Chapter 39 "The Adventures of Little Iron Skull" After Viewing

Children and teenagers are the most imaginative and full of curiosity. They like to observe small creatures, watch their life dynamics, and do various psychological activities for them. They get endless fun in observing and imagining.I remember when I was young, to watch the ants move, I would squat for a long time with relish, watching two crossing teams, they hurriedly touched each other with their tentacles, and hurriedly went their separate ways.At that time, I felt that it was a pity that I couldn't hear or understand their words, otherwise I would definitely know many interesting things about their moving. When I "personified" them, the stones, flowers and plants at my feet suddenly seemed to be different. Become taller, everything around the ant society looks strangely beautiful and vivid!This spectacle in my childhood fantasy has never suddenly come true in front of me.

A few days ago, I watched the fairy tale drama "The Adventure of Little Iron Skull" performed by Liaoning Children's Theater in Beijing. The soft music sounded, and the velvet curtain slowly opened. The wonderful world I imagined in my childhood was finally presented in the On stage!I couldn't help but look back happily at the countless excited and focused little faces sitting around me, how happy a child born in the Mao Zedong era is! From the very beginning, this story firmly attracted the hearts of the young audience. The insects they hate are like scorpions, "coffin lids" and golden-headed flies, and the insects they like are like ants, fireflies, and Miss Hua. The dress, facial expressions and behaviors appeared in the "jungle" of wild flowers and grass on the stage.The attention of the young audience has been focused on the brave, beautiful and proud "little iron head". They always hope that this little hero will not be lured and "provoked" by golden-headed flies, and not follow the bad guys out of their own important post.After the golden-headed fly played tricks on the little iron head, he said smugly:

"Today is really interesting, it's so interesting. That little black ant has always regarded me as a bee, don't you think it's good?" At this time, there was an angry retort voice from the audience: "Not good! No Wonderful!" Later, the little iron head finally came to his senses, knocked down the golden-headed fly, was injured himself, and fell unconscious on the ground.Everyone in his family, big and small, was looking for him anxiously, and the enthusiastic Firefly and Sister Hua also came out to help.When the firefly armor issued a resounding appeal to his partners: "Everyone, light up the lanterns, and follow us to find a little black ant, a little hero", on the beautiful moonlit night, thousands of fireflies flew out. At this point, the excitement and joy of the small audience reached its climax.

The mistakes made by the little iron head are not unfamiliar to the small audience. Don’t we ourselves sometimes become proud and arrogant when we hear some praise?Isn't it sometimes tempted by people to do stupid things like leaving the group and acting like a hero?What the Queen of Ants said to the little iron head: "We need heroes, and the more the better. We will review the team immediately, that is the ranks of heroes. Although not every one of them has a harder head than you, but they are all for Working collectively and fighting together, so everyone in this action is a great hero."

These lessons, as well as the wonderful background, gentle dancing, and loud singing voice, will be firmly remembered by the young audience! The Liaoning Children's Theater was only established in 1960, and they are only three years old. But from this fairy tale play, I appreciate the level of performance, singing and dancing of the actors, and the performance of stage art and music is just right.The educational influence children receive from dramas and movies is often deeper and faster than books. It is because the stories performed on the stage are vivid and dramatic, and they can always leave a deep impression on children's minds.Like the small audience around me, I am a layman to the art of drama, but we all feel its educational effect.Here, I warmly wish the young Liaoning Children's Theater to make great progress and make progress every day in their career of cultivating and educating revolutionary successors.

(This article was originally published in Guangming Daily on June 1, 1963.)