Spent the "seven-year itch" This year is a restart. The future Wuzhen Theater Festival will be the "years for life" of the whole people.
Huang Lei: If you want to fly, be a bird, why be a pig in the mouth
Huang Lei, Meng Jinghui (left) and Lai Shengchuan (middle) have a banquet in Changjie
The Wuzhen Theater Festival, which returned after two years, came to an end. The scene of the closing ceremony was full of collision with the carnival world.
Although the initiator and director Huang Lei advocated a drama market this year in the name of drama, he was still calm and restrained amidst the psychedelic atmosphere of the same dream. Perhaps it was the original achievement of idealism. This is the Wuzhen Drama Festival that far exceeds expectations.
At the beginning, some people questioned the business background, some people thought it was the "Impression" series
"In the beginning, almost no one believed that I could do this. At that time, there were even people who questioned our business background, or speculated that this was the'Impression Series'. But at the opening moment, people discovered that it was such a serious one. The Contemporary International Theatre Festival has established her vitality in the future. And all of this originates from the very beginning of her passion for this cause, which is the original intention of idealism.” These words, for nine years, Huang Lei said it almost every year, to the media and to himself, always reminding himself of his original mission of establishing a drama festival.
This year's Wuzhen Theater Festival is a purely Chinese drama. "I don't think anyone will think that it is not Wuzhen Theater Festival. This feeling of restarting after two years also makes us very careful and cautious. Even the tonality of visual design is changing. The main vision of this year’s theater festival is a concept full of imagination and spirituality. It is not only a bunch of lights, but also a bamboo shoot. The bamboo shoots break out of the ground, and they can even appear overnight. Coming out, this all represents a change in our mood. If the last session was a'seven-year itch', this year it is really a restart."
At this year’s opening welcome reception, Huang Lei even said that the 8th Wuzhen Theatre Festival was the first. He didn’t even realize this inexplicable slip of the tongue, “Because in my heart, this year is like the first one. Once, the Wuzhen Theatre Festival will always be a new life."
The commercial musical is not invited because the tonality is wrong. The team who came to Wuzhen this time have a sense of mission.
Even though "Teahouse" three years ago was controversial, this year, Meng Jinghui's "Red and Black" still appeared as the opening drama. As a close friend, Huang Lei said that he had no compliments, "I really feel that Lao Meng has moved towards Another pinnacle. In this play, he is restrained, he is kind, he is gentle, and he is compassionate. Although he is critical of love, desire and struggle, he narrates smoothly. In other words, he did not toss you this time, did not crush you. It was a leap for him. At the same time, the aesthetic output of Meng's drama is extremely stable. This is also the most valuable aspect of Meng Jinghui."
Someone once asked Huang Lei, why don’t you invite commercial dramas like the musical "Les Miserables" to come, because the box office cannot be leveraged.
Huang Lei said: “It’s not that we can’t, but Wuzhen Theatre Festival is not in this tone. It’s like the Sundance Film Festival in the United States. It runs counter to the positioning of the film festival." The absence of foreign dramas gave domestic creators a lot of space. Huang Lei, who has always paid attention to public opinion, said: "Chinese creators are doing our own dramas. I can feel that everyone has an instinctive sense of guardianship for this nation. This patriotism is not empty. While loving their own national culture, they are willing to support it. So I think all the people who come to Wuzhen this time have one thing in common. The vision is that under the premise that foreign dramas cannot enter, you must express your own drama well. Every team seems to have an unprecedented sense of mission."
I stayed to teach and resigned for the same reason. I am a good teacher.
In this year’s invitational repertoire, there is a work from the Experimental Theater Company of the Central Academy of Drama. The actors are all young teachers from the Chinese Opera Acting Department. Because the performance style is different from other repertoires, it caused a lot of controversy after its premiere.
In this regard, Huang Lei said: “This performance section is called'academy observation'. The purpose is to induce people to think and seek change afterwards. I have been teaching in art colleges for many years, and I have a deep sense of teaching in art colleges. Wandering in that one-acre three-quarters of land, each of us needs to know what is happening outside. Do you know what the Moscow Art Theatre is rehearsing? What should we do with Stanislavsky’s performance system, which we once regarded as the bible Cognition and interpretation? What kind of aesthetics do we encourage? What kind of creative methods are encouraged? What kind of creativity is encouraged? What independent thinking is encouraged? Only after these figures can the festival have vitality and influence more people. I have left art academy for two years, but I have worked in art academy for more than 20 years. Back then, I directed "The Iceman" at the film academy. At that time, everyone felt that I was deviant. They said how you follow our training methods. It's not the same. Actually, I hope that different aesthetics will enter the drama. Only by finding a better direction, acquiring more skills, and establishing more diverse concepts, can we accumulate our strength. We are all graduates from art colleges. , So it’s impossible not to treat our mothers well. We also hope that our mothers will be more beautiful and calm.”
Nowadays, many teachers in art academies are students of Huang Lei, "I am also thinking, as your teacher, I am still following the most contemporary things, following and thinking. Do you all understand? Now? There should be such a sense of crisis. I stayed in school to teach and later resigned for the same reason. Although I did not have such a clear life direction and firm belief when I stayed at school, my thoughts at that time were the same. I hope that I can use what I have learned to influence the lives of others. In this respect, I am a good teacher. When I leave school, I hope I can go to a wider place and display what I have acquired today at the age of 50. , To influence more young people. The idea of running an art school has never changed. I can start school now. This school does not charge tuition. I only need to have a house and a playground."
Controversy accompanies almost every Wuzhen Drama Festival. Huang Lei thinks this is normal: "You can't say that you will always walk on the same road. We not only do not reject disputes, but also encourage everyone to have disputes. You can dislike it, but you can't impose it on it. Others, your aesthetics can't dominate others. This is exactly the meaning of the "academic observation" section. Everyone comes to Wuzhen to have a dialogue. This is the core. Observe each other and think after you go back. The concept of art needs to be updated. , The artistic means must be updated, and the aesthetics must be rebuilt."
There is a sense of solemnity when walking into the theater, and there are beer skewers when walking out of the theater, and I also want to make the drama "delicious"
The creative idea of the drama market and the scene of the night goddess came from Huang Lei. One month before the opening, he started to propose that from throwing a target with a short WeChat in the work group, to the final landing, Huang Lei all brushed his face. Asking his friends for help, Shi Hang also used the publishing house's relationship and moved to a "bookstore."
Huang Lei said: "I hope that in addition to serious and professional activities, the drama festival can also belong to those who have not bought tickets. Every year I see a large amount of ticket requests on the Internet, and I feel sorry for everyone. I want to be able to There cannot be an event to relieve the embarrassment of having nothing to do and not buying tickets at night. In fact, the drama market was created due to demand. Later, we negotiated to support the two readings planned by Shi Hang."
In recent years, some people have always suggested why the Wuzhen Theatre Festival can’t be held for 15 days or 20 days.
Huang Lei admits: "I really can't do it. People have to do business and travel in scenic spots. In addition, these 10 days have already exhausted us, and 20 days of staring personally, we really don't have this ability. We are still concerned about every detail. People who want to be able to escort the festival all the time, so there is only so much energy now. Therefore, this year we thought that there must be a market, so that more people can feel that they are in the festival without buying tickets. In the atmosphere. And for the audience who have the opportunity to watch the performance when they buy tickets, because the theater is also a place where social interaction is not allowed, everyone’s state is to let go of everything and feel the drama in these two hours, but young people are eager to socialize. The city is the place where you can socialize. Drama is supposed to be both serious and lively. When you walk into the theater, there is a sense of temple-like solemnity. When you walk out of the theater, there are beer skewers. I also want to make the drama'delicious' In the future, we will make the Wuzhen Drama Festival the "life that the whole people yearn for"."
The boundaries of art are becoming more and more blurred, not cross-border but unbounded
There have been too many crossovers on various stages of the Wuzhen Theater Festival this year. Jin Xing, Zhang Jie, Yan Yi, Yan Yue... Huang Lei also had a "small town dialogue" with several contemporary artists on this topic.
"I specifically discussed this topic with Yue Minjun. In addition to the crossover of actors, what is more important is the so-called contemporary art. Not only does it mean trendy paintings, but contemporary drama is also contemporary art. One of the biggest characteristics of contemporary art is that its boundaries are increasing. The more blurred, this is not a cross-border, it should be unbounded. In this regard, Mr. Yue Minjun mentioned an example in the field of painting, saying that in Chinese paintings, fruits are painted, and the most paintings are loquats, grapes, and peaches. Have you seen apples? If someone starts to paint apples today, it is called contemporary art. In fact, our contemporary art is like painting apples with Chinese painting techniques."
I don’t need commercial resources, I just earn enough money to be an artist
Because of Huang Lei’s status as a popular star, Wuzhen Theatre Festival is often said to be a festival performed by stars, but Huang Lei asked, "What does what I do here has to do with stars?" Commercial, we are doing a real cultural event, will it bring any promotion to Wuzhen? Of course, but we did not develop a project just because we did a festival, extend a commercial closed loop, and then connect We are not interested in this, and we do not need these commercial resources. It is enough for me to be an artist to earn money, and to earn money as a craftsman. I don’t need to deal with commercial projects. I am not interested in doing commercial projects. I have A "Huang Xiaochu" commercial project, which loses money all the year round, is not easy to keep alive. There is a saying that pigs can fly with any outlet on the Internet. What is this?! Why don't you be a bird? If you want to fly, you can be a bird and fly high, if you have the ability, you can be an eagle and fly into the clear sky. If you have no ability, you can be a little sparrow. Why do you want to run to the wind and become a flying pig? It is always said that culture builds a stage and economics sings. Why do you sing when we build a stage? We build a stage and we sing. If you want to sing, you build a stage by yourself. We play our plays. Here, we respect artists and let art take root here. This is the foundation of the festival. With this kind of mind and pattern, the festival can be sustainable."
He doesn't like Chekhov, he likes small fresh meat. As a father, Huang Lei is very worried about the post-95s and post-00s.
"If this is our own child, you are so sad, who caused this? Even if there is no idealism, you can't have a banner. You have to know what you are doing. The Wuzhen Theatre Festival should have such kindness and tolerance, let us The next generation and the next generation are getting closer to serious art to make this country a better place. This is not empty talk or a slogan. Drama definitely makes people love peace and yearn for beauty. When you step out of the theater, you will feel baptized. "
I may not be the best performer but I will definitely be the most pious promoter
In Huang Lei’s eyes, the 8-year-old Wuzhen Theatre Festival is still a second-year elementary school student. “We have to help her to finish graduate school at the age of 25. Although I am the youngest member of the presidium, I am already 50 years old. As a young man, I insist on running. If it rains, I will practice opening and closing jumping in the house. I still have to maintain a good state. After watching the scene of "Silent", we should realize that we must love our bodies well. This way Only in order to have a healthy body can I always work for the Wuzhen Theatre Festival in the noblest way. I may not be the best performer, but I will definitely be the most pious promoter."
Several people in the presidium have a working group, and they communicate with each other very tacitly.
"A lot of things seem to be discussed at first, but in fact, we may say it in a second. As long as we say it in the group and answer it immediately. For example, the performance schedule we made before, the main color is I Maybe it feels a bit dark, and the words on it are very small. I will put forward my own opinion. I feel that the color of the table is too dark, and Mr. Lai, who is in charge of the vision, will quickly reply: OK! I'll deal with it, that's it. The problem is solved."
In addition to the group of three core members, the festival also has various groups, such as vision, youth competition, dialogue, reception, etc. Huang Lei said: "I also have a group of youth competitions, and a group of dialogues in the small town. As an art director, Meng Jinghui chooses a lot of plays each year, and the number will exceed the number of invited plays, and then everyone will discuss together and form a section to show their characteristics. Teacher Lai will also recommend plays and will also Ask questions about alternative repertoires. The same is true for me. For example, this year’s "Female Baby" is my recommendation. Once I met Li Dan, he asked me if they could go to the Wuzhen Theatre Festival, and I said you can’t, you guys. How did this talk show come? He said that we had scheduled a drama, and I repeatedly confirmed whether it was a talk show or a drama. He said that it was a drama not a talk show, so I recommended it to Lao Meng. This drama is slowly blurring the boundaries. Chemical."
People who like drama will not be left-minded fans, and dramatists with creative ability are not stupid idols.
Wuzhen is the home stadium of the "Drama New Life" team. This year, they performed several small dramas in which they displayed their talents in variety shows.
It's hard to get a ticket for the show. Someone confessed during the dialogue in the town, and some people asked for a group photo on the road.
As the creator of this variety show, Huang Lei does not worry about the so-called rice circle culture. “Those who like drama will not become brain-dead fans. These creative actors are not stupid idols. And we want to encourage more. People like theater people, which is a good thing. I watched Zhang Yicheng play Julian the other day, and I told him, "I am also your fan", and also actively added his WeChat account. From this perspective, I am also a fan, and I like Mu Mr. Xin, but I was not even embarrassed to ask for a group photo back then, and I was embarrassed to disturb others, so we also need to train stars on the stage. Back then, Jinshan and Zhao Dan were big stars on the stage."
Huang Lei said that one day after Mr. Lai Shengchuan recorded "New Life in Drama", he said that he finally understood why it was called "New Life in Drama". "This is a new life in drama, a new way of life in drama, and we are not performing a section on TV. Stage play, but to show you the living conditions and creative process of these dramatists. Of course, our commerciality is still a little bit worse, and I am not very good at this aspect. Even so, I will continue to do it. But outdoor shooting is too cold My hands and feet are frozen. I feel that I have been frozen before wearing thick clothes. I feel even more distressed for those children. In addition, they live in a very cold place and the windows are leaking, so we will definitely do it in the second season, but it will It’s a little later, probably next year when spring will begin, when the flowers will bloom."
Text/Reporter Guo Jia
Photographer/Reporter Liu Chang Chaicheng