What did this unique red spy drama do right to "run in both directions" with young audiences?
"I just held a press conference in Beijing at the National Grand Theater and now I'm back in Shanghai to attend an expert symposium. To be honest, meetings in Shanghai are always very stressful," said Li Boyan, a national first-class director who directed the drama "To Yan'an."
Director Li Boyan at the seminar on "Towards Yan'an"
"It may be because when holding seminars in Shanghai, people always speak frankly, 'say good things about the good and bad things about the bad.'" Rong Guangrun, former president and professor of the Shanghai Theatre Academy who hosted the symposium, took over the conversation.
After six consecutive performances in Shanghai and receiving rave reviews, the Shanghai-style spy drama "To Yan'an" will be staged on the National Grand Theater on July 1. Dai Ping, former Party Secretary and professor of Shanghai Theatre Academy, summarized this work as "big, bold and grand".
Hu Xiaojun, vice chairman and secretary general of the Shanghai Association of Literary Critics, saw the efforts of the main creative team to "reduce the gap". "Original dramas have always emphasized teaching through entertainment, while drama audiences mostly hope to have fun before learning. Reducing this gap and pursuing the integration of teaching and entertainment is expected to become a breakthrough for the new cultural productivity of mainstream dramas, and it is also in line with the new production relationship - the audience-performance relationship." In the view of many experts at the meeting, mainstream works have found points of empathy with young audiences and thus achieved "two-way rush". "Towards Yan'an" is a sample worthy of analysis.
"The play "Towards Yan'an" offers a lot of new things. First, it is not a simple spy war drama. The original author Hai Fei is good at spy war dramas, but in this play, the spy war is superficial. The focus is on writing about human nature, humanities, and characters. Second, it has non-stereotyped characters. There are many stereotyped heroic images in literary works, but the heroes in "Towards Yan'an" have no model. Third, the poetic symbols and realistic plots are well combined with regional characteristics." Rong Guangrun summarized the novelties of "Towards Yan'an".
"The protagonist's surname is 'Xiang', and he yearns for Yan'an. But Yan'an is not just a place, but actually a beacon in his heart, an ideal, a goal, and a belief. 'To Yan'an' creates an atypical, growing image of a hero, which makes us realize that praising greatness and admiring the sublime can also be expressed in this way." Dai Ping said that 'To Yan'an' "makes the audience understand and finds it interesting."
"The whole play gave me a feeling beyond my expectations." Ding Luonan, a professor at Shanghai Theatre Academy, said that the success of "To Yan'an" lies in the fact that it is contrary to the grand narrative method used in the creation of red themes, and instead tells the story from a civilian and individual perspective. "The collision between the private space of the characters and the public space of the society at that time allows the audience to see the changes in the characters and their significance. The so-called positive and negative characters, either merged with the tide of the times or were shattered by the huge waves of history, all focus on the human level, which is very real and natural. The whole story revolves around the little person Xiang Jinxi, which can arouse the audience's empathy and thinking."
"To Yan'an" is a main theme masterpiece with red background, Shanghai style and artistic appeal." Li Guoyi, former chairman and secretary general of the Shanghai Culture Development Foundation, said, "The audience walked into the theater to watch this work and found it beautiful and attractive. The producer's successful operation of the play has enabled this masterpiece to present better mainstream cultural value through the market."
"From buying programs to making programs and then to selling programs, Dongyi's 'trilogy' has very well integrated red culture and Shanghai culture. In terms of production, the theater has transformed from a new force to a main force, and has unique advantages in the industrial chain." Wu Xiaoming, deputy head of the Shanghai Major Literary and Art Creation Leading Group, said that "To Yan'an" has directors and actors from all over the country, creating an innovative platform.
"To Yan'an is a drama full of Shanghai's historical and cultural atmosphere. It is particularly meaningful to premiere it in Shanghai, the 'Glorious City'." Shen Weimin, consultant of the Shanghai Dramatists Association, also believes that "Dongyi's productions deserve the attention of the industry" and "while vigorously highlighting Shanghai culture, especially red culture, it insists on performance as the central link, and strives to pursue 'red and popular' creations through calm judgment and bold expansion of the performance market."
"The film not only attracted the red theme of the original work "To Yan'an", but also took into account the current market demand. It not only saw the grand historical narrative of the work, but also discovered the writing of individual destinies in it. It also saw keywords such as youth, faith, ideals, and humanity that permeate the work, which reflects the producer's vision in selecting materials." said Li Shengying, producer of Shanghai Drama Art Center.
"'To Yan'an' reflects the life question of 'choice' from a unique perspective - 'I didn't choose my fate, it was fate that chose me.' 'I didn't choose revolution, I just chose to be kind and just.' This is particularly relatable to ordinary audiences, and it also reflects from one aspect that the cause of the Communist Party of China is the cause of the people and the cause of justice." Critic Fang Jiajun said that the production model of Dongyi is a useful supplement to the current art production model. "In addition to the series of creations of state-owned theaters, we also need new mechanisms and innovative models to create high-quality stage art."
"Several works produced by Dongyi are 'drama-style' rather than 'theater-style'. The drama "To Yan'an" once again sounded the rallying cry, combining red culture and Shanghai culture under a big background and a big era, and combining the brilliance of humanity with the brilliance of faith." Chen Dong, director of the Shanghai School Culture Research Center of Shanghai University, said that the drama "To Yan'an" cleverly used a variety of dramatic means to serve the red theme, "from commodities, works to fine products, and took the road of advancement."
The drama "Towards Yan'an" is produced by the Propaganda Department of the Pudong New Area District Committee, Shanghai Oriental Art Center Management Co., Ltd., Beijing Poly Theater Management Co., Ltd., and co-produced by the Liberation Daily. Following its premiere in Shanghai, it will be performed four times in a row at the National Grand Theater from June 28 to July 1, and will start a tour in the second half of the year.
