Font: Small middle big Share to:

Stills from "My Taizhou Random Play - Bao Chenre's Special Session". Photo by Zhou Shunliang Fu Yiming

When the final review of the 10th China Drama Awards and Plum Blossom Performance Award (32nd China Drama Plum Blossom Awards) was performed at the final performance of the play "My Taizhou Luanbang - Bao Chenre Complaint Special Session", Shang Wenbo, the leader of the Taizhou Luanbang Opera Troupe, stood on the side curtain, his eyes chasing the starring actor Bao Chenre on the stage like an invisible spotlight. At the end of the curtain call, the actors called him on stage, and finally Bao Chenre ran to the side stage and pulled him to the center of the stage. The lights were on, and the applause was endless. The audience who did not want to disperse saw that the little leader cried more excitedly than the heroine who participated in the Plum Blossom Awards.

The atmosphere inside the venue was warm, and outside the venue, the flower baskets for congratulations on the performance lined from the hall to the small square outside the theater, from private theater troupes of all sizes in Zhejiang. This performance seems to be just one of the 17 final reviews of this year's Plum Blossom Awards. In fact, Bao Chenre and Taizhou play have added a new mark to the history of the Plum Blossom Awards - this is the first private theater actor to be shortlisted for the final review of the Plum Blossom Awards after the China Drama Association opened a channel for private theater troupes to apply for the Plum Blossom Awards.

On the night the news of the finalists was announced, the team leader received more than 50 calls.

Shang Wenbo recalled that on the night when the news of Bao Chenre was announced, he received no less than 50 calls, and all the people who called were the heads of private theater troupes. According to statistics in 2023, there are 15,888 private theater troupes nationwide, accounting for 86.9% of the performances in the market; there are 1,507 private theater troupes in Zhejiang, covering 95% of the performances in Zhejiang Province. Shang Wenbo's catchphrase is: "This troupe does not have me as the leader, so there is no problem, but without the leading actress Bao Chenre, it will disperse." And, "This troupe does not have me, but if there is no old artist who has singing style, it will not work." Compared with state-owned troupes, private troupes such as Taizhou Luandan Opera Troupe are often very small in number, and actors and bands are often short of their limits. However, as Shang Wenbo emphasized: "A group like us really contacts the people at the grassroots level and passes on the tricks among the people." The Plum Blossom Awards selection was opened to private theater troupes, boosting the confidence of a large group of group leaders. More than 100 Zhejiang private theater troupes have successively agreed to send a celebration flower basket when Bao Chenre performs in Shanghai. There are too many people shouting, which makes him unable to resist. "It's very difficult. I said no, I'm going to be messed up when I come." As a result, the flower basket I sent was still placed in the square of the Shanghai Theater Experimental Theater, which was a scene that Shanghai audiences had not seen for many years.

Taizhou Luandan is a small drama with strong regional colors, and this drama currently has only one regular drama troupe "Zhezhou Luandan Theater Troupe". The troupes and operas have entered a large-scale public vision because of the Plum Blossom Award, reminding people to pay attention to the special survival conditions of a large number of local operas in China. The local operas in China are diverse and mixed. There are currently 348 operas in the country, of which more than 170 operas are similar to Taizhou Randai. One opera is only one troupe, and more than 100 operas do not have regular performance troupes. "My Taizhou Random Play - Bao Chenre Short Play Special" allows Shanghai audiences to see the creative energy of folk music art, and also allows private troupes that grow wildly between the countryside to be no longer the silent majority.

With "Taizhou-style toughness", we will survive the difficult times

Shang Wenbo described it humorously and humbly, "random way" is "indiscriminate" and is a good-looking, fun and nice-sounding "wild way". The origin of the Taizhou Luan Dan drama genre can be traced back to the Qianlong period. In order to cater to the fun of the emperors, salt merchants in the Huaihe area invited local opera troupes in Huainan and Huaibei. These mixed folk performances are the soil for nurturing Luan Dan. There is a saying in opera that "the dispute between flower and elegance". "Elegant" is Kunqu Opera with highly rigorous singing and programming, and the folk "Huamen" are all classified as random plays. The ramblings were transmitted to Taizhou, transplanted into plays in Beijing and Kunqu and more dramas, and borrowed from the sound syllable musical styles of multiple dramas. The ramblings of the ramblings are unique to Taizhou, which formed the reaming of Taizhou.

During the warm-up stage of the final review of the Plum Blossom Awards, Bao Chenre demonstrated the amazing jump of "Yan Poxi·Catching Sanlang Alive" in several flash and guides. In fact, the short play of "Catching Sanlang Alive" is particularly vividly presented in Taizhou how to learn from others' strengths and unique. "Catching Sanlang Alive" is a one-half-part in the "Water Margin Play" and is often performed in major operas such as Beijing and Kunqu. Yan Xijiao died under Song Jiang's sword and turned into a ghost. She was a lover Zhang Wenyuan for life. The actress's ghost step and water sleeve movements are difficult, and they are highly visible. They are both charming and fierce and shrill, which makes people frightened. "Capturing Sanlang Alive" played in Taizhou roughly follows the framework of Kunqu Opera, and Bao Chenre also learned from the famous Kunqu Opera artist Liang Guyin. Under the premise that the Kunqu Opera program is quite complete, Taizhou Ranbang is obviously tilted towards the folk viewing fun, making full use of one table and two chairs, and adding several sets of difficult jumps and shapes. Not only is the scene popular, but the rhythm of the performance of the entire piece also highlights.

Bao Chenre's performance temperament is not only "li" and "respect", but this "Yan Xijiao" also has a tenacious toughness, which makes the audience sympathize with her for being hit by Song Jiang's violence and Zhang Wenyuan. "Catching alive" captures indomitable resilience. This resilience is not deliberately performed, but is more like the temperament that integrates the stage and is engraved in Taizhou Luantan Opera and the troupe. When Shang Wenbo expressed the troupe's belief, he borrowed the "Taizhou-style toughness" that Mr. Lu Xun said. This is not only the belief of the troupe members, but they have also indeed survived the difficult times with extraordinary "hardness". In 2010, when 41 people from the troupe were transferred from the rooftop to Wenling, they encountered a car accident late at night. The troupe bus overturned into the lake and 19 people were seriously injured. At that time, the outside world generally believed that the only one Taizhou Luandan Opera Troupe could not survive. However, Bao Chenre, who was only 21 years old at the time, posted a sentence in the troupe's QQ group: "I either don't sing operas, but only play randomly in Taizhou." This sentence inspired the whole troupe. After that, 7 plays were restored day and night for 27 days, and "the plays that were answered must be performed." The first scene to resume the performance was to go to Wenling to fulfill the previous performance invitation. In order to arrange a new drama, Shang Wenbo drove more than 20 hours to meet the screenwriter; in order to arrange a big drama, there were not enough extras, so he borrowed people from other troupes; after Bao Chenre won the "Golden Gui Award" in Zhejiang Province, he refused many state-owned troupes to "poach" and abide by her promise that "acting only plays in Taizhou"... Shang Wenbo said that it was precisely because of this "Taizhou-style toughness" that Bao Chenre stood on the final stage of the Plum Blossom Award, and Taizhou's small drama also entered the public's vision. (Wenhui Po reporter Liu Qing)

[Editor in charge: Tang Wei]