The sloping stage, flowing characters, melancholy and agile charm.

　　From October 19th, Beijing Renyi Cao Yu's classic masterpiece "Beijing People" once again appeared on the stage of the Capital Theater.

This work, which premiered in 2006, is a full ten years after the last round of performances in 2012.

In this rehearsal, in addition to a new cast of actors in the lineup, the understanding of the characters and the interpretation of the works also presented a new look.

Director Li Liuyi believes that "Actors use their lives to express and communicate." "Mr. Cao Yu's play is very quiet" allows the audience to settle down in silence, and then be able to think about the meaning of life.

The show will run until November 5th.

　　"Three and a half hours, very slow, quiet, long"

　　"Peking Man" is Cao Yu's classic masterpiece, and it ranks after "Thunderstorm" (1934), "Sunrise" (1935) and "Wild Field" (1937).

The three-act drama "Peking Man" premiered in Chongqing during the wartime in 1941. At that time, Zhang Ruifang played Su Fang in the play.

Different from the fierce and even tragic conflicts in the three previous works, this drama depicts the process of an old Chinese feudal family gradually declining and finally completely collapsing.

　　When talking about why he created this work in the past, Mr. Cao Yu said, "I had a wish at that time that people should live like people, not like many people at that time, and must find a way in the dark." The works not only write about the corruption and darkness of feudal society, but also write about the goodness and beauty of human nature.

As a classic, "Beijing People" has been performing for a long time since its premiere on the Renyi stage in 1957.

On the wall outside the actor's lounge on the first floor of the Capital Theater, there are still photos of the premiere: Ye Zi as Zeng Siyi, Shu Xiuwen as Su Fang, and Lan Lanye as Zeng Wenqing.

　　Whenever a classic human art drama is staged at the Capital Theater, it will combine the current performance with historical memory to entertain the audience.

The surging news reporters browsed the three showcases specially designed for this performance in turn: the audience album at the premiere in 1957 had already turned yellow, and the title of the play "Beijing People" was written in seal script, indicating that the chief director of the play was Jiao Juyin. , Deputy Chief Director Ouyang Shanzun - The two founders of Beijing People's Art Theatre worked together to create this show, which shows how much attention was paid to this play back then, and also laid a solid foundation for future performances.

　　In 1987, "Peking Man" was rearranged and staged (directed by Xia Chun), and the audience's album was a light ink and color, and the main visual was the goldfish kite flying by the two children Zeng Ting and Yuan Yuan in the play.

At that time, the role of Zeng Wenqing had already been handed over to Feng Yuanzheng, a student of "Class 85" who is now the dean of Beijing Arts and Crafts.

"As a student who has not yet graduated, I am very happy to be able to participate in the rehearsal of Mr. Cao Yu's famous drama "Beijing People"." In the artistic summary of the exhibition, Feng Yuanzheng wrote: "When I first received the script, I couldn't wait. I read it carefully. I am in awe of the author's profound artistic attainments, profound life foundation, skilled artistic skills and profound ideological connotations of the script."

　　It is worth mentioning that in the year of the Beijing Asian Games in 1990, when "Peking Man" was staged, actor Wu Gang took over the role of Zeng Wenqing.

In the character analysis manuscript, Wu Gangxian wrote: "After reading the script in one breath, it is too heavy, a little breathless. I feel uncomfortable for Zeng Wenqing's weakness. 'He is just an empty shell', he does not want to think, I don't want to express my anguish, and I seem to have lost my interest in life!"

　　"Peking Man" travels through time and stirs the hearts of generations of audiences.

"The classic is that there are many explanations." Li Liuyi said.

In the special volume "The Director's Words", he recalled that the last time he directed this version was ten years ago. "Ten years is neither too long nor too short." In "Beijing People", Li Liuyi said that the most unforgettable thing for him was Ouyang Shanzun, "He proposed the rearrangement, which was his wish for many years, and promised that Dean Cao Yu would bring this play to the stage again, but due to various The reason and age could not be realized. He said that when he saw 'Cao Tou (Cao Yu, 1910-1996)', he would be speechless... Thanks to Mr. Shan Zun, without his persistence, there would be no such thing. "Beijing People" version, there is no 'static drama'."

　　At the end, Li Liuyi wrote: "Dear viewers, "Beijing People" is three and a half hours, very slow, quiet and long. If you offend because of this, you can only apologize! Because I like to enjoy quiet luxury. I hope Mr. Cao Yu's words I can give you a little compensation, and the late autumn in Beijing can give you a little warmth."

　　The large sloping stage implies the shaky fate of the feudal family

　　Time goes by, and personnel are metabolized.

Compared with the cast ten years ago, the main actors have basically changed.

Director Li Liuyi, from launching a new lineup to a new interpretation, hopes to let the audience see another innovation in the second creation.

A group of new and old actors showed the spiritual core of the characters written by Mr. Cao Yu, and built the spiritual space of the characters on the real stage.

　　Zeng Wenqing's quietness on the stage is the daily life of the characters in the play, and it is also a kind of inner expression of the actors shaping the characters.

"There is a word 'true' on the stage. As long as you act out of your heart, it will be true." Miao Chi, who plays Wenqing, said that Zeng Wenqing's character doesn't have many lines, but even when he doesn't say any lines, the whole character The state is still "like swallowing lead. After swallowing, although the surface is loose, the inner heaviness and confusion can be seen."

　　From Zeng Ting 16 years ago to Zeng Wenqing now, Miao Chi's performance in "Beijing People" can let the audience see the stage growth of young actors.

On the performance water sign in the actor channel, Miao Chi neatly wrote the title of the play, and the seal script "Beijing people" shows his piety and cultivation.

He told The Paper, "This is a very quiet play, both for the audience and the actors. This is also a play whose theme is 'waiting', especially 'Chekhov'."

　　And the actor Lu Fang, who is familiar to the audience, plays the role of Su Fang this time, which is different from the previous roles full of tension. This time, Lu Fang's internalized performance method shows the rhythm of the lines and the feeling of the times, so that Su Fang's feelings The power of women blooms on the stage. "My lines and thoughts on the stage are two spaces. The lines have time, but the passage of thoughts has no time." Lu Fang said that the meaning of this play is to make people calm down. Enjoy quiet drama together on and off stage.

　　The eldest grandmother Siyi played by Yuan Yu makes this woman who used to look like a "villain" become richer and more three-dimensional.

She told The Paper, "In the past, everyone regarded this character as unreasonable and unreasonable, but now we look at this character again, including when I deeply read the script this time and felt her inner world. I feel the helplessness of the character. Siyi is the head of this big family. There is no reliable man in the family. She is the one who supports the family. She longs for love, but can't get it. In fact, she is the most pitiful person. So this In a performance, Siyi should have two lines of life and emotion: in life, Wang Xifeng is my 'mind'; emotionally, Xue Baochai is my 'mind'. The director also hopes that we will put Wenqing and Siyi together. The relationship with Sufang leads to the triangular relationship between Jia Baoyu, Xue Baochai and Lin Daiyu."

　　The performance of the other actors in the play is also remarkable.

The old man played by Zou Jian used "magma surging" to describe his complicated emotional relationship in the play, which made the old man appear pathetic and pitiful in his downfall; Jiang Tai, played by Lei Jia, was full of complaints and struggled." He and Wenqing are like AB faces", rational thinking is the pain of his sobriety... Coupled with Yang Yi's Ruizhen and Li Jingxu's Zeng Ting, the shackles of the young couple always hurt people's hearts ;Nanny Chen, played by Gao Qian, blows into the house like a spring breeze...

　　As another highlight of the play, the unique stage presentation method designed by well-known artist and director Yi Liming has attracted much attention since its premiere.

The sloping stage and the plain white courtyard covered with white paper create a mysterious and eerie color on the stage.

In the closed space, the interlacing of time and space extends, and the large-area inclined stage implies the shaky fate of this feudal family.

At the end of the whole play, when the stage installation is greatly tilted, the actors stand on the stage in a posture that is almost overturned. Coupled with the background of the music made by the composer Guo Wenjing, the work gives the audience a kind of inner ultimate impact, which brings endless after watching. Aftertaste.

　　The Paper