Theater is open to audience
Sun Qiang believes that after experiencing such an accident, the audience is still willing to enter the theater, indicating that they also need spiritual comfort. And the drama can slowly recover after the epidemic, he thinks there is a symbolic meaning.
"I especially hope that those who love drama will slowly return to normal in their lives, and will boldly enter the theater. (The theater) will also change from one-third to one-half and finally become full, and It's not about how much money the drama market makes, but people's yearning for a better life. I think this is more important." Sun Qiang said.
"Love Letter" stills
Nearly 1,000 tickets were sold out on the day of ticketing for the first drama performance after work resumed
The story of "Love Letters" began in 1975 in the classroom of a middle school in Beijing, where the hero and heroine conveyed ignorant feelings through pieces of small notes. The whole play lasted until 2015. For 40 years, one male and female protagonist stayed in Beijing, the other went overseas, and each became a family and business, but they still insisted on using letters to communicate and support each other, spending a long and short life together.
This is also the first time that Zhou Tao has crossed from a host to a stage performer, but in her opinion, her acting in a drama is not a cross-border, more like a journey to realize a dream. When he was young, Zhou Tao had studied acting for a while, and then went to the Beijing Broadcasting Institute to learn host by accident. Talking about the choice of the "Love Letter" script, she said that she was first moved by the story of the hostess Jiajia Gong, and their love in the play was pure.
However, Zhou Tao also said that acting in a drama is more difficult than she thought. There is a line in the play: "Besides my father in all Beijing, you are my favorite person." She revealed that she had spent the night thinking about saying this sentence.
For Sun Qiang, the biggest challenge is the instantaneous explosiveness when the two read the letter. There is a huge time jump in the play, from junior high school students to middle age, the emotional transformation between this is very subtle.
"Love Letter" stills
Why is the first drama performance that sells tickets after the resumption of work at the Poly Theater is "Love Letter"? Wang Keran, one of the producers and screenwriters of the play, said that it may be because the play has a very special inner connection with the present. In the play, the male and female protagonists cannot meet halfway across the globe, and many people cannot communicate face to face during the epidemic. At this time, the play may have a greater soothing effect on the audience's soul.
Wang Keran also revealed that although there were only 30% of the tickets, nearly 1,000 tickets for the two shows were all sold out within one day of ticketing. This shows that the show is alive.
The theater is reopened. Wang Keran believes that after experiencing the epidemic, the actors and audience will have a deeper feeling about the drama. "The charm of drama is like this. It is different every time, and this time is more different than before. Close to reality’s response." (Finish)