Interview with Wang Fang

Orchid and Fragrance--Interview with Kun Opera Artist Wang Fang

-Kun Opera Wonderland with Dew-

Jin Hong (hereinafter referred to as "Jin"): Mr. Wang, Kun Opera has attracted a lot of attention and attention after it was included in the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Jin Hong (hereinafter referred to as "Jin"): Mr. Wang, the inscription of Kunqu on the Intangible Cultural Heritage has attracted more people's attention.

Wang Fang (hereinafter referred to as "Wang"): Yes. At the age of 13, I was admitted to the Suzhou Kun Theater, which was then called the Sukun Troupe, and I belonged to the students who accompanied the troupe. At that time, Mr. Shen Chuanzhi, Mr. Ni Chuanyue and Mr. Xue Chuangang of the Chuanzhi generation were still alive. I was initiated in martial arts, and the first play I learned was the Kun Opera "Hujiazhuang", in which I played Hu Sanniang. My teacher, Shi Yongrong, was very good and gave me a good foundation. At that time, we studied intensively, and after six months of joining the troupe, we were basically taught to perform with our skills, to bring our skills to the theater, and to link the basic skills with the learning of the theater. Teachers not only taught how to "harmonize" with the gongs and drums, but also how to understand the characters and how to express Hu Saniang's arrogance. For example, when the gongs and drums sound, "four strikes to the head", you appear on stage, and when you make your appearance, you let the audience see you for the first time, but when you make your appearance, you have to slow down a little bit, and when you round off the stage, you have to run very fast, and you have to bring out that kind of arrogance and arrogance, and you have to bring out that kind of arrogance and arrogance. You have to emphasize the feeling of being so arrogant. At this point, you immediately feel the wildness of this woman. Then, the "clang" appearance is standardized, and this is the standardization of irregularity. At first I didn't understand why I did it this way, but I learned it from my teacher's teaching, and it was a complete imitation. Only later did I understand that it was to highlight the personality of Hu Sanniang. Yu Ji in Farewell My Concubine is different from Hu Saniang, in which the combination of military and literature is especially elaborate. For example, when Yu Ji comes out with a sword, "Tie - Tie", to step on the gongs and drums, and must be half a beat slower, in order to show her "Mei", and this kind of sword dance with a charming attitude is especially important for the performance of Yu Ji, which is in line with her image. It matches her image. So the actor's body language must show the essence of the character, which is the charm of art. I often think that the process of artistic creation is like writing, the beginning is "tracing red", the next is "pro-post", and then it is writing, "post". The process of creating an artistic character is the process of understanding, accumulating and presenting the character.

Kim: When did you switch to literary theater?　　Wang: "Hujiazhuang" in 1979 in Suzhou City, young actors in the performance, I won the first prize for student performances, from then on I practiced even more desperately, but because of the practice is too fierce, and do not pay attention to the scientific use of the voice, the result of the voice congestion, the vocal folds closed not close, "inverted voice", when you speak only gas, no sound, completely mute, and had to be "As a result, his voice became congested and his vocal cords could not close up. One year later, Mr. Gu Dujuan, the director of the troupe, suggested that I should learn the basic skills of the opera while taking a "vocal break", and that my original foundation in martial arts could help me to learn the opera better.

Kim: Tell us about your initial work in literary theater.

Wang: Many of the Kun Opera operas that we learned after we entered school were written, such as "Touring the Garden", "A Dream of Fright", "Searching for a Dream", "Sifan", "The Dream", "The Dream", "The Dream", "The Dream", "The Dream", "The Dream", "The Dream", "The Dream", and "The Dream". Sifan", "The Qin", "The Change", "Buried Jade", "Identifying the Trail", "Broken Trail", and "The Broken Path". "In 1988, I saw Mr. Zhang Jiqing's Peony Pavilion in Beijing and was mesmerized by it. At that time, Ms. Zhang didn't look like the 16-year-old Du Liniang from the outside, but when she performed, it was clear that she was Du Liniang! The performance was so good! At that time, whenever Ms. Zhang performed, I would follow her, often hiding behind the curtain, and I was especially obsessed. Seeing how much I liked it, Ms. Zhang let me go to Nanjing to learn from her, and in 1994 I won the "Orchid Best Performer Award" for "Searching for Dreams", which was the result of combining the skills of several teachers. At that time, there were seven Duliniangs competing in the competition, and Ms. Zhang was there to watch the performance. She said, "Some of the actors were 'speaking' Du Liniang, not 'acting' Du Liniang." In other words, the actor should not stray from the character, but really "act" the character.

Kim: What you said is really good, and these feelings will be very inspiring to young actors.

King: When I first started learning, I simply imitated Ms. Zhang's singing. Her voice is especially sweet, and when I listen to her, I immediately think of the watery Du Liniang, vivid, pure and unadulterated. Ms. Zhang is from a Su opera family, she grew up learning both Kun and Su operas, and her voice incorporates the essence of both Kun and Su opera singing, which is especially good. Kun Opera and Su Opera are two types of theater, but they nourish each other. For example, in Su Opera, there are a lot of half-steps and elevations in the voice, and there are a lot of "flat" words, which are difficult to pronounce, but the cadence can be either "up" or "down", so it is better to add a little bit of Su Opera to the Kun Opera, which will be more gentle. Therefore, adding a little bit of Suzhou accent to the Kun Opera will make it more elegant. I first imitated Ms. Zhang in terms of her voice and biting words, but because I had "inverted my voice", it was impossible for me to be exactly like her, so in addition to practicing my singing voice, I also paid more attention to how to express the characters.　　

King: Speaking of Kun-Su mutual cultivation, I think of your masterpiece "Drunken Return".

Wang: We are the Su-Kun Theater Troupe, which performs both Su and Kun Opera. "Drunken Return" is one of the masterpieces of Su Opera, and I learned this play from teachers such as Jiang Yufang, Zhuang Zaichun, and Liu Jiyan before I graduated. They were the elders of the Su opera troupe, and their acting skills were very high. 1981, I took part in the Suzhou Young Performers' Festival with this play, and won the first prize.

Jin: I still remember Mr. Lu Wenfu's comment on your "Drunken Return" in his article "There will be a newcomer": "As soon as she appeared on the stage, Wang Fang took on a poet's temperament, and she was not a man of the world but a gentle and beautiful poetess of the ancient times. She didn't treat demureness as charming, frivolity as lightness, or inner bitterness as disease-free moaning; she was so subtle, deep, and skillful. For an actor, the most valuable is not a difficult action, but a kind of difficult to depict the temperament, that is, usually referred to as natural beauty. Natural beauty is not innate, nor is it only the beauty of appearance, but an inner beauty, the materialization of the spiritual condition. The most skillful actor is the one who plays with the heart, singing, reading, doing and playing are the channels of the heart, that is, the so-called "hand should be heart". Those who have the hand but not the heart, the play will be less spiritual; those who have the heart but not the elegance of the heart, will not have the elegance of the temperament. It should be said that this is very difficult to do, and Wang Fang seems to be a genius, getting into the role at once."

WANG: Thank you very much, Mr. Lu, for your affirmation. The Su opera "Drunken Return" is a milestone in my acting career, and the most important thing in this play is to grasp the psychology of the character. In the past, I had a misunderstanding about the flower girl, that is, I always thought it was her who was in a bad mood. If she was uprooted from her hometown, living under the roof of others, and in a bad mood, she must have been in a bad mood, and I was in a bad mood when I acted it. But later I realized that the flower girl was not only depressed, but also had the pain of drinking to drown her sorrows. The part where she sings about returning from a drunken stupor is very exciting on the surface, but it hides extreme sadness and pain, which is a real heartache that only she knows, so the beauty that she shows when she is drunk is the real beauty. The Hua Kui woman is not just a common woman of the world, women like Li Xiangjun and Liu Ruyi are not prostitutes in the concepts of our modern society, but rather, they are beauties, women of talent, and literate people of intellect. Flower girl piano, chess, calligraphy and painting are all proficient, not sell their bodies, any occasions have their own ideas, do not go with the flow, out of the mud and not stained, only called the flower of the king. If you want to play her as a woman of the world, it lowers the character. So I changed that dusty smile in the opening scene to face Wang Jiu-ma performance. Although there is no lyrics or recitation, the body language and inner monologue is saying to Wang Jiu-ma: I can do anything, but I don't like it! The audience will feel the helplessness of the Hua Kui woman. The audience will feel too poor and helpless when they see this, so that her image is highlighted.

Kim: I heard that you drank wine to experience "Drunken Return".

Wang: When I first learned "Drunken Return", I didn't know what drunkenness was, how to get drunk, and I couldn't understand the difference between drunken steps and sick steps. Often, I would just take two steps forward and one step backward, and I would shake and sway to show that I was drunk. In 1986, when I was preparing to participate in the provincial performance, Mr. Chu Ming, the captain of our Su opera team, said, "Drink some wine and feel the feeling of drunkenness. I thought it was right, and went home and drank half a kilogram of red wine, but I didn't expect to cause skin allergies, and my body was covered with pimples for days, and I was so scared that I didn't drink any alcohol from then on. But drinking does make you feel euphoric. The play has won many awards, and in 1994, I acted in the Kun Opera "Dream Hunting", "Sifan" and "Drunken Return", and won the Plum Blossom Award again.

King: About how many performances of "Drunken Return" were there?

King: Since 1979, I can't remember how many performances in total ****, but the understanding of the role has been progressive with each performance. Initially, when I acted in "Drunken Return", I often emphasized only singing, reciting, acting, and tableaux, and didn't pay much attention to the characters. When I went to Nanjing to participate in the performance, I realized the "drunkenness" of the flower girl, and suddenly felt that I could act like this. That is to say, the image of the flower girl can be expressed in many ways, and it is definitely not a simple sad face. The pain of the flower girl is the pain of her heart, and the actor can show her pain with a smile, but it is a hidden pain that is deep in the heart.

Kim: The emphasis is on showing the pain of the heart.

King: Yes. The success of a character comes through a constant buildup one scene at a time. First, the teacher teaches, then I think about it, figure it out, and finally put it into practice on the stage, and after a few cycles, I'm in a different state of mind when I'm performing. We also have to thank the rehearsals of other plays to realize the richness of these connotations, because we also rehearsed the Su opera "Five Girls" at the same time. Five Girls" is a modern opera, and I won the Provincial Outstanding Performer Award in 1983. At that time, there were few competitions, so it was not easy for me to win the award in the province. This award gave me more encouragement.　　

King: Please talk about your main play Kun Opera "Palace of Eternal Youth".

King: The Palace of Eternal Youth was rehearsed in 2003, and it took a whole year to rehearse. We had learned the "Change of Heart" and "Buried Jade" when we were young, but this time we felt differently. For example, Yang Guifei is sincere when she asks the Emperor to grant her death. Siblings hold power, not all rely on the Yang Niangniang in, a thousand mistakes are my fault, but I love true also. Singing: "Only a little bit of that infatuation, love river sinking has not awakened." As a result, Yang Guifei was moved to heaven and became a fairy, reuniting with Tang Minghuang in heaven. At the end of "Burying the Jade", when the Concubine said, "This pear tree is the place where I, Yang Yuhuan, will be buried", it was with a bitter smile: I did not expect that this pear tree would be the place that would result in my life. This seems to be less painful, but the audience feels particularly heartbreaking. Then, when she thanked the Emperor, "I can never see you again", people could immediately feel the pain of parting. That's why so many people told me, "Your "Burying Jade" brought tears to our eyes! It's not easy to make a traditional play so moving, and that's the strength of kunqu.

King: The plot is tied together by true feelings.

King: Yang Guifei's age span from her marriage to her death to her ascension to heaven is not large; she is a horizontal span, a span of three realms: human, ghost and immortal. Therefore, the three plays have to show different Yang Guifei. For example, in "The Fixation", the focus is on the pure and simple feelings of Yang Guifei when she first entered the palace; in the middle of the play, "The Surprise" and "The Buried Jade", it is a kind of mature love; and in the later part when she became a ghost and an immortal, it is more rational. The performance should be very clear about the feelings of the Concubine. When performing the role, the character of Yang Guifei is delicate, wise and jealous. Yang Guifei was already a mature woman when she married Emperor Tang Minghuang, and she was not only shy but also rational in front of the Emperor. She understands Tang Minghuang very well and knows men. She grasps her feelings in the process of getting along with Tang Minghuang, taking one step at a time, very naturally. She knows what Tang Ming Huang needs and will cater to his ideas without losing herself, and that's precisely why she is lovely and Tang Ming Huang likes her. That's why the first book is going to be a natural display of her flirtatiousness, just as the audience also seems to feel the fresh scent after the first bath.

King: The important thing is to grasp the character of Guifei.

King: If you don't get it right, you'll look like an ignorant girl; if you get it right, you won't be noble anymore, so you have to grasp the scale. The "Wugong" shows the transformation of the Concubine: at first she was still crying with Emperor Tang Minghuang, but when Gao Li Shi said, "Nowadays, all the ministers in the court, who don't have a wife and concubine," she immediately realized that, yes, I'm like this, what is the benefit of it ah? If I'm really sent away, I'll be left with nothing. A woman's greatest skill is to cry, so she cried, and must let the emperor see that she is very aggrieved, to be just right to show a little jealousy. When you have three "hey", and a snicker: Tang Minghuang while laughing, while pulling the hand of the princess ready to go down, then Yang Guifei turned back to a smile. How to laugh? Laugh not in place, the audience can not feel; laugh too much, and feel that this woman is cunning and tricky. It should be a lovely snicker, even she herself feels funny, is a small triumph and satisfaction after winning. I added a very satisfied tilt of the head, so that people feel cute: he is not now satisfied with me, he also admitted to me, everything is still mine, I still have a small win. This smile is very appropriate. That's why the audience applauds every time he comes off the stage.

Kim: Many viewers have appreciated your "Sukaku," which is a bit of theater in every detail. And "Little Banquet", too.

King: Yang Guifei is a woman of rich character.

Wang: Yang Guifei is a woman of rich character. In "Little Banquet", she accompanied Emperor Tang Minghuang to drink wine, the first drink did not feel, drink the second cup will feel a little hot, and then drink the third cup, the blood rushes upward, excited, the neck to lean back, and the color of the eyebrow fluttered up. Men in life can't afford to let their women get drunk, but Tang Minghuang wanted Guifei to get drunk because she was beautiful when she was drunk and he liked to see her drunkenness. Yang Guifei knew this too, so she said I can't drink anymore while drinking again. Her posture is anti-conventional, with her head and hands swinging outwards. Drinking glass by glass, eyes change little by little, call "long live" is out of the sound not out of the lips, the lips almost do not move, action and tone of voice are not in a beat, slow movement, but the self-perception is: I'm not drunk, I'm very sober.

King: You speak brilliantly.

King: This is all the result of accumulation. Mr. Shen Chuanzhi told us that the best performance of kunqu is "Ran", that is, the most natural performance. Kunqu is poetic, it does not care whether each action is in place or not, but to achieve the realm that belongs to the character. A natural process is glued together and cannot be stereotyped like a photograph. Therefore, the actor's performance should be inspired by emotion, use the inner emotion to drive the outer action, use the emotion out of the shape, use the emotion to bring the shape, to achieve the perfect combination of the emotion and the shape. Only in this way can we create a flesh and blood character image.

Jin: Listening to your story, I was very inspired, and I felt the quality of a good actor, and I also felt the true meaning of so many arts. Thank you !