Ni Dahong: Death brushes past her 92 year old mother's jacket. 2019 | Stage | Passing by
Standing at the entrance of the interview room at the Yunfeng Theater, Ni Dahong grabbed a few napkins and put on a jacket over a T-shirt. The busy work schedule has caused Ni Dahong to suffer from rhinitis and her throat is not very good. He bowed slightly to the young people on site and bowed his hand in greeting. After the interview, he bowed and bowed his hand again to say goodbye.
On July 28th and 29th, Ni Dahong and Sun Li performed the Chinese version of "Requiem" at the Yunfeng Theater in Shanghai. This is a classic play that is quite demanding for actors, with long and poetic lines that are dense and fast, not familiar daily conversations. In other words, the fault tolerance is very low.
Ni Dahong spoke slowly and low during the interview, accompanied by a long pause. Standing on the stage at night, he looked like a completely different person, with a familiar hoarse voice and emotional, never-ending lines that made him a fully charged star, illuminating the theater.
Central and Western, Life and Death
After 40 years of acting, Ni Dahong did not show any traces of technical talent. He approached "Requiem" with all his body and mind like a newcomer, tossing and turning.
"A few years ago, the original Israeli version of" Requiem "came to China for a performance. Tickets were too difficult to buy, and I couldn't watch it all halfway in. I was still deeply shocked. The stage was clean, and the atmosphere created by all the actors was too attractive. At this time, Ni Dahong looked more like an ordinary audience than a seasoned professional.". At first glance at "Requiem", the seat was not very good, and he had to turn his head back and forth to read the subtitles, swearing to watch everything next time.
I didn't expect the Chinese version of "Requiem" to be released. What kind of temptation can be greater than playing the protagonist in a classic drama you like? Ni Dahong specially came to Shanghai to watch the original version of "Requiem" for this. "I was quite excited to meet the original actors and directors." Requiem "has high literary value. Even today, we are still thinking about how to express our lines more clearly, whether it leans more towards the feeling of foreign dramas or localization."
In 2019, the Chinese version of "Requiem" premiered, and at that time, Ni Dahong was struggling with whether her lines should be "west" or "middle". "I had many ideas at the time, such as more localization, but during rehearsals, I felt that this was not feasible." Requiem "is too admirable and cannot be translated into Chinese vernacular, just like we cannot change Shakespeare's classic passages. This is a respect for the original work. I reminded myself not to" run "too far forward. If the language is really not catchy, you can adjust it a bit."
In the Requiem, Ni Dahong plays the role of an old craftsman who has lived with his wife for over fifty years without giving her any care or attention. He only feels regretful when his wife is critically ill. This year, when re starring in "Requiem", Ni Dahong said that everyone on the production team interpreted the play from the bottom of their hearts. "Standing by the stage, everyone is observing, and I am also observing. We have all calmed down, and we have grown up again in the past few years."
When it comes to the theme of life and death in plays, Ni Dahong remained silent for a long time. "In recent years, we have experienced a lot. My mother is 92 years old and passed by death. When everything is by your side and you get used to it, the impact of death is great. Because there is no buffer, you have never paid attention to it, and you wouldn't think of it normally."
"A day ago" to "a few years ago"
"When entering the stage, there shouldn't be too much distractions." Ni Dahong likes the stage and drama, "I can feel the real communication with the audience. When I step out of the theater, there is no such communication."
He regrets not being able to make it to the Shanghai Thousand People Theater where he starred in the movie "I Love You". "With only two or three viewers, you may not be able to feel it yet, even if there are around 100 people on site. As an actor, you can feel a lot."
In the first scene of the Shanghai station of "Requiem", the prop horse did not descend to a fixed height, and the actors could not ride the horse. They changed to communicating under the horse on the spot. "This freshness can only occur on stage, and we have no special preparation or regulations to do. We just follow the on-site situation and try to adapt to controllable small changes." Ni Dahong said that when filming movies and TV dramas, the cameraman may stick landmarks at the rehearsal point, draw four squares or cross positioning, and the actors cannot leave the designated location, which is a technical requirement; On stage, actors wander around the stage based on the emotions triggered by their characters. "Each performance is unique, with new content injected, and audience feedback can affect the performance the next day."
The rehearsal of "Requiem" coincides with the roadshow of the movie "I Love You", and at the same time, Ni Dahong is also going to Harbin to film. As he talked about his trip to another city in two or three days, his voice suddenly became louder. "Running back and forth, time for 'Requiem' was very tight. Taking the high-speed train, I was thinking about acting on the high-speed train, taking the plane, and I was thinking about it all the time." At the end of the year, when the play 'Silver Ingot Bridge' was rehearsed, Ni Dahong may face a dilemma between the set and the stage. He didn't hesitate to say, "If we continue to run back and forth like this, I won't film for now, and I will act the play well with a down-to-earth attitude."
Ni Dahong is more serious and does not slack off because he is "proficient" or "experienced". He will suddenly reflect on the previous day's performance at a moment on the day after the performance. "Yesterday in the" Requiem ", I made two mistakes on stage, and my mouth was a bit flustered. Overall, I am quite satisfied with my understanding of the character."
Strict self-examination can be extended from "a day ago" to "a few years ago". This year's Spring Festival, Ni Dahong watched "It's All Well" again, which was filmed 5 years ago. "I'm looking for it. If it's not so exaggerated here, do the characters feel right? There are still some places where I think Su Daqiang should exaggerate and do it even better."
