Actors interact with villagers.
Actors from the Hubei Yuetiao Immortal Flower Drum Opera Art Protection and Inheritance Center in Laohekou City are preparing in the background.
Actors perform Hubei-Vietnamese excerpt “Fatzidu” at the Xiangyang Theater.
The above pictures are provided by Tian Doudou
core reading
“Our troupe has more than 160 performances for the benefit of the people a year, and nearly 100 campus activities. There are performances and a stage, which is the happiest thing for the actors!”
Laohekou, Hubei is adjacent to Henan. People love to listen to Henan Opera. The actors often use carts to drag their musical instruments to the countryside to perform. They are deeply loved by the villagers. Therefore, they were awarded the honorary title of “Drawn Opera Troupe” by the former Ministry of Culture.
The troupe has shifted from focusing on Henan opera to revitalizing the ancient opera of Hubei Yue Diao. Although the tune is old, the play is new. The troupe produces new plays almost every year and wins awards every year. The play is oriented to life and is closer to the audience.
The actors go to the countryside, with zero distance from the audience. Young people are the “baby” of the troupe, with unique skills and works. The young actors also started a live broadcast, which made Hubei Yue Diao attract more young people’s attention and love.
“Folks, does anyone know what intangible cultural heritage we have in Laohekou?”
“I know! The Hubei Yue Diao just performed on the stage is that!”
During the Spring Festival, on the square of Xiashiheyu Village, Yuanchong Township, Laohekou City, Xiangyang City, Hubei Province, the “Yuanchong Township Folk Art Exhibition” attracted folks from all over the world. 300 chairs were not enough to sit on, and the hillsides and aisles were full of people. people. On the stage, the white-bearded old man flicked his hat wings, his beautiful dan roles dazzled his water sleeves, and the handsome martial artist danced and danced along with the gongs and drums, arousing constant applause from the audience.
This is the program “Famous Opera Skewers” presented by the Hubei Yuetiao Fairy Flower Drum Opera Art Protection and Inheritance Center in Laohekou City. As soon as it was over, the host started the “Award Contest” session. The prizes were New Year pictures and Spring Festival couplets. The audience enthusiastically raised their hands, which brought a strong “New Year flavor”.
“Our troupe has more than 160 performances for the benefit of the people a year, and nearly 100 campus activities. There are performances and a stage, which is the happiest thing for the actors!” said Wang Xinmin, the head of the troupe.
The predecessor of Laohekou City Hubei Yuetiao Fairy Flower Drum Opera Art Protection and Inheritance Center was Laohekou City Henan Opera Troupe. Laohekou is adjacent to Henan. People love to listen to Henan Opera. The actors often use carts to drag their musical instruments to the countryside to perform. They are deeply loved by the villagers. Therefore, they were awarded the honorary title of “Drawn Opera Troupe” by the former Ministry of Culture.
Close to life, close to the people, opera has vitality
A small play saves a troupe
In the 1980s and 1990s, due to the reorganization of the troupe and the diversification of entertainment methods, the troupe once fell into an existential crisis. Until 2014, the success of a small play miraculously changed the fate of the troupe.
“Now I announce that the recipient of the Excellence Award is…”
“The winner of the third prize is…”
“The winner of the second prize is…”
Every time the host made an announcement, the whole troupe became nervous, and then disappointed again. When he heard that he was not the winner of the second prize, a young actor in the troupe couldn’t help but burst into tears with a “wow”, “I’m sure I won’t win any awards now.” Everyone was panicked, but I still persuaded in a low voice: “Don’t cry, many people are watching us!” At this time, the host on the stage suddenly announced loudly: “The winner of the first prize is “Looking at the Grandchildren” by the Henan Opera Troupe of Laohekou City! “Everyone was stunned for half a second, and finally came to their senses. Now more than one person was crying, and everyone was crying, laughing and hugging together.
Recalling this scene many years ago, tears welled up in Wang Xinmin’s eyes.
It was not easy for the troupe to arrange this play. In 2014, “Looking at the Grandchildren” won the first prize of excellent drama and the first prize of performance in the 2nd Hubei Local Opera Art Festival. This is the first new play released by the troupe after more than 20 years. Wang Xinmin, who was ordered in the face of danger, thought that he must arrange a play to win people’s hearts. If you don’t have a script, you can ask everywhere; if you don’t have funds, you can collect it yourself; The rehearsal of the play was completed, but, “Looking at the beautiful costumes and gorgeous stages of other theater troupes, I felt less and less confident. I thought that “Looking at the Grandchildren” could win the Excellence Award at most, but I didn’t expect to win the first prize!” Wang Xinmin said excitedly.
Only when opera is close to life can it have vitality. This award gave Wang Xinmin a profound inspiration. “Watching the Grandchildren” is a modern life drama. It tells the story of a couple who spend “Hundred Days” with their children, and the grandma in the city and the grandma in the country come to “see the grandchildren”. The rich grandma sent a big red envelope and was warmly received, while the rural grandma gave her hard-earned 500 yuan but was ridiculed and humiliated. The scenes that are close to life, and the intense dramatic conflicts resonated strongly with the audience. When participating in the performance, the audience applauded 11 times for a short 25-minute play.
After winning the grand prize, “Looking at the Grandchildren” returned to Xiangyang, where it performed repeatedly and the venues were sold out. The theater troupe has also gained attention and support, and they no longer have to worry about funding for new plays. In particular, projects such as “Cultural Benefiting the People” are given priority to the troupe, so that the troupe can perform almost every day, and the troupe is alive.
It turns out that a good play can save a troupe! Since then, the troupe has seized social hot spots every year and rehearsed new modern dramas. In 2020, the troupe will create a new drama “A Vote for Life and Death” based on the true story of 16 hydroelectricians in Laohekou City who bid farewell to their families on New Year’s Eve to help build Wuhan Leishenshan Hospital. Subsequently, the troupe created a new drama “Testimony of Conscience”, which tells the story of a taxi driver who accidentally injured someone, and when the cause of the accident was unknown, he voluntarily surrendered to the public security organ despite the opposition of his relatives and friends, reflecting his conscience and responsibility. In 2022, “Testimony of Conscience” won the 11th Qu Yuan Literature and Art Award in Hubei Province.
“I have loved listening to operas since I was a child. Over the years, the troupe has not only performed traditional excerpts, but also rehearsed many new plays. I love to watch both old and new plays. The new plays are quite educational!” said an old theater fan who lives near the theater troupe. Yu Guoying said.
Let the national intangible cultural heritage pass on
The ancient Yuetune returns to the stage
Speaking of Henan opera, everyone knows it. What Yue tune is, many people don’t know, why did the old Hekou Henan opera troupe change to Hubei Yue tune?
“Hubei Yue Diao is a national intangible cultural heritage. If we don’t inherit it, we are afraid that it will be lost.” Wang Xinmin said. Hubei Yue Diao, commonly known as Dayue Diao, was formed on the border of Hubei and Henan during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. It not only retains the style of the ancient “Qin Opera” but also incorporates the local “Xiangyang Opera”. It is mainly popular in Xiangyang Gucheng and Laohekou. Later, fewer and fewer people could sing. In 2014, it was selected into the fourth batch of representative projects of national intangible cultural heritage. In 2016, Laohekou Henan Opera Troupe changed its name to Laohekou City Hubei Yuetiao Immortal Huagu Opera Art Protection and Inheritance Center, carrying the banner of revitalizing Hubei Yuetiao.
“My hometown, Majiagang, is the birthplace of Yue Diao in Hubei. I have been singing Yue Diao since I was 8 years old. In the 1950s, our Majiagang Yue Diao troupe was also very popular, but it gradually fell silent. Really Unexpectedly, in 2016, the troupe from Laohekou made a special trip to my hometown to find old artists, learn Yuetiao singing and soundtrack, and let Yuetiao return to the stage!” A Yuetiao fan over 70 years old in Majiagang Village, Xianrendu Town, Laohekou City Huang Juguang said.
What is inherited is the essence and the classic. Before the Spring Festival, the theater troupe brought to the villagers such plays as “Xu Ce Running to the City”, “Catching Saburo Alive”, and “Cuzidu” are all classic excerpts from traditional operas. After being adapted into Hubei Yue Diao, they not only have new singing styles , also incorporates the unique artistic expression of Yue Tiao, making the performance more lively and beautiful. In 2021, young actor Liu Limin won the 13th Hubei Drama Peony Award. Liu Limin said: “I originally studied Henan Opera. At the beginning, the theater troupe asked us to learn Yuetune. I still found it a bit difficult. Although there are similarities in basic skills such as facial expressions, body skills, and movements between different operas, Yuetune’s singing, chanting, etc. , voice parts, etc. are still very different from Henan opera. But now it seems that it is worth it. Only with its own characteristics can it shine.”
Living inheritance is also inseparable from innovation. In 2017, based on the compilation and creation of several small Yue-tune plays, the troupe’s first original Yue-tune large-scale modern play “The Story of Zeng Zhen” was grandly launched and was a great success. The protagonist, Zeng Zhen, faced with his father-in-law who suffered a stroke and his mother-in-law who was blind after he sacrificed for righteousness, and faced with the fierce ideological conflict between leaving and staying, he finally chose to take care of his parents-in-law before considering his personal future. This is also Yue Tiao’s first attempt at modern drama. Since then, the new Hubei Yue Diao dramas based on reality, “Silence of Love”, “A Vote of Life and Death”, and “Testimony of Conscience” have appeared on stage one after another. Through weekly performances for the benefit of the people and tour performances of excellent plays, they have attracted countless audiences. The road of Yuetiao in Hubei is getting wider and wider.
Now, the troupe has shifted from focusing on Henan Opera to revitalizing Hubei Yue Diao, an ancient opera. Although the tune is old, the play is new. The troupe produces new plays almost every year and wins awards every year. The play is oriented to life and is closer to the audience. The actors go to the countryside, with zero distance from the audience. The young actors also started a live broadcast, which made Hubei Yue Diao attract more young people’s attention and love.
The average age of actors is 23 years old, and the youngest is only 16 years old
Young actors take leading roles
“The 3,000-year-old city wall lets dreams fly, and the dragon rises from a rainbow and crosses the Han River in spring. The metropolitan area is developing rapidly, and the picturesque landscape of mountains and rivers is as green as Xiangyang. Fengyun will light up wisdom in Longzhong, and work together to create greater glories!” Danjiao Shu Guangxiu, Wu Sheng somersaulted, among thousands of flowers, the handsome young student sang with his voice, singing the new year and new atmosphere. On the eve of the Spring Festival, all the actors in the troupe will appear on the stage after you sing, and are busy rehearsing various programs. This year, the Yue Diao Group not only participated in the Spring Festival Gala in Laohekou City and Xiangyang City, but also recorded a program for the Hubei Satellite TV Spring Festival Gala. Everyone was very busy. But all the young faces on the stage were filled with smiles. “Our happiest thing is to have a show!” “The more audiences, the happier!” the actors said in one go.
After removing the makeup, these actors are actually younger and more beautiful than when they put on makeup. “The average age of our actors is 23 years old, and the youngest is only 16 years old.” Wang Xinmin said proudly.
When rehearsing “Looking at the Grandchildren” in 2014, the average age of the actors was 52 years old. The young daughter-in-law in her 20s is played by 52-year-old actor Zheng Yuqin. At that time, solving the problem of aging actors was the top priority of the troupe. In 2016, Wang Xinmin ran for 7 consecutive days, traveling to dozens of art schools and theater troupes in Hubei, Henan, Hebei, and Shandong provinces, and recruited more than 20 young people.
As soon as the young people came, they were regarded as “baby” by the troupe, and the old actors consciously carried out “teaching and teaching”, giving the newcomers the opportunity to appear on stage. The troupe pays young people a higher salary than the head of the troupe, and they also contact “famous actors” everywhere, so that young actors can learn one-on-one from “famous teachers”. Now every young actor has practiced one or two “unique skills”. Whenever they show their housekeeping skills, they always attract bursts of applause.
In 2018, after nearly a year of polishing and choreography, the troupe’s original large-scale revolutionary modern drama “The Yellow River Jue Sing” went to Beijing to perform and was a success. In 2019, the play won the “Five One Project” award of the 10th Hubei Provincial Spiritual Civilization Construction, and became the “hot” play of the year. At the first performance, Guang Weiran, the protagonist of the play and the lyricist of “Yellow River Cantata”, was still a famous actor brought back from other places by the troupe, but the troupe sent young actor Sun Shuaikang to study with him. After earnestly studying each trick, one tune and one tune, now, 25-year-old Sun Shuaikang has not only become the absolute protagonist of “The Yellow River”, but also the “popular niche” of the troupe, and is also the deputy head of the troupe’s business.
“I was recruited by head Sun, who said that there are many opportunities for young people here. When I came here, I found out that it was really the right time!” Liu Limin said. In 2018, Liu Limin, who was 7 months pregnant, won the approval of the troupe with the performance video. After coming to Laohekou, the troupe not only provided housing, but also admitted the couple. “Now our group has made 5 couples, and everyone doesn’t want to leave after they come.” Liu Limin said with a smile. According to the characteristics of each young person, the troupe has arranged repertoires to play the leading roles, so that all young actors have unique skills and everyone has works. There are “famous actors” in famous dramas, and famous actors gradually have their own “fan base”. In addition to rehearsing, everyone also started a live broadcast on the Internet. The fans are getting more and more young. In 2022, the troupe recruited another 6 young people. The ancient drama is glowing with youthful brilliance. (Tian Doudou)
Layout design: Siru Zhao
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责编：杨帆 ]