Wang Run
Pingju Opera, as one of the representatives of traditional Chinese opera, has a long history and profound cultural heritage. However, with the changes of the times, how to rejuvenate the art of Pingju Opera in the contemporary era has become a major challenge for Pingju Opera practitioners. At the beginning of the new year in 2024, the Pingju Opera New Year comedy “Bao Zheng Returns Home” will be produced by the Beijing Lingkong Pingju Opera Troupe and gather elites from Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and other places.
Wang Quanyou, a famous performing artist who once played the role of leader Ding Wei in the TV series “Bright Sword”, stars in “, which combines traditional Bao Zheng culture with modern comedy elements, and contains satirical criticism of reality, making a bold attempt at innovation in Pingju opera.
“Bao Gong” is a classic character on the opera stage. His image of impartiality, integrity, selflessness and uprightness is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Written by Zhao Shuo, Wu Tong as the chief director, and Hu Yanbin as director, “Bao Zheng Returns Home” continues the character design of Bao Zheng in previous literary and artistic works, but tells an original story: retired Bao Zheng returns to his hometown after retirement. , he raised chickens at home to relieve his boredom. He named each chicken after someone he had “killed evildoers” and even “scrutinized chickens” when he had nothing to do. Zhang Long, Zhao Hu, Chao Chao, and Ma Han appeared. They were ordered to accompany Bao Zheng to play in the countryside and observe the folk customs and sentiments, but they encountered various injustices. In order to seek justice, Bao Zheng, who was not afraid of royal power in the past, had to go to the palace to seek help. As a result, not only was he rejected, but his four old friends were brutally murdered, which is even more depressing.
The famous performing artist who was once known as the “No. 1 Chen Shimei” of Pingju Opera appeared on the stage of Pingju Opera for the first time as “Bao Zheng”. The nearly two-hour performance almost did not leave the stage the whole time, plus a large number of soul-stirring singing lyrics, With a full circle of singing and dancing, and a live calligraphy and ink-splashing performance, Wang Quanyou, who has solid skills, presented a three-dimensional, full and layered image of the elderly Bao Zheng, which not only has the traditional charm of Ping Opera, but also has a modern sense of humor, portraying Bao Zheng’s inner emotional changes penetratingly.
In addition to Bao Zheng, the king of Song, the alchemist, the magistrate, Miao’er, the bodyguard, and more than 30 other roles in the play were all performed by 16 male actors. At the same time, the organic combination of Huangmei opera melody from Bao Zheng’s hometown and the traditional singing of Pingju opera; the ingenious setting and arrangement of the opera within the Peking opera; the display of martial arts skills and folk art forms such as the Chinese Kirin whip, all broaden the scope of Pingju opera with rich techniques. Manifestations.
While adhering to the ideological and artistic nature of the work, the entire work strengthens its marketability in a people-friendly sense and vividly expresses the New Year’s meaning of “good to watch, good to listen to, and fun to play”. The audience responded enthusiastically. However, the rhythm of some passages in the play is a little slow. There is still room for discussion in the explanation of plot cases, the transition between sadness and joy, the exploration of character relationships, and audience positioning. I hope that it can continue to be carefully polished and become an original and high-quality Pingju opera that can stand, spread and be remembered.
Photo by reporter Fang Fei
责编：张晓荣