Chapter 33 1982 "Absolute Signal"

Screenwriters: Gao Xingjian, Liu Huiyuan Director: Lin Zhaohua Starring: Lin Liankun, Xiao Peng, Shang Lijuan, Conglin, Tan Zongyao Premiere: September 19, 1982 Premiere venue: Song and dance hall on the third floor of the Capital Theater Plot: On the train, Heizi, an unemployed young man, was coerced by a car bandit to take part in stealing cars.In the car, I met former classmates, lovers, and the dedicated old driver.A series of complex contradictions and conflicts unfolded among the five people, and in the end everyone made their own choice. On September 19, 1982, the banquet hall on the third floor of Beijing Renyi was narrow and dark.There is no frame-like stage, and the props are just a few boxes and wooden frames. The actors wear ordinary clothes and chat with the audience... No one would have thought that such a work that is incompatible with the tradition of Renyi drama would be moved from a small dance hall within three months. Entering the auditorium, there were over a hundred performances, causing a sensation all over the country.It is China's first small theater drama in the true sense. As the name suggests, it is an "absolute signal".Today, the song and dance hall has become a well-known "human art experimental theater" in Beijing. Lin Zhaohua, a fledgling director at that time, was honored as a "big director" because of "one play, one style". Chinese small theater dramas have gradually become a trend in the past 30 years, and they are blooming everywhere. , in its prime.

[play] Chinese small theater plays start from the banquet hall On September 19, 1982, "Absolute Signal" premiered in the banquet hall on the third floor of Renyi. The theme is not new, but the "subjective" expression method shocked the theater world.For the first time on the stage, time and space are interlaced, and the three spaces of reality, memory and imagination are interspersed and paralleled.Actors no longer play "inner drama" but speak out directly, and even walk out of the "stage" to communicate with the audience.Lighting and sound have also become tools to express emotions.All these methods of overturning the "Stanney system" come from a middle-aged man who has been promoted in the arts - Lin Zhaohua.

Lin Zhaohua studied acting rather than directing in Chinese opera. After graduating in 1961, he was assigned to Beijing People's Art. During the "Cultural Revolution", he experienced life with Jiao Juyin, Yu Zhi, Zheng Rong, Lan Tianye, and Ying Ruocheng, and learned a lot of Chinese and foreign drama knowledge by ear.Zhao Qiyang, secretary of the People's Arts Department, fell in love with Lin Zhaohua. After the "Cultural Revolution", he announced at the general meeting of the academy that this "young man" could be a director. In 1978, Lin Zhaohua started directing dramas, and in the past four years, the leaders of the arts and arts commented on him as "somewhat aura".By chance, he saw a magazine introducing the small theater movement in Europe in the 1960s and 1970s.With less money and less risk, this is the most suitable way for new directors to experiment.At the same time, he met screenwriter Gao Xingjian and read his script "Absolute Signal".The two hit it off immediately and were preparing to arrange a "completely different" play.

In order to make the play that challenges the tradition possible, Lin Zhaohua used a lot of brains.He interpreted the theme of "Absolute Signal" as "saving the unemployed youth" in line with the spirit of the times, and the script passed the review smoothly.In order to reduce resistance, the whole play was also rehearsed on the occasion of the performance of the People's Arts Troupe in Guilin. Over a hundred performances were performed in three months, and audiences from other places came to Beijing to watch, and "Absolute Signal" created a myth.Critic Tong Daoming believes that "China has finally joined the tide of the small theater movement in the world because of "Absolute Signal". Thirty years have passed, and the prosperity of small theaters in China today proves this point.

While enjoying the praise of "the pioneer of the trend", Lin Zhaohua also tasted the price of challenging the tradition. "Absolute Signal" was quickly criticized for "obvious ideological flaws."Lin Zhaohua was criticized by name and asked to reflect and review.But he firmly believed that there was no problem with the play, and he never wrote a review.During this period, Lin Zhaohua remembered a sentence: Cao Yu, the director of Human Art, once said, "The excellent performance of "Absolute Signal" is the continuation of the artistic tradition of Beijing Human Art."

【Offscreen】 Director: Don’t be a slave to a style of tradition Jiao Juyin's faithful successor As Cao Yu said, Lin Zhaohua, who seems to have subverted the "Stani System", has a potential connection with Beijing's human art tradition. As the first chief director of Beijing People's Art, Jiao Juyin pointed out the way for Chinese drama to learn from national culture and traditional opera very early on. He opposed sticking to the rules and emphasized "one drama, one style".Lin Zhaohua considered himself Jiao Juyin's faithful successor.In 2005, he wrote an article on the centenary of Jiao Juyin's birth in Beijing Renyi, clearly pointing out that "Since Jiao Juyin was able to put forward the theory of breaking tradition and imprisonment and establishing a Chinese school with great courage in the context of the unique system, then Today's dramatists should also learn from Mr. Jiao, let go of taboos and ambitions, selectively inherit in practice, and not be slaves to a style of tradition."

Starting from "Absolute Signal", to "Red and White Affair" in 1984, "God's Nirvana" in 1986, the new version in 1999, "Chessman", "Murloc", and then to "Fengyue" in 2000 Boundless, 2003's "The Orphan of Zhao", and 2006's "The Orphan of Zhao", Lin Zhaohua's creative practice is indeed "one drama, one style".In it, he asked actors such as Pu Cunxin and Song Dandan to speak Shaanxi dialect, invited artists from northern Shaanxi to sing old tunes, and drove a group of sheep onto the stage.Not long after, the voice of criticism came: "Can this be considered an authentic 'manufacturing of arts'?" "How can Lin Zhaohua raise chickens and sheep in the Capital Theater? It stinks!"

Lin Zhaohua, who is not afraid of controversy and continues to explore, insists on himself, and gradually becomes the "leader" admired by everyone. In 1984, Lin Zhaohua became the vice-president of Renyi. Because he was not interested in administrative work, he was nicknamed "amateur president".He hoped that Renyi would have dramas of different styles and genres, but his conservative thinking made it difficult for him. The "amateur dean" eventually resigned in the late eighties. Pu Cunxin is willing to resign as the director In the eyes of others, Lin Zhaohua, who resigned, still has "close ties" with Renyi because of Pu Cunxin.The two are old partners who have worked together for more than 20 years. One is a maverick, and the other abides by the law.From "Hamlet" in 1989 to today's Lin Zhaohua Theater Invitational Exhibition, every play that they collaborated with has gold content.Outside of work, the two hardly see each other.Some people say that Lin Zhaohua's directorial technique treats actors as puppets, but Pu Cunxin's opinion is just the opposite. "Everyone can feel that Lin Zhaohua is really different from other directors. He neither demonstrates nor gives psychological explanations. He even makes you feel like you are in a predicament, but when you accumulate to a certain level, you suddenly become enlightened. gone."

Lin Zhaohua's evaluation of Pu Cunxin is: "Little Pu has a good character and artistic virtue." In order to gain creative space for this director who "leaves sideways", Pu Cunxin is even willing to sacrifice himself. In 2003, after Pu Cunxin was appointed as the vice president of Human Art, he proposed the idea of ​​asking Lin Zhaohua to be the artistic director, but was immediately rejected.Frustrated, Pu Cunxin offered to resign, "You guys should let me simply be an actor again."Later, Lin Zhaohua did not become the art director, and Pu Cunxin did not resign the title of vice president.But the collaboration between the two continues.Tong Daoming once wrote an article about Lin Zhaohua and Pu Cunxin, comparing them to Jiao Juyin and Yu Zhizhi back then, "It is destined to become another topic in the history of Chinese drama."

Interviewees: Lin Zhaohua, Pu Cunxin, Tong Daoming