Chapter 21 Three times nightmare

——Watching the premiere of "A Dream in the Garden" in Guangzhou It's hard to predict one's fate in drama. I didn't expect to see "A Dream in the Garden" performed on the stage for the third time in Guangzhou.On the evening of March 30, "A Dream in the Garden" premiered at the "Great Wall Theater" in Guangzhou, and many drama experts from Shanghai and Beijing also rushed to participate.Sitting in front of me is Yu Zhenfei, a master of Kunqu opera, while the actors on the stage are talking about the grand event of Mei Lanfang returning to China after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, and performing Kunqu Opera "A Dream in the Garden" with Yu Zhenfei.That performance was at the Majestic Theater in Shanghai. It was already forty years ago. I was only ten years old at that time. By the side of the lake, mountain and stone", I couldn't understand a word, but I watched it with great interest.Yu Zhenfei and Mei Lanfang were really the first teachers of my interest in Kunqu opera, and the collaboration between Yu and Mei in "A Dream in the Garden" also inspired my understanding of the beauty of Chinese drama.The actor on the stage sighed: "A good show like that can only be encountered once in a person's life." That's true.That good show became the source of inspiration for me to write the novel "A Dream in the Garden" and the later adaptation of the play many years later.

The novel "A Dream in the Garden" was adapted into a drama, but it also went through some twists and turns. The novel was written long ago (1966), but I never thought that it would be staged one day.That had to rely on the whims of Professor Huang Qingxia of the University of Hong Kong. In 1979, she actually performed "You" in Cantonese according to the original form of the novel, and performed two performances at the Hong Kong Arts Center by the "Seal Troupe".I didn't participate in the production at all that time, and I didn't adapt the script. It was purely watching the play, and it was the first "dream startling", which was quite enjoyable.The heroine, Mrs. Qian, is played by Hong Kong University lecturer He Yilian. This Lantian jade cantonese pronunciation, several monologues are recited sonorously, the director's technique is novel, the audience responded enthusiastically, and the performance was quite successful.

The performance of the Hong Kong version of "You" gave me a lot of inspiration, and made me believe that it is indeed possible to adapt the novel "A Dream in the Garden" into a drama, so there was a stage play of the Taipei version of "A Dream in the Garden" in 1982. The production, the ten performances at the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall in Taipei were unprecedentedly grand and one of the most memorable experiences in my life.I remember that on the sixth day of the performance, a typhoon hit and it rained heavily at night, but the audience’s enthusiasm for watching the show was not hindered by the wind and rain. Thousands of umbrellas flocked to the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall and even the corridors were full. Man, that scene is unforgettable.The actors shine brightly on the stage one by one. The success of the PICC drama and the Taipei version of "You" drama, the credit and hard work of the actors are important factors.Of course, the stage design, lighting, music, costumes, etc. are also a collection of the momentary choices of Taiwan's art world.I rehearsed with the actors for more than a month and saw their hard work firsthand.I deeply experienced that the stage is really the most severe examination room for actors, and that time at the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall, the actors of the drama "You" did set a super-standard performance record.Lu Yan, Hu Jin, Gui Yalei, Qian Lu, Cao Jian and many senior actors, I was moved by their superb acting skills.That was the first time I participated in the production of a stage play, and it was a major test for me to create such a complicated play.The environment for producing dramas in Taiwan is not good. The obstacles and pressure we have received from all parties are unimaginable.Fortunately, Fan Mannong and Xu Boyun, the producers of "New Image", are extremely enthusiastic about art pursuits, and they are not afraid of hardships and dangers. Moreover, we are blessed with a group of friends, elders and caring people who are always helping us, giving us "financial assistance" and helping us Get out of trouble and let us pass safely.All our enthusiasm would be of no avail without their generosity.Because of making this play, I have a deeper understanding of life and learned the value of being able to distinguish true friendship.Although there were many obstacles in the second time of "Dream", due to the concerted efforts of more than 100 staff members on and off the stage, they finally put "You" on the stage successfully.In those few months, I was with that group of artists day and night, sharing joys and sorrows, and I felt that my life was very fulfilling. After many years, every time I met director Huang Yigong and stage designer Nie Guangyan, everyone couldn’t help but think back to those days. "Garden" colorful.

At first, I thought that a play as huge as "You" would not be staged for a while, but I didn't expect that some interested people in mainland China's theater circle paid great attention to our performance in Taipei in 1982. The script of "You" has already been published in mainland China.Last year I went to Shanghai to give lectures at Fudan University. Two days before I left, I met director Hu Weimin of the Shanghai Youth Drama Troupe. He came to me to talk about the possibility of bringing "You" to the mainland stage.I am no stranger to Hu Weimin, because he once adapted one of my novels "The Blood-Red Rhododendron" into a TV series, and I also know that Hu Weimin is one of the most exploratory drama directors of the middle-aged generation in mainland China .Hu Weimin has directed Shakespeare's "Antony and Cleopatra", Sartre's "Dirty Hands", and also directed the Chinese avant-garde drama "Red Room, White Room, Black Room", which was staged in Shanghai Quite a sensation.At the same time, Hu Weimin also has a strong interest in and in-depth research on traditional Chinese opera. He has directed Yue opera, Gui opera "Mud Horse Tears", and Sichuan opera "A Dream in Red Mansions".During our conversation that afternoon, we found that our views on Chinese stage art were very similar.We believe that one of the important issues facing Chinese drama today is: how to translate the aesthetics of traditional Chinese drama to the modern stage.Hu Weimin thought that the script "A Dream in the Garden" could be used as an experiment.Because "You" has to use a lot of Jingkun songs and dances and virtual performances, and because there are a lot of stream-of-consciousness monologues, it can play various functions of the modern stage and integrate tradition into modernity. Hu Weimin feels that "You" has great potential.

Of course, that time was just an idea, but director Hu Weimin actually started to prepare, and half a year later, in February this year, the working group for "You" was finally established in Guangzhou.This working group is a masterpiece of Hu Weimin. He has assembled a group of elites from Shanghai and Guangzhou theater circles to participate in this grand event.First of all, we need to solve the problem of the heroine, because "You Ju" is a play that is tested for actors, especially the heroine, Madam Qian, who plays a very important role. She must be proficient in Kunqu opera, and she must be graceful and luxurious.For the show in Taipei, we were very lucky to invite Lu Yan, and this time Hu Weimin was also lucky to invite the famous actor Hua Wenyi, the head of the Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe, to play the role.I have watched Hua Wenyi's Kunqu Opera. I admire her superb acting skills, and her elegant demeanor. She plays the role of Mrs. Lantian Yuqian. The success rate of this "You" drama has already accounted for half of it.What is even more rare is that Yu Zhenfei, a master of Kunqu opera, is willing to come out at the age of 87 to serve as a Kunqu opera consultant for "You".Other staff members are also well-known figures in the drama world, including Professor Yu Qiuyu, the literary consultant of Shanghai Theater Academy, Zhou Benyi, director of the Stage Design Department of Shanghai Theater Academy, stage designer, Jin Changlie, director of the stage lighting teaching and research section of Shanghai Theater Academy, choreographer, and director of Shanghai Dance Theater. Composer Li Xiaoyun, composer Jin Fuzai of Shanghai Film Studio.Although the performing unit this time is the Guangzhou Repertory Theatre, in fact it is jointly performed by "Shangkun", "Shanghai Qinghua" and other theater troupes in Guangdong. The momentum is quite large.

I saw the sprints of the actors in the last few days in Guangzhou, and saw them grind the show day and night, and I remembered Mr. Nie Guangyan's famous saying about stage performance: "Thousands of tortures, accept the last judgment, thousands of Tens of thousands of jobs, in exchange for the last appreciation." This is the charm of the theater, the joys and sorrows of the theater. The premiere of "You" made a sensation in Yangcheng.Guangzhou dramatists believe that this is a performance of the highest standard on the Guangzhou stage.Twelve performances were performed in Guangzhou, and the play "You" went north, touring in Shanghai, Nanjing, and Beijing, and was invited to perform in Hong Kong at the end of the year.After the premiere, at the celebration banquet, I saw that the actors and staff were all in high spirits. I couldn't help but feel that the thousands of tortures were worth it amidst the warm applause from the audience.

From the very beginning, director Hu Weimin decided to produce "A Dream in the Garden" that is consistent with the inner spirit of the Taipei version but has a different style. This time the mainland version of "You" does have many innovations.First of all, the director's conception is completely designed around the theme of "life is like a play, life is like a dream". The Jingkun band has become an organic part of the play, and the audience seems to have entered the hall of Dou Fu without knowing it, and personally Participated in a night banquet in Dou Mansion.This design is quite careful and runs through the whole play, giving the mainland version of "You" a more rigorous structure.The mainland version does not use multiple media such as slideshow movies. When Madam Qian recalled that when she performed the Kunqu Opera "A Dream in the Garden", the actors really came on stage, and the makeup and makeup removal were completed in one and a half minutes. It has a unique style, and life is like a stage, with the feeling of "I will appear on the stage after you sing", while Hua Wenyi sang the entire "Yu Qingsi" with full of charm, giving full play to her Kunqu opera art.Hua Wenyi's role as the heroine this time really lived up to expectations.Although this is her first attempt at drama, after all, she has many years of stage experience. She has a solid foundation in Jingkun, and she has a natural charm with every gesture.The Taipei version of Lu Yan is graceful and luxurious, and her acting skills are superb.However, Hua Wenyi's true colors in the south of the Yangtze River, the misty rain of apricot blossoms, is more graceful and lonely.This time Hua Wenyi's role as Mrs. Lantian Yuqian was successful, and it was another breakthrough in her acting career.The progress of the mainland version of the play, from two-dimensional to three-dimensional, has become more and more dangerous.The stage design uses three sliding platforms, and the performance areas are alternately changed. With the emotional flow of the heroine, the ups and downs are turbulent. The two rival scenes between Lantian Yu and the blind teacher's wife are particularly frightening, reaching the height of Greek tragedy.Generally speaking, the Taipei version of "You" is refined, deep, and tends to be a static performance, while the mainland version is smooth, varied, and full of dynamics, and the overall design is more relevant.These two versions are indeed very different in style, but at the end of the performance, they can both give people a kind of desolation when the song is over.

This time in Guangzhou, I finally met Yu Zhenfei, a master of Kunqu opera whom I have admired for a long time. It was a great pleasure.Mr. Yu is hale and hearty and has a strong memory.We also talked about the grand event of cooperation between Yu and Mei after the victory.He told me that Mei Lanfang hadn't sung opera for eight years during the Anti-Japanese War. When he returned to Shanghai, he felt that his voice was not good enough.Yu Zhenfei encouraged him to try Kunqu opera, so Yu held the flute and Mei tried the melody.I was a small audience of Yu Zhenfei at Majestic that time, but this time in Guangzhou we sat together to watch the play "A Dream in the Garden" on the stage. Forty years of time, quietly in the sound of the flute and flute flow away.I am no stranger to Guangzhou. In 1948, I attended primary school in Guangzhou for two months.Guangzhou is the last stop when I leave mainland China. When I wake up, I am already in Hong Kong. How can I imagine that returning to Yangcheng after 40 years is already a "dream" for the third time.