15 years old, Lai Shengchuan: "Ruyun" 94 years old, crew | Classic | Baodao Village
"The classic version of 'Treasure Island Village' has not been here for 4 years, and I am very happy to be back here. A great show can be seen by more people. After 300 performances, 'Treasure Island Village' is a new beginning," said director Lai Shengchuan. On July 20th, the 15th anniversary tour press conference of "Treasure Island Village" was held at the Shanghai Oriental Art Center, preparing for the premiere from July 21st to 23rd. This is the return of "Treasure Island Village" to Dongyi after its performance in 2016. After the Shanghai station, the drama will land in Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Beijing, and Xi'an, and will end on August 25th at the Shanghai Theater.
Since its premiere in 2008, "Treasure Island Village" has performed over 300 times and has garnered nearly 500000 viewers. The script was born out of a two-year mental collision between Lai Shengchuan and film and television producer Wang Weizhong. It tells the story of a group of people from all over the country who migrated to Baodao in 1949 due to turmoil. They originally thought it was just a short period of travel and did not want to return home with a distant future.
In 2010, the first mainland tour of "Treasure Island Village" came to Dongyi, and since then, they have formed an inseparable bond with Dongyi and Shanghai. Over the past 6 years, "A Village on Baodao" has completed 20 performances at Dongyi and met over 20000 audiences. In 2020, due to the failure of the production team for the classic version of "Treasure Island Village", the exclusive version of "Treasure Island Village", starring the cast of the Shanghai Theatre Company, was born at the Shanghai Theatre. In March of this year, the exclusive version began its residency at the Shanghai Theatre. Now, on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the production of the drama, the classic version will resume its tour journey after a 4-year hiatus.
"The performance of 'Treasure Island Village' is always new, and every time we start a tour rehearsal, the stage schedule is the same. However, the audience will see brand new Old Zhao, Little Zhu, and Ruyun standing on stage... It seems like they have lived countless times and will continue to live. We are looking forward to generations of viewers entering the theater and guarding these precious stage lives with us." Ding Naizheng, creative director of the performance workshop and co director of 'Treasure Island Village', remembers that when 'Treasure Island Village' was still rehearsing for the premiere, she had a premonition that this play would not be able to take place. "The entire production of 'Treasure Island Village' is so huge, and many things are completed in a crazy state. The premiere costumes come very late, and when they are unfolded, they are all new. Producer Ding Naizhu is so anxious that he kneels down in high heels, splashes tea on the clothes covered on the ground, and makes them old and dirty, which is in line with the scene in the play." At the premiere of 'Treasure Island Village', a huge schedule of performances is made in the backstage. After each performance, the actors quickly rush to the backstage to see if they have themselves in the next one.
The crew of "Treasure Island Village" began rehearsing as soon as they arrived in Shanghai. "As long as' Treasure Island Village 'is performed once, the dependents will live once. In the dependents' village where I live, all the neighbors are from Shandong." The lead actor Feng Yigang graduated from the drama department. "When we were in school, we all envied Broadway actors. We could sign a 10-year contract to play' Cat 'and' Phantom of the Theater '. Now, as Chinese people, we have been telling our own stories for 15 years. Living with my villagers in my village is such a wonderful life."
Three actors from the theater troupe joined in this episode of "Treasure Island Village". Feng Yigang smiled and said, "The only village on Baodao was discovered in Shanghai, and there used to be another village in the theater. The crew was short of three actors, and last night during rehearsals, 'Another Village in Shanghai' supported three villagers. It was so happy."
Huang Shiwei, who plays Zhou Ning, is going to speak Shanghainese. "Before coming to Shanghai, I was under a lot of pressure. Yesterday, when I arrived at the rehearsal, I immediately grabbed the staff next to me and asked who was from Shanghai and helped me listen to the accent. I am still trying to figure it out, and I believe there is still a lot of room for improvement." When it comes to accent, Huang Shiwei smiled and said, "The most interesting thing is that when we were young, parents didn't talk much in their hometown dialect to their children. When they started talking in their hometown dialect, I thought they were talking bad about their children and didn't want us to understand."
"Before 2020, 'Treasure Island Village' toured every year, and after four years, we ushered in a new beginning." Lai Shengchuan said, 'Treasure Island Village' is sincere and emotional, which is why it has been able to walk for so long. ". Not long ago, Lai Shengchuan saw the prototype of Ruyun, who was already 94 years old. "I still remember when I was a child, I saw her wearing a sleeveless qipao playing mahjong at home, it was very beautiful."
