After performing various artistic genres such as Yuan Zaju, "Orphan of Zhao" is about to embark on a new journey like a musical
■Our reporter Tong Weijing
The revenge story "Orphan of Zhao", which originated more than 2,600 years ago, continues to show its magnificent human theme, profound historical heritage and broad humanistic background in its inheritance and evolution, forming international adaptations and performances time after time upsurge.
After performing various artistic genres such as Yuan opera, drama, opera, and film and television, "Orphan of Zhao" is about to embark on a new journey in the appearance of a musical.
As early as the 18th century, "The Orphan of Zhao" was introduced to Europe by writer Voltaire and others. Today, this precious cultural exchange between the East and the West continues in the 21st century.
After the director Xu Jun obtained the copyright of the play by the British dramatist James Fenton, he re-created the Chinese version of the musical "Orphans of Zhao" on the basis of the Yuan Zaju and the adaptation of the Royal Shakespeare Company. The play will premiere at SAIC Shanghai Cultural Square.
"It allows us to see another new possibility for the inheritance of ancient classics." said Gao Ziwen, director of the Department of Drama, Film and Television Arts of Nanjing University. Classical works often contain the core dilemma of human beings. "The charm of classical works is not because they provide conclusions. And it is precisely because they raise questions that allow us to face the past with a modern and open perspective."
How can parents and children die and adoptive fathers can be killed? Ancient and modern Chinese and foreign countries continue to challenge these two ethical dilemmas.
"The Revenge of Zhao Family Orphans" (abbreviated as "Zhao Family Orphans") is a miscellaneous drama created by Ji Junxiang in the Yuan Dynasty. Are documented in.
Compared with official historical records, Yuan Zaju, Zhuang Ji, Han Jue, Gongsun Chujiu and others sacrificed their lives for the preservation of the Zhao family’s orphans, and Cheng Ying reluctantly sacrificed his own son, bearing the burden of humiliation for twenty years, and raising orphans to grow up. , This almost cruel dedication, integrity and revenge cast a strong tragic color for the work.
Wang Guowei once said that "Orphans of the Zhao Family" "who go through the fire and go to the soup, are still listed in the world's great tragedies out of their sense of ownership, and they are not ashamed."
"The popularity of Chinese culture in the eighteenth century is most concentrated in the popularity of Chinese dramas." said Liang Chaoqun, professor of the Chinese Department of East China Normal University. As the first Chinese drama work to be translated and introduced to the West, "The Orphans of Zhao Family" "In Italy, France, and Germany, different adaptations have been born.
The revenge, sacrifice, family and other elements involved in the theme of the story have also been discussed repeatedly in the hundreds of years after its birth.
How can the parent and child die, and the adoptive father can not be killed? These two ethical "dilemmas" in "Orphans of Zhao" have created the richness of the text that can be continuously harvested and interpreted.
The Chinese opera, which is relatively freehand in art, is deliberately left blank when facing the abstract noble feelings and the moral world of giving up one's life for righteousness.
"However, for us who have lived in the modern world in the material sense for many years, we will inevitably have certain obstacles to understand the feat of dedicating ourselves to loyalty and even offering children." Gao Ziwen said, from the perspective of revenge for "orphans", The first thing the modern audience considers is his heart.
The heart of a real drama character is by no means some kind of ethical illustration and commentary.
The richness he possesses will become the foundation of the entire drama.
Adaptors from ancient and modern times at home and abroad have entered the contemporary performance of "Orphans of Zhao" with great enthusiasm, hoping to find the most reasonable interpretation of "this moment".
In Lin Zhaohua's drama, the orphan finally refuses to take revenge.
In the Yue Opera directed by Wang Xiaoying, the protagonist of revenge becomes Cheng Ying, but he cannot fight back with the same brutal means, but the orphan becomes another Tu Anjia...
In the 21st century, the overseas adaptation and performance of "Orphans of the Zhao Family" has formed a small upsurge.
In 2012, at the Swan Theatre in Tratford, Shakespeare's hometown, the stage play "Orphan of Zhao" created by the Royal Shakespeare Company was staged.
At that time, the Royal Shakespeare Company's promotion of "The Orphan of Zhao" was positioned as the "Hamlet of China".
"To some extent, the plot of "Orphans of Zhao" fits well with Shakespeare's classical conservative style." Liang Chaoqun said, "The actions of characters are not based on ethical maps. The source of all tragedies is human will. Choice." This new adaptation written by James Fenton has gained a high degree of international attention as soon as it was unveiled.
Use musicals to spread Chinese traditional culture and "resurrect" classical IP in the contemporary era
Gao Ziwen believes that Fenton respects the cultural characteristics of the original work, but injects new ideas and makes an exciting interpretation.
This is also the "Orphan of Zhao Family" that made the creators meet late, "there is our character, belief and realm".
At the beginning, the loyal ministers who protected the orphans fell down in front of Cheng Ying and stood in front of their bones. Cheng Ying, who had "no way to go", chose the path of fighting for life.
He saved babies all over the country, but chose to bear the burden of humiliation, which is harder than death.
After the sacrifice of his own flesh and blood, Cheng Ying was still unable to face the souls of his parents and children. At the end of the play, he walked to his son's grave.
Having fulfilled his loyalty, he reunited with his son by committing suicide, changing the ending of the original drama "Great Revenge".
And the "Orphan of Zhao", Cheng Bo, who grew up under the care of Tu Anjia, saw the brutality of his adoptive father from the suffering of the people. He did not choose to take revenge at the family level, but at the height of the country and the people. Complain against the father.
"Under the motif of love and revenge, we look up to the lofty and face the abyss. Known stories are full of unknown possibilities." Xu Jun said that the biggest feature of this version is that it has completed a reasonable and full Interpretation of modernity.
The story focuses on digging out the many aspects of human nature. For example, Tu Anjia is not treated as a symbolic evil person. While he is constantly doing evil, he also observes his own evil.
The soul dialogue between father and son appeared for the first time in "Orphan of Zhao".
For thousands of years, the father and child of Cheng Ying who were donated has always been a prop and a forgotten symbol. The new story has made him flesh and blood.
In the creation, the director adapted this role suitable for musicals, and brought him up from the last scene, throughout the whole play, from the perspective of "soul", let him go back to 16 years ago and see his father with his own eyes. Difficult choices and seeing the most tragic scene at the time, let him and Cheng Bo grow up together, and sympathize with each other.
"Although musicals are imported art, they have been rooted in the country for a long time. Chinese people can use musicals to tell stories with confidence. Musical can also become a position for the revival of Chinese traditional culture." Xu Jun told his own. I hope that this three-year-old "Orphan of Zhao" can take a big step into the contemporary world and narrow the psychological distance between the East and the West.