[Explanation] March 25, 2021 is the 72nd anniversary of the official entry of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in Xiangshan.
That night, the original major revolutionary historical drama "Fragrant Mountain Night" by the Beijing People's Art Theater was staged at the Capital Theater.
[Commentary] The whole play focuses on the important historical moment of the People’s Liberation Army’s occupation of Nanjing on April 23, 1949. It takes Mao Zedong’s inner activities in the Xiangshan Shuangqing Villa as the main line and brings Jiang Jieshi’s inner activities in Xikou, Zhejiang at the same time, for the audience Presented a "time and space inner dialogue".
In the opinion of director Ren Ming, the play has made great breakthroughs in content and performance techniques.
[Concurrent] Ren Ming, director of "Fragrant Mountain Night", Dean of Beijing People's Art
Because first of all, I think that two important historical figures, leaders of the two parties, had a dialogue between two people in one night. The content itself is very bold.
And in the form of art, there are only two actors, and it can even be said that in addition to the confrontation of ideas, the two people talk about each of their lives, recalling their past, recalling the past of the party, and it has a very large amount of information.
In terms of form of expression, the entire processing of images, etc. are all very modern, but at the same time there is a table and two chairs in the play, and there is something about the national culture of Peking opera, so this time I think it is a kind of double breakthrough.
[Explanation] This is also the first time Beijing Renyi has shown the image of Mao Zedong on the stage of a drama.
After receiving the script, in order to get closer to the image of Mao Zedong in the Xiangshan period, the actor Wang Ban began to work hard on the appearance.
[Concurrent] "Fragrant Mountain Night" Mao Zedong actor Wang Ban
The stage when I played him in Shuangqing Villa was the 56-year-old man of the chairman and the most prosperous stage in his life.
I will look slimmer.
So I have to go for extra meals, and I have to get close to the chairman from the outside.
I have gained weight almost, and I have been 14 kilograms by now.
[Explanation] In addition, in the process of shaping the character, Wang Ban still needs to cross the "language barrier".
[Concurrent] "Fragrant Mountain Night" Mao Zedong actor Wang Ban
I knew that I was going to play Chairman Mao, so I invited many friends to record various versions of Xiangtan dialect, and recorded them sentence by sentence as in the script, and then I followed along.
It is necessary to keep the cordiality of the chairman’s local accent and at the same time to speak words that the audience can understand. This is what we need to study.
Before I came to rehearse every day, I had "Selected Works of Mao Zedong" on my pillow.
Not only do I approach the chairman in thought, but I also want to approach the chairman in context.
[Commentary] Fang Xu, the actor who played Chiang Kai-shek in the play, also did enough homework to shape the role.
In addition to looking through a large number of biographies, history, and video materials, he also hopes that he can create a flesh-and-blood, three-dimensional character image.
[Concurrent] Fang Xu, the actor of Chiang Kai-shek in "Night of the Fragrant Mountain"
When an actor creates a character, in fact, he understands the character first, and then he can gradually empathize with the character.
In the end, the drama is moving with emotion, which means that you don't want to conceptualize it, or to show a character in a flat style.
It is three-dimensional and flesh-and-blood that can be presented to everyone on stage, that is, everyone sees him as a living person.
[Commentary] The first round of "Fragrant Mountain Night" will last until April 1, and the second round of performances will start from June 17 to July 4.
Reporting from Beijing by reporter Lang Jiahui
Editor in charge: [Li Ji]