To commemorate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of Beijing Renyi Institute, the Beijing News records the growth story of behind-the-scenes types of work, revealing the internal spirit and principles of the old theater "Old shop" Beijing Renyi's working principle: "One Vegetable" Spirit
In addition to the most famous phrase "A play is bigger than the sky", there has always been another spirit that has been practiced for 70 years in the Beijing People's Art Theatre (hereinafter referred to as "Beijing Renyi") - the spirit of "Yike Cai" .
A Chinese cabbage has vegetable roots, cabbage hearts, vegetable leaves, and vegetable gangs. Only when these different parts are tightly held together can they grow into a "one vegetable".
This is Feng Yuanzheng, an actor and then vice president of the Beijing People's Art Theater, who can best represent a work state and work principle of Beijing artists - to be able to "make a dish", to have all parts complete, and to be able to produce a play smoothly The same is true, there cannot be a job category left behind.
On the evening of June 12, 1952, the courtyard of No. 56 Shijia Hutong (now No. 20), Dongcheng District, Beijing, was brightly lit. At this time, the establishment meeting of the Beijing People's Art Theatre was being held here, and Cao Yu was announced as the president of the Beijing People's Art Theatre. Jiao Juyin, Ouyang Shanzun was the vice president, Zhao Qiyang was the secretary general, and Jiao Juyin was the chief director. Since then, China's first art troupe and the most prestigious professional theatre was born.
Looking back on the 70-year artistic development of Beijing Renyi, the theater has staged more than 360 ancient and modern Chinese and foreign drama works. Generations of performing artists.
Not only has he created the famous "Beijing People's Art School of Drama", but also witnessed and created the history of Chinese drama with several generations of audiences.
Behind the 70-year-old glamorous stage, there are hidden "invisible actors" scattered all over the theater. They are the vegetable gang, vegetable leaves and even the hearts in the spirit of "Yike Cai", and they have never had the opportunity to reach the big screen. Before, but relying on his own professional skills, the "good dishes" of Beijing Renyi have become full of color and flavor.
On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of Beijing Renyi Academy, the reporter of the Beijing News aimed the camera at the behind-the-scenes staff of the theater, gradually moving from a place familiar to the audience to the depths of the backstage. Through their narration, take a look at Beijing Renyi. The back chef and the "master chefs" of the "old shop" for 70 years.
Our exploration starts with the "work guidelines" within Beijing Renyi.
1 person is the magic weapon of the theater
In the early days of Beijing Renyi Institute, Cao Yu, Jiao Juyin, Zhao Qiyang and Ouyang Shanzun had a famous 42-hour talk. At that time, they hoped that the future Beijing Renyi would be like the Moscow Art Theater. What to do, what to pursue artistically, including cultivating actors and many other major issues that Beijing Renyi will involve in the following decades, almost all were discussed in those 42 hours.
Feng Yuanzheng recalled the "rules" and "spirits" in the theater at that time in 2022, and felt that although Beijing Renyi hoped to build an internationally renowned theater like the Moscow Art Theater, since that day, Beijing Renyi has passed 70. Years of self-exploration and practice have actually built a theatre with Chinese national characteristics.
"Beijing Renyi has always insisted on producing high-quality products and talents. Our theater can launch a series of high-quality masterpieces at important nodes in each period, especially in the field of talent training. Art has been nurtured and born in the art palace, and this is also the most commendable and proud place for Beijing Renyi in the past 70 years.”
Behind the scenes, generations of "artists" have been cultivated, and the creations in front of the stage also revolve around the general direction of "people's theater". People have quietly become the magic weapon of Beijing's art that lasts for a long time.
As a people-centered theater that pays attention to reality, takes root in life, and adheres to the creative style of realism, over the years, "making a play that the people like to watch" has been the working principle of all Beijing artists.
Perhaps when it comes to Beijing Renyi, many viewers think that the characteristics of the works are mostly good at acting in Beijing-style dramas. Feng Yuanzheng said that this is not the case.
Since the establishment of the academy, among the more than 360 dramas rehearsed by Beijing Renyi, there are only less than 20 Beijing-style dramas, and the rest are some foreign classics, costume dramas, modern dramas and period dramas.
All along, in the selection of materials, Beijing Renyi pays great attention to whether the script conforms to Beijing Renyi's style, another important consideration is still the audience's acceptance of new works.
Feng Yuanzheng believes that compared with many themes, it can only be said that Beijing Renyi's Beijing-style opera is the most characteristic, especially with the blessing of Beijing Renyi's unique performance style, more ordinary people can see the authentic Beijing people from the works. Life.
At the nodes of major events in the country, Beijing Renyi also has corresponding works to present.
For example, "North Street South Courtyard" was created with the background of fighting against the "SARS" epidemic, the work "Life and Life" was created with the theme of earthquake relief and disaster relief, and the latest "Community Neighborhood Committee" was created with the theme of fighting against the new crown pneumonia epidemic.
Beijing Renyi has always been recording the times with the audience. In Feng Yuanzheng's eyes, Renyi is definitely not a conservative theater, it is open and inclusive.
2 Only with experience can you personally understand "the drama is bigger than the sky"
Walking into the rehearsal hall of Beijing Renyi, people's eyes are usually attracted by the four characters "The drama is bigger than the sky" written on the wall. Feng Yuanzheng has different understandings of these characters at different stages.
Literally speaking, the play is really not as big as the sky, but as a Beijing artist, once you walk into the gate of the theater, into the backstage, and into the rehearsal hall, from this moment on, the play is bigger than the sky.
"Entering the theater is all for the performance, for the audience, and other important things have to wait until after leaving the theater." When Feng Yuanzheng first entered the theater, he would always hear, for example, when an actor or a colleague's family member died or became seriously ill, He still has to endure grief and stick to his post. Actors even have to play some happy stories on the stage. It was not until he really reached a certain age that he realized that these stories would truly happen to every generation of actors and entertainers.
In 2005, during the performance of the drama "Tea House", Feng Yuanzheng learned that his father was critically ill and was being rescued in the hospital on the way to the theater.
At that moment, he was in a dilemma whether to rush to the hospital to see his seriously ill father, or to return to the theater to complete the performance that night. At the theater, he did not disclose the news that his father was critically ill to his colleagues that night.
It was not until later that Feng Yuanzheng knew that at almost the same time when the performance opened that night, his father also passed away.
Later, someone left a message online saying, "This is unfilial and outrageous." Feng Yuanzheng frankly expressed his understanding, because not everyone can put themselves in the shoes of the performance industry.
"As long as the words 'the drama is bigger than the sky' is in my heart, how can I say to the 1,000 audience offstage, I'm sorry! I have something to do at home, I can't act in today's drama, that's impossible." And such a story , performed more than once in Beijing Renyi, these stories belong to the backstage, few people know.
The working principle of "play is bigger than the sky", now Feng Yuanzheng is trying to implement it on a new generation of young actors. He chose an acceptance method that is in line with the current young people, and subtly instilled this spirit into the hearts of the next generation of actors and actresses.
Whenever new actors enter the theater for internships, Feng Yuanzheng informs them about the characteristics of the industry.
"The more the holidays are, the more the actors have to work. As long as there is a performance in the theater during the Spring Festival, the actor must take the completion of the performance as the first priority."
It is an iron rule that mobile phones are not allowed to enter the backstage or during performances. "For young people, the words 'the drama is bigger than the sky' is not to say, but to keep telling them that some things are absolutely not allowed. Entering Beijing The door to talent, performance is the most important thing, everything is based on performance, and everything else is not important. After a long time, when they see the words 'play is bigger than the sky', they will feel different. ."
3 Offstage, everyone is a craftsman
Over the past 70 years, generations of Beijing artists and performers have repeatedly tempered their roles with the "craftsman spirit", and the staff behind the scenes also revolved around this spirit and pursued the "exquisiteness" on the stage. a vivid image.
In the 1980s, Feng Yuanzheng, who had just arrived at Beijing Renyi, was selected by director Xia Chun from the student class to play "Zeng Wenqing" in the drama "Beijing People".
Feng Yuanzheng clearly remembered that when he first started rehearsing, director Xia Chun asked him to line up for a whole morning when he first started rehearsing, so that when everyone went to eat at noon, Feng Yuanzheng asked Director Xia Chun aggrievedly, "I am wrong. Where is it?" Director Xia Chun replied, "You are not wrong." He looked at Feng Yuanzheng and said, "Zeng Wenqing is the back, you go and buy some oil. Your shoes are not good either, you can't wear leather shoes, you have to wear old round-mouth cloth shoes. In addition, you can borrow a coat from the costume team and take it home." So Feng Yuanzheng followed director Xia Chun's request and spent most of the day dressed as "Zeng Wenqing" doing everything except sleeping.
After a period of time like this, Feng Yuanzheng felt that the coat had grown on his body. He wore round-mouth cloth shoes to go to work for rehearsal every day. The first thing he did every morning was to comb his hair brightly.
Later, he found that director Xia Chun would never talk about his problems again.
"His method is to let me experience Zeng Wenqing's life bit by bit. When the coat has been worn, the hair is carried back, and the round-mouthed cloth shoes fit the feet, the characters in this play must have already grown. On myself, this subtle sculpting bit by bit is probably the spirit of Beijing artisans."
Behind the scenes, Feng Yuanzheng also observed the working methods of generations of predecessors, especially the creative habits of Zhu Xu and the two artists, which left a deep impression on Feng Yuanzheng when he was young.
"Zhu Xu and Yu Zhi will always have a notebook in their hands. The difference is that when there is no rehearsal, Xu Zhi always sits in the corner and writes in his notebook all the time, while Zhu Xu always sits in the corner and writes in his notebook. Asahi kept flipping through the book."
Later, Feng Yuanzheng learned that he was constantly recording his understanding of the characters and his feelings about the performance.
As for Zhu Xu's constant watching, Feng Yuanzheng was puzzled.
In order to solve this mystery, Feng Yuanzheng asked Zhu Xu, "What are you looking at?" Zhu Xu replied, "The script." Only then did Feng Yuanzheng understand that Zhu Xu never brought a script to rehearsal, but only brought his own notebook. Because before the rehearsal, he had copied the script stroke by stroke on the notebook, and then brought the notebook to the rehearsal room. In other places left blank, he would fill in his understanding of the characters, inner subtext, and some on-the-spot scenes. creative inspiration.
Zhu Xu told Feng Yuanzheng that copying the script once was equivalent to reciting it again.
"It takes a lot of work for him to copy a script of tens of thousands of words, stroke by stroke. Many old artists in Beijing Renyi have their own unique skills when studying characters."
In the same way, Feng Yuanzheng also hopes that this spirit can be passed on to young actors, "Beijing Arts and Crafts cultivate new talents, not to 'clone' the theater to produce more 'Xiao Pu Cunxin, Xiao Yang Lixin, Xiao Feng Yuanzheng, and whoever is younger', but It is to fundamentally allow young people to continue to inherit the spirit and acting style of Beijing Renyi, which cannot be changed."
To achieve effective inheritance, in addition to the "craftsman spirit", Feng Yuanzheng believes that artists and artists must always convey the spirit of "one vegetable", "Only if these different parts such as cabbage and cabbage are tightly held together, can they grow into 'One vegetable'. This is also like in the Beijing People's Art Theater, no matter the director, actors, lighting costumes, theater service personnel, canteen staff, etc., they are all members of the team who ensure a smooth performance. , this is the embodiment of the spirit of Beijing Renyi's 'Yike Cai', and this spirit will be passed on forever."
4 The new temperament of "embracing youth and the market"
In 2021, with the completion of the Beijing International Drama Center, Beijing Renyi, which has four theaters and one public welfare theater (Juyin Theater), will also open a new era.
When the 66-year-old Capital Theater and the newly built Caoyu Theater stand in the courtyard of No. 22 Wangfujing Street at the same time, the "shouzheng" Capital Theater will continue to carry out the classics to the end, and the "innovative" Caoyu Theater will continue to explore the art of Beijing people. Infinite possibilities in the future.
As a theater with a history of 70 years, Feng Yuanzheng believes that Beijing Renyi has played a leading role no matter what era it is in. In the development process of the new era, while continuing the development of traditional art, Beijing Renyi has played a leading role in these years. He has also cultivated a lot of "new temperaments" that suit him.
First of all, in terms of talent selection and employment, Feng Yuanzheng said that on the basis of maintaining the same style of Beijing people and art, in terms of talent introduction in the future, the theater will also plan to introduce some actors who are both well-known and capable of performing, but no matter how big their heads are The halo and traffic, to be an actor here, you must act for Beijing people's art, not the theater recruiting them to be a "strong facade".
In terms of repertoire innovation, Feng Yuanzheng believes that more creative paths will be opened up in the future, and efforts will be made to promote and discover some well-known writers, and through continuous communication and exchanges, invite them to write more classic plays for Beijing Renyi.
"Beijing Renyi has held a screenwriting class in the past few years, and will continue to open a director class in the future to provide some relatively mature domestic screenwriters and directors with opportunities to continue their studies. This is not only for the theater, but also for the society. Excellent screenwriter and director."
In the series of activities held during the 70th anniversary of Beijing Renyi this year, a ten-episode documentary titled "I Performing in Renyi" comprehensively recorded the 2019 Beijing Renyi student class, from enrollment to 2020. As one of the promoters of the student class, Feng Yuanzheng once again saw the scene of the 14 young actors when they entered the school through a documentary, and he was moved by their rapid growth.
"Although these kids looked energetic, determined, and enthusiastic, they still looked young. Unlike now, when I met them in the theater, I felt that they had become one with the theater. The whole." And such growth stories are still being played out in this 70-year-old theater.
Generations of artists have been nurtured in the art palace of Beijing Renyi, which is the most commendable and proud place for Beijing Renyi in the past 70 years.
——Feng Yuanzheng, Vice President of Beijing Humanities and Arts
Feature writing/Beijing News reporter Liu Zhen