China News Service, Tianjin, April 5th (Wang Zaiyu) During the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday, Wei Haimin, the descendant of the Mei School in Taiwan, teamed up with famous Tianjin actors to perform the Mei School's classic play "Mu Guiying Takes Command" at the Chinese Theater on the evening of the 5th to commemorate the Mei family and his son.
On the evening of April 5, Wei Haimin (middle), a descendant of the Mei School in Taiwan, teamed up with famous Tianjin actors to perform the Mei School's classic play "Mu Guiying Takes Command" at the Chinese Theater. The picture shows Wei Haimin playing Mu Guiying in the play. Photo by China News Service reporter Tong Yu
It is understood that 2024 is the 130th anniversary of the birth of Mr. Mei Lanfang and the 90th anniversary of the birth of Mr. Mei Baojiu. As a disciple of Mr. Mei Baojiu, Wei Haimin specially arranged "Mu Guiying Takes Command", a classic work of the Mei School, to express his longing for him.
"Mu Guiying Takes Command" is of special significance as one of the plays in the Second Chinese Drama Invitational Exhibition. This play is the last play created by Master Mei Lanfang. It is the culmination of Mei School opera art, integrating the performance elements of Tsing Yi, Hua Dan and Daoma Dan. At the same time, it is also the Mei School repertoire that Wei Haimin has performed the most.
On the evening of April 5, Wei Haimin (middle), a descendant of the Mei School in Taiwan, teamed up with famous Tianjin actors to perform the Mei School's classic play "Mu Guiying Takes Command" at the Chinese Theater. The picture shows Wei Haimin playing Mu Guiying in the play. Photo by China News Service reporter Tong Yu
The play is based on the Henan Bangzi Opera, and transforms the mood of the elderly Mu Guiying, who has been neglected by the imperial court for many years, into a very classic "holding the seal" feeling about whether to regain the commander-in-chief's seal when the country is in trouble. There is a lot of interpretation and connotation behind each of the lines, which wonderfully displays the character of Mu Guiying from the initial resentment, to hesitation, to finally resolutely taking command. What's special is that Master Mei Lanfang does not directly express the character's emotional leap and transformation in words, but adds a mime performance, purely using dance to express Mu Guiying's thoughts.
After ten years, Wei Haimin once again led the Mei School's classic play to appear in Tianjin. She said at the meeting before the performance, "Tianjin theater fans once left a deep impression on me, because they understand opera and are also into it. . We often say that 'the play is performed for close friends'. I hope that in Tianjin, the theater fans and I can go both ways to complete this classic work of the Mei School." (End)