Original Title: Based on Mr. Lao She’s last novel, this drama gathers 42 actors from Renyi (quote)
“Under the Red Flag” Plays Lao She Pu Cunxin “Boldly” Try (Theme)
arts/Beijing Youth DailyReporter Guo Jia
On January 5, Beijing Renyi met the media with a cast of 42 people. According to the words of director Feng Yuanzheng: Beijing Renyi will not have a run-up in 2023, but will start directly, and it will be accelerated. “Right Under the Red Flag”, the last novel of Mr. Lao She’s creative career, has gathered 42 actors from Renyi. Since the formation of the group on September 20 last year, it has gone through a long and ups and downs rehearsal process. It will debut on the 18th of the Spring Festival at the Capital Theater.
The long-lost version that the drama has been waiting for
In the rehearsal hall on the third floor of Renyi, three rows of actors were full, and the old, middle-aged and young faces gathered together, like half a team of actors. The unique height of the text makes this unfinished posthumous work created by Mr. Lao She in 1962 an unattainable work on the stage. Although the Shanghai Dramatic Art Center and Beijing Quju have successively adapted it before, the theater stage seems to have been waiting for a version – that is “Red Banner” by Beijing Renyi. In 2017, Beijing Renyi tried to read the script of “Under the Red Flag” with a young lineup led by the young director Yan Rui. At that time, the performance of only one hour had already shown its inspiration, especially the handling of the role of “Mr. Lao She” It laid the foundation for this real move to the stage.
Feng Yuanzheng, Pu Cunxin and Yang Lixin attended the media meeting of “Under the Red Flag”
The original work of Mr. Lao She, together with the adaptation and continuation of the late famous screenwriter Li Longyun, who was famous for Beijing-style children’s plays such as “Xiaojing Hutong”, made “Under the Red Flag” truly a complete drama script. The whole play is in the form of Lao She’s autobiography, telling the story from the first perspective. The two literary masters realized a spiritual encounter in the work and “restored” a city of Beiping with the imprint of the times.
Place Mr. Lao She among all beings
Pu Cunxin, Yang Lixin, Liang Danni, Wang Qianhua, Yu Zhen, Wang Gang, Fu Jia, Wu Shanshan and other powerful actors form a super lineup, except for the dean Feng Yuanzheng, but this time he will co-direct with the young director Yan Rui. “It’s okay to direct and act on your own, but you can’t fully see yourself.” So this time, Feng Yuanzheng concentrated on being a director. In his opinion, as the opening drama of Renyi, “Under the Red Flag” is a combination of Lao She and Li Longyun. Both of them are artists of the theater. The Renyi rehearsal has also found the most suitable carrier for this play. .
As the first work of Renyi Art after its 70th anniversary celebration, the rehearsal of “Under the Red Flag” is a response to Renyi’s first play “Longxugou”. The actors in the play gather Lan Faqing, who entered the theater in 1972, and the youngest generation who just entered the theater on December 1 last year, which can be described as an inheritance of the cast. There are many characters on stage, Feng Yuanzheng said, “This play coincides with “Tea House” because it is all about the appearance of all living beings. There are nine main scenes in the whole play because it is difficult to change the scene, so we found the elements of Beijing’s blue brick roofs, so that the audience can enjoy the scenery. The turmoil of the late Qing Dynasty and the comfortable Beijingers formed a mutual reflection.”
The biggest difference between this stage presentation and the script is the treatment of Mr. Lao She, “In the script, Mr. Lao She is like an announcer, but this time we put Mr. Lao She in the presence of all living beings, either watching or introspecting, even talking to other characters. There is no barrier, Mr. Lao She is right there. During the first rehearsal of the whole play, Mr. Lao She’s monologue even brought everyone to tears.”
Pu Cunxin boldly plays Lao She with respect
Pu Cunxin, who played the role of Mr. Lao She in the play, decided to play the role because of his heartbeat after receiving the phone call. “We are the descendants of Mr. Lao She, and (so) Teacher Shizhi played him in the play called “Taiping Lake”. I took this role with a sense of awe, and even more boldly played him with respect. “Pu Cunxin first read this unfinished novel as a photocopy, “Mr. Lao She wrote it from the bottom of his heart, so the monologue in the play also has this sentence: thank future generations for continuing my unfinished novel into a play with sincerity and putting it on stage This play is the homework we gave him, and our creation is still in progress. Mr. Lao She wants to tell the world of the 21st century what he is familiar with and the city of Peiping he wants to write about. Is our performance Mr. Lao She’s heartfelt words? ? The process of rehearsing is also a process of seeking truth.”
An expression of a new form and a sense of ritual
Folklore lectures, Baoguo Temple and Jiade Center collection, “Under the Red Flag” has done enough homework since its establishment. Director Yan Rui said, “Renyi has a solid foundation of realism, but “Under the Red Flag” is precisely to let the audience see the ‘New Beijing Flavor’ with innovative expression on top of tradition.” Freehand stage, performance style The exploration and change of traditional Beijing flavor elements combined with Peking opera, orchestra and electronic music, “contemporary aesthetics and expression, not to restore and copy, but to refine the elements of Beijing, China, even the nation and the East, “Red Flag” is a new form The expression of the new sense of ritual is full of emotion and agitation.” Yan Rui said.
In addition to Feng Yuanzheng and Yan Rui, two generations of directors joined forces, stage designer Chang Jiang, lighting designer Meng Bin, costume designer Zhao Yan, modeling designer Ying Shu, effect designer Zheng Chen, composer Wenzi and Niu Xiangming jointly formed the design team. Regardless of the size of the role, the actors are fully committed. In order to adapt to the autobiographical and scene-based expression of this work, the director and the actors, the actors who play together, and the old actors and young actors are divided into different roles according to the plot. The group, after repeated discussions and attempts, turned to Lao She.
Photography/Beijing Youth Daily reporter Wang Xiaoxi Coordinator/Liu Jianghua