The “code” on the stage is full of laughter and tears. Behind the scenes, the effort is also bitter and sweet. Li Xiang’s first directed work “Influence” will be staged in Hangzhou this weekend
Hangzhou Daily News, “I’m not afraid to face many difficulties in this matter.” Li Xiang said that it was his first stage play “Influence” that he directed and starred in. On the afternoon of the 26th, the press conference of the original stage play “Influence, Influence” Hangzhou Station was held at the Hangzhou Theater. Li Xiang and the main creator appeared together.
Before that, most people knew Li Xiang because of his identity as a “fairy dancer” – the “Grand Slam champion” in the dance world, who won the “Tao Li Cup”, won the “Lotus Award”, and served as the lead dancer of CCTV Spring Festival Gala. In “Dancing Storm” and “Brother Who Overcame Toughness”, four people were amazed…
“Influence” combines the ubiquitous evaluation system in the real society with the future workplace full of order, showing the collision of “human nature and technology“. On the evening of July 29 and 30, the play will be staged at the Hangzhou Theater.
1/ “Fairy” cross-border
Director, Actor, Singer
“Influence” is produced by Beijing Yanyu Culture Co., Ltd. and Hangzhou Drama Art Center, co-directed by Li Xiang and Wang Di, screenwriters by Mei Sheng and Wang Di, Wu Zhoukai, Ma Xin, Wu You and actors from Hangzhou Drama Art Center Wang Chenyang, Zhu Jiankun and others co-star.
“For me, participating in directing and producing “Influence” is a brand new attempt. Starting from myself, I am willing to try everything. After I try, time will test everything.” the “bud”. As Li Xiang’s first original stage play, this is the first time he has taken a big step in the field of drama with the dual roles of director and starring.
“Influence” is a work full of futuristic and ritualistic sense – in the future world, after young people with names and surnames enter the workplace, their names are replaced by “gender + code”, their careers, lives and emotions. Towards, the beginning is determined by the score given by the intelligent system. The contrast between humans and programs, and the contrast between “machines” and “life” brings out the play’s thinking about the relationship between humans and technology.
In the play, Li Xiang’s avatar “Shadow” is like a mirror, reflecting the creepy people on the stage, and at the same time incarnating as a dancer, singer and the lyricist of the theme song. surprise. “Singing is also a new challenge for me. Composer and musician Ding Ke told me that I don’t need to think too much about the world, but sing and interpret in a way that I think is real and comfortable.” Li Xiang said.
Except for “Shadow”, the names of other characters in the play are all numerical codes, the mercenary villain M527, the pure genius M529, the tragic female boss F013… When referring to the original intention of this setting, Li Xiang thought: “Human’s A name is just a code name, it is not a code, nor should it be a code. Because once it becomes a code, the person behind the name is no longer a person, but a machine that serves the society.”
Hangzhou is the seventh stop of the “Influence” tour, and even Li Xiang himself can’t remember how many versions he has revised. Sometimes it was a drastic cut – on the way from Chongqing to Xi’an, he cut out at least 20 minutes of scenes in one go; sometimes it was just a few words of details – in order to show that M529 was insecure, he added a line “Today’s swimming pool water. very cold”.
2/ The Power of Hang Talk
Learn to dance, sense of contrast, prove yourself
The actor of the main character M527 in the play is Wang Chenyang, a young actor from Hangzhou Drama Art Center. He has been in the group for two years, and he has already played a leading role in the key performances of Hang Dialect, especially the cross-border experimental projects. In this time, “Influence”, he plays an opportunist blinded by desire and unscrupulous.
“For me, the biggest challenge in performing this role was dancing on the stage for the first time. My limbs were relatively stiff, so I was quite restrained at first. But Li Xiang told me that consciousness is more important than action, and I learned to let go of my body. It will look good when I jump. Gradually, I have confidence in myself, and I am more and more daring to dance.”
Zhu Jiankun, who frequently appears in the main theme works of Hangzhou dialect, has also “turned into a big villain” this time. He plays the ruthless “Laughing Tiger” M006 in “Influence”. His yin and yang laughter has an absolute power . “I joked with the director that I was looking for a sense of contrast because I looked upright. However, every time I tried a different way of acting, it was a breakthrough for the actor.”
Zhu Jiankun said that compared with previous performance experience, this work has the most extreme control over the body. “Actors should be restrained on the stage, and every body movement is carefully designed without showing any traces. How to express and interpret, I have been greatly improved in the process of rehearsing “Influence”.”
Ying Tenghui, a fresh graduate who just officially joined the group this month, is a member of the chorus in the play. Not long ago, he was shortlisted for the finals of the 2022 “Xin Song Project” Zhejiang Young Drama Actors Competition with his dazzling performance. It is worth mentioning that this is the first stage play that Ying Tenghui participated in after graduation. In February of this year, he was also selected for the cast of “Influence” as a hangzhou intern.
“The most memorable part of the rehearsal so far is the physical training that lasted for more than a month at the beginning of the rehearsal. Before the official rehearsal every day, we have to do 1-2 hours of physical training. From the aspects of posture, strength, coordination, etc., Everyone’s body language is unified and strengthened.” In Ying Tenghui’s view, participating in “Influence”, standing on the stage to prove himself, has already gained a whole summer of highlights.
For Wang Chenyang, Zhu Jiankun, and Ying Tenghui, the three young actors of Hang dialect, the stage play “Influence” is the longest and most extensive large-scale tour project they have participated in since joining the group. Back home in Hangzhou, they will “dance” again in the best condition.