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Modern
Chinese Drama, or Huaju (talking play), started to develop in the early
part of this century in Shanghai. Different from traditional Chinese opera,
it soon won fans for its realistic portrayals of the lives of common folks and
for its wide rang of works by such Western playwrights as Shakespeare, Moliere
and Chekhov.
Since
then, a number of Chinese playwrights have created works that realistically
reflect the changes in the lives of Chinese before and after the founding of
New China. The most memorable include " Teahouse, " "The Peking Man, " " The
Thunderstorm, " " The Family," "The Prairie" and "The Death of a Famous Opera
Performer." Younger playwrights have tried to develop a more modern style, exploring
the inner psyche of personalities with more modernist works and incorporating
more modern theatrical techniques.
Unfortunately,
modern Chinese playwrights and performers have to fight hard to attract viewers
away from pop music concerts, variety shows and television programs.
Catch the Wrong Train(Da
Cuo Che)---Adapted by the Shenyang Modern Drama Troupe from the novel of the
same name by a Taiwanese writer, it features the special relationship between
an orphaned little girl and a soldier who is stranded on Taiwan without hope of
ever returning to his home village on the mainland. The play, which uses song
and dance, appears more like a musical, and is been popular with younger members
of the audience.
Family, The(Jia, 1942)---The four-act play, based on the novel of
the same name by great modern Chinese writer Ba Jin, is adapted by Cao Yu, one
of the great playwrights of modern Chinese. It focuses on the marriage, hard work
and finally the death of Ruijue, wife of the eldest son in a big feudal family,
to expose the corruption of the big feudal families in old China and the cruelty
of the old marriage system. The play has been staged in Beijing by the China Youth
Theater and in Shanghai by the Shanghai People's Art Theater. It has been include
in the two Theater's repertoires. Playwright: Cao Yu; Directors: Huang Zuolin,
Yu Liude and Liu Tongbiao (Shanghai), and Cheng Yong.
Guan Hanqing(Guan Hanqing)---Written by Tian Han, this full-length
play tells of Guan Hanqing, the Yuan Dynasty's(1271-1368)best-known playwright.
Guan, who once served as a doctor in an imperial clinic, decides to write a play
about the wrongful execution of a young woman. With support from star performers,
he is able to have his play staged. However , one of the powerful high-ranking
imperial officials orders Guan to revise the play. Guan and performers refuse
and after the play is restated, Guan and the leading actress are imprisoned until
after the official is murdered. The play was premiered in Beijing in 1959 and
re-staged in 1991 by the China Youth Theater. Playwright: Tian Han; Director:
Chen Yong.
Heroes of the Bush(Caomang Yingxiong, 1942)---Written by Yang Hansheng,
the drama tells of the struggle against the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)staged by
the members of the Baolu Society in southern Schuan Province. When the society
wins an initial victory and the local Qing army proposes to surrender, the members
believe their enemy*s words but are attacked and the leaders killed in the process
of taking the enemy's arms. The play was first premiered during the War of Resistance
Against Japan and has been re-staged in Beijing by the China Youth Art Theater.
Playwright : Yang Hansheng; Director: Zhang Yisheng.
Huaihai Campaign, The(Huaihai Zhanyi, 1987)---Premiered in 1987
by the Modern Drama Troupe affiliated with the General Political Department of
the People's Liberation Army, the 17scene drama recounts the roles several major
Communist leaders and generals played in the Huaihai Campaign, one of the crucial
wars that finally led to the downfall of the Kuomintang and the defeat of its
army. The play was the first stage creation in modern China to portray Deng Xiaoping
as a leading protagonist. The play is said to have made good use of the modern
stage techniques and combined realism with romanticism. Written by authors with
the Modern Drama Troupe and directed by Wang Shouren, who also plays Deng Xiao
Ping in the drama.
Jesus, Confucius and John Lennon(Yesu, Kong zi, Pi-tou-shi Lienong,
1988)---Produced by the Shanghai People's Art Theater, the play tells of the
absurdities Christ, Confucius and Lennon encounter during their travels together
on the moon and in the world as representatives of God. This bizarre drama is
noted for its attempts to criticize society's wrongs. Playwright: Sha Yexin; Director:
Xiong Yuanwei.
Longxu Slum (Longxugou, 1951)---Written by Lao She (1899-1966) in
1953, this modern drama was the first full-length play produced by the Beijing
People's Art Theater. Known as a milestone in the development of realistic drama
in modern China, it contrasts the lives of residents in a Beijing gully called
Longxugou before and after the founding of the People's Republic in 1949. Before
1949, it was a slum where inhabitants suffered from bullying by local despots
and from the increasingly stinking conditions . After liberation, the new government
turned Longxugou into a thoroughfare, constructed a tap water system in the area
and cleaned out the despots. Playwright: Laoshe; Director: Jiao Yunyin.
Peach Blossom Fan, The (Taohua Shan, 1958)---Written by Ouyang Yuqian,
one of modern China's greatest dramatists, the full-length play strikes a note
of patriotism as it tells the tale of the romance between a high-class courtesan
and an army general in the late Ming Dynasty. Premiered in Beijing in the 1950s
by the Central Experimental Drama Theater, it was re-staged in 1992. Playwright:
Ouyang Yuqian; Directors : Geng Zhen, He zhao and Yang Zongjing.
Qu Yuan(Qu Yuan, 1942)---Written by Guo Moruo, this full- length
tragedy recounts the life of Qu Yuan, a great statesman and poet in the Warring
States Period (475-221 BC), who is stripped from his post a s prime minister because
he refuses to follow the king's order to sign a treaty of compromise and to surrender
to the prime minister from a powerful neighboring state. With help from the royal
guards, he escapes from prison and goes into exile among the country people to
encourage them to fight for the state. The play served as a unifying force during
the War of Resistance Against Japan (1937-1945), and has been re-staged since
the founding of the People*s Republic.
Rickshaw Boy, Camel Xiangzi, The (Luotuo Xiangzi,1957) ---A tragedy,
the full-length drama, is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by well-
known playwright Lao She (1899-1966). The play recounts the life of a young man
in old Beijing who makes a living by pulling a rickshaw. He works hard to earn
enough money and realize his life-long dream of owning a rickshaw. He is so industrious
that he is able to win love from the daughter of the owner of the rickshaw shop
for whom he works , and marries her. However, his savings never meet the cost
for a rickshaw and after his wife dies in childbirth, he spends all his savings
for the funeral. When he grows old, he loses his strength and his job. He dies
on a snowy night . The play was premiered in Beijing in 1957 by the Beijing People's
Art Theater, and it is in the Theater's repertoire. The novel has also been adapted
into a film. Playwright and director : Mei Qian.
Sunrise(Ri Chu, 1935)---Written by Cao Yu, this full-length modern
drama tells of the corruption and luxury of the rich and the suffering of the
poor in old China. The plot revolves around Chen Balu, a high-class courtesan
in old China in the 1930s. Chen enjoys a pleasure-seeking life in the city but
in the end commits suicide in the face of her benefactor's bankruptcy , the death
of a teenage girl she has tried to save from forced prostitution, and the departure
of her childhood boyfriend . After the founding of New China, the play was first
premiered in 1956 in Beijing by the Beijing People's Art Theater and in Shanghai
by the Shanghai People's Art Theater. It is in the repertoire of both Theaters.
It's been adapted into a film by the Beijing Film Studio and musical by the China
Musical Centre. The scripts for the film and the musical were written by Wan Fang,
Cao Yu's daughter, Playwright: Caoyu; Directors: Ouyang Shanzun and Bai Sen (Beijing
) and Ying Yunwei (Shanghai).
Teahouse(Chaguan, 1957)---Written by Lao She (1899-1966), This three-act
modern drama is set in a typical old Beijing teahouse where people from all walks
of life gather. By portraying the rise and decline of the teahouse and the plights
and successes of an array of characters, the play offers a cross-sectional view
of Chinese society during the period between 1898 , at the end of the Qing Dynasty
(1644-1911), to 1948, the eve of the fall of the Kuomintang. The play was premiered
by the Beijing People's Art Theater in 1958. The Theater has since staged the
play in a number of foreign countries in Europe, Asia and North America. It is
one of the most representative works in the Theater's repertory. Playwright: Lao
She; Director: Jiao Juyin and Xia Chun.
Thunderstorm, The(Leiyu,1934)---Written by Cao Yu, this full-length
modern drama features the complicated relationships among the members and servants
of a large well-off family and the family disintegration as a result of the morbidity
and corruption in old China. A son of a wealthy family, Zhou Puyuan, has an affair
with the family maid, Shipping, and she bears two sons. After he marries a wealthy
woman he keeps the eldest son and drives Shipping away with the youngest. Shipping
marries a butler, Lu Gui, and they have a daughter , Sifeng. An entangled family
history is played out in what turns out to be a tragic ending. The play was first
premiered in the 1930s in Chongqing, but was later presented in Beijing in 1954
by the Beijing People's Art Theater and then staged in Shanghai in 1959 by the
Shanghai People's Art Theater. It is in the repertoire of both Theaters. The play
has been also adapted into a film with the same name twice, and performed as a
ballet by the Shanghai Ballet Troupe in 1983. Playwright: Cao Yu; directors: Xia
Chun (Beijing) and Wu Renzhi (Shanghai).
Woman Who Is Left Behind (Liushou Nushi-1991)---Premiered in Shanghai
in 1991 by the Shanghai People's Art Theater, this full-length experimental drama,
staged in small drama Theater called the " Black Box, " recounts the lives and
emotions of a young man and a young woman whose spouses have followed thousands
of the Shanghai residents to seek adventure in Japan, Australia and the United
States . The young man has just obtained visa to go to the United States to meet
his wife when they fall in love and the woman becomes pregnant with his baby.
A play that touches the hearts of many residents in Shanghai, it has become one
of the most popular plays in recent year. Playwright: Le Meiqin; Director: Yu
Luosheng.
Text by Fu Li, Portland State
University, http://www.ee.pdx.edu/~fli/bajin/work/drama.htm
Photo from cctv.com
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