On April 4th, a new version of Kunqu Opera "Bailuo Shirt", which was co-produced by Suzhou Kunqu Theatre and Bai Xianyong, was staged at Shanghai Oriental Art Center. The play was once again written by Zhang Shuxiang, the screenwriter of the youth version of Peony Pavilion, and directed by Yue Meiti, the first female student of Kunqu Opera. This tragic work is another attempt by Bai Xianyong to attract contemporary audiences with the new aesthetics of Kunqu Opera.
Since the rehearsal of the youth version of the Kunqu Opera Peony Pavilion in 2002, Suzhou Kunqu Opera Theatre has cooperated with Bai Xianyong for four times in 17 years, and produced new versions of the Jade Badge, Bailuo Shirt and Chivalrous Man, except the youth version of the Peony Pavilion. The new performance of the old opera has integrated the exploration of the new aesthetics of Kunqu opera by contemporary Kunqu artists and cultural scholars, which not only gives the audience the ultimate aesthetic enjoyment, but also leads to in-depth thinking and discussion on human nature because of the characters in the play.
Adapting the script from the perspective of human nature to convey truth and goodness.
Where is the new version of Kunqu Opera? The new edition of Bailuo Shirt first explores the theme and the ideological excavation of characters. The original "Bailuo Shirt" is a simple public security drama, which tells that Su Yun and his wife hired a boat to take office in the Qing Dynasty, but they were victimized by the ship owner Xu Neng in the middle, and their husband was pushed into the river, and his wife escaped from being rescued and gave birth to a son, which was unintentionally picked up by Xu Neng. He was brought up with great care and named Xu Jizu. Eighteen years later, he made a tour of the Eight Houses, and happened to meet Su Yun’s grievance. Xu Jizu killed his adoptive father to avenge his death and had a happy reunion with his biological mother.
After repeated discussions between Zhang Shuxiang and the creative staff, the original ending is formulaic, binary opposition between good and evil, simple thinking and flat characterization, which can not meet the high expectations and demands of modern audiences for emotion, mind and aesthetics. The crew finally decided to adapt the original work and set the theme in father and son, fate, humanity, redemption, affection and beauty. The last film "Trial in Court" became the climax of the whole drama. At this time, the truth has been revealed, and both father and son have fallen into the trap of fate and struggled painfully. In any case, Xu Jizu can’t be inhuman, and suddenly he will kill his adoptive father who loves him and loves him according to the law. Under the impact of emotion and responsibility, his heart shakes and tears. Xu Neng, whose beautiful image disappeared in front of his son, did not dare to expect his son to forgive him. In the emotional entanglement of fear and disillusionment, he chose to commit suicide in order to fulfill and protect his son, showing the warm side of human nature and realizing self-redemption. The whole play came to an abrupt end here, and the tragic emotion reached the highest point.
The tension of tragedy is seldom used in traditional Chinese drama, so the new version of Bailuo Shirt has brought great shock to the audience. Starring Yu Jiulin, Xu Jizu’s inner contradictions and emotional struggles are vividly presented, which makes the audience struggle with the protagonist’s fate. In addition to watching the stage and the beauty of music and singing, it also shows the complexity and diversity of the characters’ personalities, which has triggered contemporary people’s in-depth thinking about human nature.
Through the portrayal of the character Xu Jizu in the new edition of Bailuo Shirt, Yu Jiulin also completed the leap from a towel student to an official student in performance. "Liu Mengmei in the youth edition of Peony Pavilion is a towel student, paying attention to charming, bookish and a little stupid. Xu Jizu in the new version of "Bailuo Shirt" is an official student, with higher requirements for singing, wider range and more connotation in shaping characters. " Yu Yulin told reporters.
The purpose of adaptation is to better interpret and inherit the classic plays in the contemporary era. The new edition of "The Heroes of Justice" is based on the version of Teacher Liang Guyin in the 1970s, with slight changes. The original version features Wu Song, while the new edition features Pan Jinlian. Through this play, Lv Jia, an actor of Suzhou Kunju Theatre, has well inherited the essence of Liang Guyin’s performance, and added his own understanding and expression of the characters, giving Pan Jinlian a new color from the perspective of human nature.
After careful polishing, including the above four new versions of Kunqu Opera, Suzhou Kunqu Opera Theatre has put 14 major plays on the stage, including The Palace of Eternal Life, Xi Shi, The Story of the White Rabbit and The Broken Mountain.
Blending the new aesthetics of Kunqu Opera into the classical program to meet the modern aesthetic needs.
"The aesthetic feature of Kunqu Opera is that it is poetic, exquisite and elegant in freehand brushwork, which is reflected by different trades and characterization and has already formed an inherent cognition." Cai Shaohua, director of Suzhou Kunqu Opera Theatre in Jiangsu Province, told reporters how to integrate new concepts into the traditional Kunqu aesthetics and make Kunqu more poetic and elegant. Since the youth edition of Peony Pavilion, Bai Xianyong and the creative team have explored it. In Peony Pavilion, male and female flower gods are made to fall from the sky like fairies in cloaks embroidered with gorgeous flowers such as begonia, orchids and chrysanthemums, which makes the fairy scene in the story of dreams and feelings beautiful. The concept of new aesthetics of Kunqu opera was really put forward from the new edition of the Jade Hairpin.
If The Peony Pavilion is an epic, The Jade Hairpin is a sketch. However, there is a "Qin Tiao" in "Jade Hairpin", which is about the protagonists Chen Miaochang and Pan Bizheng playing the piano to convey their love for each other. There is also a poem Stealing, in which Chen Miao often expresses his love for Pan Bizheng with poems. There are violins and poems, which convey feelings with violins and meanings with poems. Therefore, Bai Xianyong believes that the play "The Tale of the Jade Hairpin" has great potential to embody the extreme elegance of Kunqu Opera and realize the characteristics of abstraction, freehand brushwork, lyricism and poeticization which are very compatible with the basic aesthetics of China culture.
Compared with the youth version of The Peony Pavilion, the new version of The Jade Hairpin has taken a step towards simplicity and freehand brushwork, interweaving poetry, calligraphy and piano on the same stage, and pushing the aesthetics of Kunqu Opera to a higher level of lyric poetry. In the play, Dong Yangzi’s calligraphy and Xi Song’s painting art create a world of ink and wash on the stage. Tong Wang, the artistic director, reduced the color of her costume design by one degree, which made it more elegant and exquisite. In the play, the audience can also enjoy the live performance of Li Xiangting, a guqin master, of the Tang Dynasty royal guqin "Nine-Xiao Huanpei", which is the first joint performance of the oral and intangible cultural heritages of the two worlds.
Following the idea of presenting the beauty of the dance in the Jade Hairpin, the protagonist Xu Jizu, as a third-rate official of the imperial court, should wear a big red official uniform according to the convention in the Bailuo Shirt staged in 2016. However, in the new version of Bailuo Shirt, the color of the official uniform is mainly gold and white, which is outstanding and elegant. The chivalrous man, which premiered in 2018, boldly used China’s paper-cut art as the basic expression vocabulary of the stage background and the beauty of the dance. In addition, the costumes became more refined and incorporated the moral expression of the protagonist’s inner character.
How to integrate the classical aesthetics of Kunqu opera with the aesthetic consciousness of the 21st century is the biggest challenge for contemporary Kunqu opera production. The principle of the four new versions of Kunqu Opera is to respect the classics but not follow them step by step, and to make use of the modern without "abusing the modern". "We all abide by the traditional singing, reading and doing of Kunqu opera, and modern elements such as lighting and dancing are integrated into the classical framework in an unobtrusive way, making the whole play both classical and modern." Bai Xianyong said.
Judging from the audience’s reaction, they recognized the exploration of the new version of Kunqu Opera, and thought that this innovation made the interpretation space freehand and smooth, and made Kunqu Opera "more lyrical, more beautiful and more enjoyable". "In fact, modern audiences not only regard Kunqu opera as a serious performing art, but also regard Kunqu opera as a representative of oriental aesthetics and as a life aesthetics, and integrate it into their daily lives. In this direction, there will be more and more fans of Kunqu Opera. " Cai Shaohua believes.
From the script to the actor and then to the audience, the inheritance ecology is formed.
Walking into the garden-like architecture of Suzhou Kunqu Opera Theatre, Zhang Jiqing is teaching Liu Yu the passbook drama "Broken Mountain". Suzhou Kunqu Opera Theatre has been established for 60 years, from word generation to succession, inheritance, publicity and promotion, and has now spread to the sixth generation of vibrating characters. There are more than 20 young actors in Zhenzi generation, who are old, young, ugly and colorful. Twenty-seven-year-old Liu Yu is one of the vibration generation. She is a "kowtowing disciple" of Zhang Jiqing. She has been studying with Zhang Jiqing for seven years. This year, Zhang Jiqing is going to teach her the complete version of "Rotten Keshan". After experience, Liu Yu has been able to take the lead in the drama independently. The youth version of Peony Pavilion won three books in nine hours, and participated in the performance of the National Grand Theatre on behalf of Jiangsu Province as the starring role of The Legend of the White Snake, and won the outstanding performance award of Jiangsu Bauhinia Wenhua twice.
The inheritance of Kunqu Opera is a cycle every fifteen years, and the fault will bring immeasurable losses to Kunqu Opera. Suzhou Kunqu Opera Theatre insists on promoting people with drama and leading teams with drama, forming a benign echelon structure. It is stipulated in the academy that every actor must learn a passbook drama every year, and national first-class actors must teach young actors at least one passbook drama every year. If a play is included in the inheritance plan of the theater, a crew will be formed for the overall inheritance. Every year, at least 12 passbook plays in Su Kun are passed down as a whole and put on the stage.
According to written records, there are more than 2,000 folds of Kunqu opera texts, mainly legends of Ming and Qing Dynasties, and about 450 folds can be performed. Suzhou Kunqu Theatre has been rescuing and protecting traditional opera in recent years. At present, about 200 percent of it can be put on the stage. Yu Jiulin, Shen Fengying, Zhou Xuefeng and other "Plum Blossom Award" winners are the "pillars" of Suzhou Kunqu Theatre at present, and they are responsible for the performance of big plays and the teaching of young actors.
From the script to the actors and then to the audience, Kunqu opera has formed a systematic inheritance in these years. The youth version of Peony Pavilion undoubtedly established the position of Kunqu Opera in the minds of the younger generation. In the past 15 years, the Youth Edition of Peony Pavilion has performed a total of 342 performances, with an audience of 800,000 people, 72% of whom are young, and 25% of them have entered the campus. They have successively entered more than 30 famous schools at home and abroad, which has reduced the age level of Kunqu opera audiences by 30 years, which has won more audiences for the new editions of Yu Pin Ji, Bai Luo Shirt and Yi Xia Ji. Before each performance, the organizer will try to arrange guided tours, with famous cultural scholars giving keynote lectures and leading actors demonstrating performances, so as to deepen the audience’s understanding and appreciation of the play.
Over the past decade, nearly 20 universities at home and abroad, such as Peking University, Hongkong University and Berkeley University, have offered Kunqu courses or set up Kunqu credits. Bai Xianyong and Suzhou Kunqu Opera Theatre insisted on promoting Kunqu Opera in colleges and universities, and the 11th Oriental Famous Drama Month was held in Shanghai on March 8th — — At the media meeting of the Kunqu Opera Bai Luo Shan and Yi Xia Ji in Suzhou Kunqu Opera Theatre, representatives from Tongji University and other universities accepted the tickets presented by the organizers for the new edition of Bai Luo Shan and Yi Xia Ji, which planted the seeds of hope for the popularization of Kunqu Opera.
Suzhou Kunqu Theatre, located on Jiaochang Road in the ancient city, is regarded as the most beautiful theater by the public. In the open experience space, three performance forms are designed: theater version, hall version and garden live version. "On the basis of adhering to the essence of inheritance, we plan to make the Kunqu Opera Life Aesthetics Experience Park, and express the oriental aesthetics through the combination of drama and space. This can be understood as a kind of performance art, so that more people can find relevant interests through experience, so that Kunqu Opera can be deeply embedded in people’s daily lives and realize the live transmission of Kunqu Opera in the audience." Cai Shaohua said.
(Reporter Su Yan)