91-year-old female screenwriter Xu Fen donated her lifelong collection to Shanghai Theatre Academy

"I have entrusted my theatrical life to the person I trust the most." On September 18, the Xu Fen Document Donation Ceremony and the unveiling ceremony of "Xu Fen Bookstore" were held at Shanghai Theatre Academy. The 91-year-old playwright Xu Fen donated 67 boxes of books, documents and 6 sets of bookcases to the Shanghai Theatre Academy Library. "Let these books bring a different reading experience to the students of Shanghai Theatre Academy."

The VIP space of the opera special collection room of the Shanghai Theatre Academy Library is specially designated as "Xu Fen Book House", with a plaque inscribed by Ye Changhai

As a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, Xu Fen has won many national awards, including the Wenhua Award, the Five One Project Award, the National Excellent Script Award, and the Cao Yu Drama Literature Award. Xu Fen's works are known as "a nutrient pot for drama talents" and have helped 12 actors win the Drama Plum Blossom Award. She has been a screenwriter for more than 60 years, covering all periods of Chinese opera from its revival to prosperity. She has bravely stood at the forefront of "exploratory drama" and is still writing at the age of 91.

On September 18 at the Shanghai Theatre Academy, Xu Fen said with a smile, "There are many theatre troupes performing my plays. I have made some progress now. Looking back, I find that there are problems with the scripts. I will make some changes if anyone needs it."

Xu Fen's life is as full of ups and downs as her works. She was born in 1933, joined the army in 1949, went to the battlefield to resist the US and aid Korea in 1951, returned to China in 1954 and was admitted to the Journalism Department of the Chinese Department of Peking University. In 1958, she was assigned to the Sichuan Provincial Bureau of Culture. In 1961, she was transferred to the Chengdu Sichuan Opera House as a screenwriter. She retired in 1998 but continued to write. She is also a national March 8th Red Flag Bearer, and has served as vice chairman of the Sichuan Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the Sichuan Provincial Drama Association, a member of the Standing Committee of the Sichuan Provincial CPPCC, and deputy director of the Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Culture.

Xu Fen's fate with Shanghai can be traced back to 61 years ago. In 1963, Xu Fenchu ​​was a screenwriter and toured Shanghai with the Chengdu Sichuan Opera House with the tragedy "Yan Yan" and the comedy "Xiu Cai Wai Zhuan". "That was the first time I came to Shanghai in my life, and it was also the first time my work was performed in Shanghai. What is even more unforgettable is that Shanghai gave me the first bouquet of flowers in my theatrical life. At that time, Chengdu did not have the habit of audiences giving flowers. So, the two audiences who gave me flowers found me backstage. I was so excited that I even forgot to say thank you. The next day, the drama department of Shanghai Theatre invited me to talk to my classmates about my creative experience. I had just stepped out of the classroom of Peking University, but I actually walked into the podium of Shanghai Theatre. The mark left by this scene in my young mind is also indelible for life."

In the 1980s, Shanghai held the "National Shakespeare Festival". As the deputy director of the Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Culture, Xu Fen led a 27-member observation group and stayed in the backstage of the Majestic Theatre for more than a month, "absorbing the nutrition of drama like a sponge" and invited director Hu Weimin to give lectures. Chengdu has also invited teachers from Shanghai Theatre Academy to give lectures or academic exchanges in Chengdu. My Sichuan operas "Sister Tian and Zhuang Zhou", "A Dream in the Red Chamber", "Dead Water Ripples", "The Sea of ​​Desire", "Water Splashing in Front of the Horse", "Red Plum", "House of Torrents", "Madam Du Dong Zhujun" and small theater operas " Zhuo Wenjun, Lady Macbeth, and my Jin Operas Lanke Mountain, Zhuang Zhou Tests His Wife, and Pingju Mulian's Mother, have all been performed in Shanghai. Yanyan was adapted by Shanghai Yue Opera House, and Dead Water Ripples was adapted by Shanghai Theatre Academy and Shanghai Youth Peking Opera and Kunqu Opera Troupe. The Sichuan Opera Dream of the Red Chamber was recreated by famous artists from Shanghai, which shocked the audience. It is also important that a group of students who were commissioned by Chengdu to be trained by Shanghai Theatre Academy in the early years later became elites in Chengdu's drama and even film and television circles. "

In 2023, Xu Fen won the "Lifetime Achievement Award of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles". She stayed in Shanghai before going to Hangzhou to receive the award. "I met old friends I often missed, made many new friends, and watched good plays as usual. As a result, I couldn't help but write "The old woman suddenly became young and crazy, running to Shanghai and Hangzhou with a stick in hand" on the high-speed train leaving Shanghai."

Xu Fen is particularly delighted that Shanghai Theatre Academy has established the "Modern Opera Research Center". "Since I stepped into the threshold of opera, I have begun to think about and practice the modernization of classical opera. It has been more than 60 years from spontaneous to conscious. If my experience or lessons can help my colleagues in their research, it will be the greatest happiness in my theatrical life."

Guests at the Xu Fen Document Donation Ceremony and the “Xu Fen Book House” Unveiling Ceremony

Li Wei, director of the Shanghai Theatre Academy Library, recalled, "Last October, Shanghai Theatre Academy professor and Sichuan opera performing artist Tian Mansha contacted me and said that Mr. Xu Fen would perform his plays Zhuang Zhou Plays with His Wife and Yan Yan in Shanghai, and also brought the newly published Flying Flowers Freely - Representative Works of Xu Fen's Dramas, to be presented to our school library." This is how the Shanghai Theatre Academy Library and Xu Fen became connected. "Teacher Xu Fen is one of the most important contemporary playwrights in my country and the first female playwright in the history of Sichuan opera. Her collection of books and manuscripts can be collected by the Shanghai Theatre Academy Library, which will undoubtedly enhance the collection level of the Shanghai Theatre Academy Library."

At the ceremony on the 18th, Huang Changyong, president of the Shanghai Theatre Academy, praised Xu Fen's exploration and innovation in drama creation, and his selfless dedication to nurturing future generations. Facing new and old friends of the Shanghai Theatre Academy, Xu Fen presented a poem as a gift, "The setting sun hangs on the top of the mountain, and I knew you in my old age. There is no difference between the same path, and the flowing water is always flowing."