Chapter 79 drama

Li Shutong had a strong interest in Peking Opera since he was a child.When he was young in Tianjin, he met famous Peking opera actors such as Sun Chu, Yang Xiaolou, Liu Yongkui, and admired Bangzi Kunling Yang Cuixi very much. In November 1902, Li Shutong, Xu Huanyuan, Huang Yanpei and others established the "Shanghai Society", opened tutoring courses, held lectures, and performed student plays.Li Shutong has performed four new dramas including "Wen Ye Marriage", and the scripts were written by himself. In 1904, Li participated in the performances of Peking Opera "Chongbawa Temple", "White Water Beach" and "Huang Tianba" in Shanghai. He played the roles of Huang Tianba, Chu Biao, Mu Yuji and other roles, showing his outstanding performance in performing arts. talent.

During his study in Japan, Li Shutong founded Chunliu Drama Club with Zeng Yannian and Huang Fuzhou, and performed dramas such as "Black Slave Calls to Heaven" and "New Butterfly Dream". He is one of the founders of the Chinese drama movement. The play performed by Chunliu Society in Tokyo in the spring of 1907 was a fundraising performance for the domestic Xuhuai flood disaster.This is my country's first drama, and it is also the first official performance recorded in the history of Chinese drama.Li Shutong played the role of Margaret the La Traviata, Zeng Xiaogu played Dufar, Tang Ken played the role of Aman, and the performance "all used oral dialogue, no recitation, no extra singing, no monologue or narration".

After the performance, Japanese drama authority Fujisawa Asajiro and Japanese drama critic Matsui Matsuo went to the backstage to congratulate immediately.Matsui Matsuo later said in the article "Doubts about Chinese Dramas": "The Chinese actor (actor), I admire Li Shutong. Although he was only an overseas student when he was in Japan, he organized the Chunliu Club's troupe staged "Chun Ji" (La Traviata) in the music seat, which is really very good. No, rather than saying that this troupe is good, it is better to say that Li Jun, who plays Chun Ji, performed very well. ...Especially Li Jun's beauty and beauty are definitely not comparable to those of his country." He also praised this drama as "a beacon for new dramas in China!"

But Li Shutong's performance was not always well received. Chen Dingsha said in "Historical Records of Chunliu Society" that although Li Shutong's performance was very devoted, "his voice is not very beautiful, and his expression is relatively stiff." Ouyang Yuqian, a master of drama performance, was surprised to find that "there is such a way of expression in drama" after watching Li Shutong's play, so she joined Chunliu Society and embarked on the road of acting. Feng Zikai described teacher Li Shutong's appearance of La Traviata in this way: "Curly hair, white blouse, white long skirt dragging the floor, waist so small, hands behind her back, head tilted to the right, eyebrows frowned, The squinting eyes are exactly the expression of La Traviata who is hurting herself."

In June of the same year, Chunliu Society held its second public performance, performing the play "Black Slave Calls to Heaven". "A Black Slave Calls to Heaven" is adapted from the novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin".Li Shutong plays the two roles of Mrs. Amy Liu and the drunkard in the play.This performance once again aroused great repercussions and was well received by Japanese dramatists. Haruaki Doi said: "The American lady of Xishuang's shoulders and neck move softly, and her demeanor is quite delicate, which is very clever." Ihara Qingqingyuan said: "Slender, with natural powder, she is quite elegant. The way she wears western clothes and walks is like a Western woman." Humbled."

Li Shutong likes to play female roles, in ", he played La Traviata; in "Black Slave Calls to Heaven", he played Mrs. Amy Liu.In order to play Mrs. Amy Liu, he shaved off his beard and spent more than a hundred yuan to make a women's suit out of his own pocket. When Li Shutong was performing the play "Born to Love" for the third time performed by Chunliu Club, some people commented on his poor appearance, and some people in Chunliu Club disagreed with him, so his interest in acting gradually faded.