The young audience applauded as 14 male actors came together to perform "Good Eight Company" by Shanghai Yue Opera Theater

"After several performances of "Good 8th Company", the actors have become more skilled, worked harder, and united together. The effect yesterday was quite good." Actor Xu Jie said before the performance on the 24th. On May 23rd and 24th, Shanghai Yue Opera Theater's modern Yue opera "Good Eight Company" appeared on the Tianchan Shaw Stage to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Shanghai and the 65th anniversary of the establishment of the Shangyue Men's and Women's Chorus. Many young audiences in school uniforms followed their parents to watch the show, and the fierce "battle" scenes attracted bursts of applause.

"Good Eight Company" tells the story of a special battle assessment that is about to begin. The new recruit Qin Xiaojun has outstanding talents, but shows signs of individualism. In order to forge him into a real eighth company soldier, the instructor Yan Bin planned hard, and his "old brother" Lu Hua was always by his side. This artistic image, based on the first instructor of the Eighth Company, became a household name in the 1962 drama "Sentinels Under the Neon Lights", and has always been in Yan Bin's heart. The assessment exposed Qin Xiaojun's problems, and Yan Bin could not keep him in the Eighth Company for the time being. On Nanjing Road, Qin Xiaojun met Chen Xi, Zhao Dada and Tong A'nan, the "sentinels under the neon lights". At this moment of standing guard, Qin Xiaojun finally realized that no matter in the past or now, the soul of the Eighth Company Army has never changed. Just when Qin Xiaojun returned to the team as he wished and the Eighth Company successfully completed its special operations transformation, Yan Bin was about to leave his beloved company.

In "Good 8 Company", 14 male actors appeared together. Xu Jie is the artistic image of the first instructor in the play. He is also the "instructor" outside the play, guiding the young actors in their lines, singing, and character creation. Shangyue Mesozoic actors Xu Biaoxin, Qiu Long, Gu Aijun and others carried the banner. Shangyue's tenth generation rookies Feng Jun, Yao Lei, Zhang Yangkainan, etc. have been well received. Feng Jun and Zhang Aijia had two years of compulsory military service experience in college, and the standard of their military posture was praised by the instructor of the Eighth Company.

At the performance of "Good Eight Companies" on the 24th, the audience covered all ages. Photo by Zhuge Yi

Parents take their children to watch "The Good Eight Company". Photo by Zhuge Yi

Students and parents who organized a group to watch "The Good Eight Company" took a group photo in memory of Zhuge Yi.

Not only did they watch the show, the children also took home the program booklet of "Good Eight Companies". Photo by Zhuge Yi

Xu Biaoxin said that as a modern drama, the actors in "The Good Eight Company" must forget the stylized movements of costume dramas and strive to be life-like, so that it originates from life and is higher than life. In order to meet the needs of the calm role, Xu Biaoxin added a chest tone to the Lu style singing. He was deeply encouraged by the feedback from the audience. Feng Jun said, "The collective appearance at the beginning of "The Good Eight Company" combines the characteristics of Yue opera and military. It always gets warm applause from the audience, which also makes me very shocked."

Performing on a stage with a slope poses a challenge to the actors

The story background of "Good Eight Company" is set in a military assessment, with fierce conflicts and tight time tasks, which form the tough and heroic stage temperament of the whole play. Under the shell of military assessment, Yue Opera's lyricism, delicacy and ability to portray the psychology of characters are fully brought into play. There are 13 named characters in the play, spreading out a portrait of military and civilian groups. There are various schools such as Lu School, Yin School, Fan School, Xu School, Yuan School, etc. The love of comradeship, mother and child, husband and wife, sister and brother, etc. are narrated by love and shaped by love.

Special warfare assessment, attacking enemy command posts, tactical arrangements, sniping, ziplining, climbing, reconnaissance, climbing... "Good Eight Company" has made more breakthroughs in Yue opera performance themes. The details of the costumes and movements in the play were guided and suggested by the commanders and fighters of the Eighth Company. The hand gestures for rescuing hostages and the grip of the high-precision sniper rifle were taught by the captain of the Eighth Company who had won the Army championship.

"In the past, the party told us to stand on the road, and we had to stand properly; now, the party tells us to engage in special warfare, and we must carry it out." This warning posted in the dormitory building of the Eighth Company showed the past of the Eighth Company The different tasks from the present have also become the main narrative line of the "two transformations" in the play, and the two eras are connected through the spiritual communication between the two generations of instructors.

In order to forge the military temperament, the crew went deep into life many times. At the beginning of the rehearsal of "Good Eight Company", all male actors participated in military training and were guided by retired instructors from Good Eight Company. The creative team went to the unit where "Good Eighth Company on Nanjing Road" is located seven times to collect information, and had many exchanges with the 26th and 27th instructors, company commanders and business backbones of Good Eighth Company, as well as the political commissar and brigade commander of a brigade of the group army where Good Eighth Company is located. The officer of the Army Publicity Section provided guidance at the rehearsal site. "Good Eighth Company" The "Good Eighth Company on Nanjing Road" flag was presented by the 26th instructor of Good Eighth Company, which reflects the company's care and friendship for the crew.