After several months, the theater stars are shining again. The 2022/23 autumn and winter performance season of Shanghai Oriental Art Center is about to hit, and the 18th performance season has set off a new look. As the first drama work of the new performance season, “I Am Not Pan Jinlian”, directed by Ding Yiteng and led by Zhang Xinyi, will premiere in Shanghai from September 10th to 12th, at the Opera Hall of Shanghai Oriental Art Center. In addition, the drama “I Am the Moon” starring Ding Yiteng and Qu Chuxiao will also meet with audiences in Shanghai from October 25th to 26th.
Interpretation of the Epic of Women’s Destruction in Oriental Terms
20 years of complaints, just to prove that “I am not Pan Jinlian”. The drama “I Am Not Pan Jinlian” is adapted from the novel of the same name by Liu Zhenyun, the winner of the Mao Dun Literature Award and a famous writer. It tells the story of “the first half of life of Li Xuelian who was not recognized”. The third big theater drama after the star version of “Pillow Man” is also the second collaboration between Gulou West Drama and Liu Zhenyun. The play is written by film critic Chaplin, directed by new dramatist Ding Yiteng, starring famous actor Zhang Xinyi, and starring Zhang Junyi, Jin Guangfa, Jiang Boning and other powerful actors who lead the “weird” men’s group with stunts.
The story returns the focus to the complex mental journey of the heroine Li Xuelian in the original work, and presents it on the stage with a perspective and style completely different from the movie, bringing “a tragedy from beginning to end” to the audience. The play retains the profound humor and female perspective of the original work, and the traditional opera image collides with the contemporary drama image, so that the role of Li Xuelian is extended, and it is in harmony with many female images in Chinese history and culture.
“I’m not Pan Jinlian” is a story about sesame turning into watermelon. It was originally a one-sentence matter, but it turned into a 20-year bitter lawsuit.” Liu Zhenyun said when talking about his work. Screenwriter Chaplin also said, “At the beginning of the adaptation of this work, my strongest belief was to be faithful to the original work, so the script retains almost all of Li Xuelian’s action lines, and more than 80% of the lines are dialogues in the original work. He has also made his own subversion, betrayal and destruction on the basis of being faithful to the original.”
The “new program drama” that director Ding Yiteng has explored over the years is displayed in the creation of this drama, giving it a more youthful, bold, pioneering and exploratory temperament. Facing the bumpy and absurd fate of “Li Xuelian” in “I Am Not Pan Jinlian”, Ding Yiteng believes that this is actually a story of a woman walking alone in the historical dimension, constantly proving who she really is. He hopes to present “a sense of humor, an epic sense, a sense of the times” in his creations.
The contemporary stage projects the vortex of fate and the illusion of time and space
The stage version of “I Am Not Pan Jinlian” is designed by Liu Kedong, a first-class stage designer of the National Theatre of China, and the lighting designer is Wang Qi, a famous visual artist.
The curtain rises and falls with the shape of the eyes and the beating of the heart. The story happens in this eye, and the creativity is limitless. The axis of the stage is a three-circle “vortex-type turntable” that can rotate in circles and move up and down. Director Ding Yiteng said, “We call it a ‘pot’, but in fact it is also like a vortex of destiny. When it turns, it seems that Li Xuelian’s fate is also involved in this storm, Li Xuelian also naturally Become the center of this storm. So the stage intention fully reflects the image seed of the show.”
In terms of lighting design, the play uses light and shade changes to create a visual storm. As the narrative unfolds, the designer dyes all the “roaring” fragments with dazzling solid colors, presenting its practical significance in the seemingly disordered splicing and combination of color blocks. The symbolic processing of the group portraits of actors, combined with the lighting and music of the DISCO atmosphere, adds a lot of comedy atmosphere to the play.
In addition, the props design of the show also shows the quality of originality. For example, the cow on the stage is a metaphor for the heroine Li Xuelian’s stubbornness and strength, but the cow who knows the truth of the matter cannot open her mouth to dissuade Li Xuelian from insisting on the paranoid idea of complaining; another example is the lotus-shaped pennant waving in Li Xuelian’s hand, which seems to be somewhat playful Attitude, but also full of personality similar to male hormones, full of meaning.
Zhang Xinyi joins hands with a powerful “men’s team” to show all kinds of living beings in the world
Zhang Xinyi, who graduated from Chinese Opera, won scholarships every year in college and is recognized as a representative of hard work and study. Although he regretted to catch up with the talent and the national language when he graduated, he did not recruit actors, but after joining the film and television industry, he won many film and television awards by virtue of his professional performance quality and strong plasticity. From a dusty woman, a lady, a rural teacher with a rough fate, a female spy with a tangled heart, to an urban hot mom and a stubborn rich second generation, he leads the audience to experience the brilliance of women in different eras and personalities.
Thirty and happy, ordinary and then brave. She has always liked to challenge roles and is eager to break through herself. She participated in various singing, singing and dancing in the program of “Riding the Wind and Waves Season 3”. The audience witnessed the infinite charm of “Second Sister”.
Of course, she is also the heroine of the drama “I’m not Pan Jinlian”, and the “Li Xuelian” who never stops on the road to self-innocence. As her debut on the stage of a drama, she turned down many film and television variety show invitations and devoted herself to the rehearsal of this female-themed work. In the rehearsal hall, she struggled every day, pondering over the movement and emotional handling; she also designed a lot of body movements, hoping to highlight the 20-year mental journey of a woman full of grievances and grief. During the break, she often used a carefree and cheerful smile to liven up the atmosphere of the crew. Director Ding Yiteng also mentioned in an interview with Dongyi that “Second Sister” showed super energy and keen insight on the stage of the drama, and the spirit of courage to challenge herself is highly compatible with “Li Xuelian” in the play.
The members of the “men’s group” stood out from hundreds of people, and they are proficient in eighteen martial arts, such as Peking Opera, Huangmei Opera, Sichuan Opera Face-changing, Rap, classical dance, guitar playing and singing, viola, ballet, modern dance, cross talk and so on. Director Ding Yiteng hopes to use such a “men’s group” with a “weird” temperament to present the inherent absurdity of “I Am Not Pan Jinlian”, and at the same time make the stage more interesting and rich.
Speaking of bizarre male characters, director Ding Yiteng also recommended his other work to the audience – “I Am the Moon” staged at Dongyi from October 25th to 26th, “The starring Qu Chuxiao is a contradiction. , with a hard shell and a delicate and fragile heart, this sense of contradiction makes him more attractive on stage.”Return to Sohu, see more
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