▲ Why can't you see modern Peking Opera that reflects real life? The stage is full of traditional plays by the elderly and foreigners?

China traditional opera belongs to the quintessence of Chinese culture. Other countries also have singing, dancing, sports and acrobatics. Traditional China plays are different. Beijing opera is one of the representatives, which is popular all over the country. This is unique in the world! In the past, leaders at all levels attached great importance to it and the masses liked it. As early as in Yan 'an, President Mao Zedong praised Yan 'an Ping Theatre's performances such as Driving to Liangshan and Sanda Zhujiazhuang, demanding that they "become a common practice and spread to the whole country"; In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Qiu, a famous actor of Internet Cable, resumed his performance "Shen" and said that he had a sense of justice. Then he wrote the inscription "Let a hundred flowers blossom and bring forth the new", which was taken by the Central Committee as China's literary and artistic policy, and accordingly issued a call to "explore the tradition and save the heritage". Even during the "Cultural Revolution", Chairman Mao asked for films of traditional Peking Opera to protect them. Premier Zhou Enlai is busy watching the performances of large and small troupes. After the performance, he mostly talked with the actors and put forward constructive suggestions. I watched the Kunqu Opera "Fifteen Passes" directed by China, praised it greatly, and said that "one drama saves one drama", which made the play staged all over the country; He also personally managed to restore the dramas denied by the ultra-"Left" trend of thought, such as Lock Linnang by Cheng School and Matchmaker by Xun School. When Peng Zhen was the mayor of Beijing, he often personally arranged the construction of Beijing's opera. Therefore, from the founding of New China to the eve of the Cultural Revolution, traditional operas have been carrying out the policy of "three simultaneities", restoring long-lost traditional famous dramas, newly edited historical dramas and modern dramas. National opera is booming.

Don't want to "cultural revolution", because of the general decline of cultural level and historical knowledge, many people are not familiar with Beijing opera and all traditional operas, which makes the quintessence of the country get a cold shoulder; Even become the object of exclusion. Although the central leadership has repeatedly called for "revitalizing Beijing opera" and "starting with children"; When Li Ruihuan was the mayor of Tianjin, he personally arranged the business activities of the Youth Peking Opera Troupe, organized a "hundred-day training camp" and invited senior artists to teach famous dramas. After he served as the chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in the Central Committee, he advocated "taking pictures of vocal cords" so that outstanding famous dramas could leave images for future generations to learn and spread. However, some grassroots leaders have failed to implement it. In recent years, not only has the policy of "letting a hundred flowers blossom" not been implemented, but some people regard actors' acting and audience's watching the play as "fun" and confuse the quintessence of Chinese culture with mahjong and poker. A media official actually said: "Traditional art is rubbish, so try not to publicize it"; Some business leaders don't know what excellent traditional plays should be restored, but they are only keen to rehearse plays that actors don't like to play and audiences don't like to watch according to the intention of those "planners" who give money, and they don't hesitate to invest money to make the media scream. As a result, many new dramas similar to Shanghai's Lotus Lantern, such as Peking Opera, which wantonly destroys the original work, and new dramas that are close to sketches and joke at will flooded the stage. Some people in charge of performance venues mistakenly believe that foreigners can't understand the singing of Beijing opera, so they are only allowed to perform martial arts and dance, and even cut off the opera.

There used to be a saying that "three thousand in Tang Dynasty and eight hundred in Song Dynasty". Even after the founding of New China, there are more than 1300 repertoires listed in the preliminary study of Peking Opera repertoires. But in recent years, only a dozen plays can be seen on the stage. Then there are "endless red mane fierce horses" and endless dragons and phoenixes; Shiro goes to "visit his mother" every night, and Sanniang fights with "Hu Jiazhuang" for a long time. White snake keeps stealing fairy grass, and Miao often goes to Qiu Jiang; The imperial concubine brewed "drunkenness" for several days, and the goddess was always busy "scattering flowers"; Dissatisfied fork in the road rhymes with unsatisfied the Monkey King (from Noisy Heaven, the Monkey King always eats Xiantao and elixir). These are also the portrayal of the present situation of Peking Opera.

In the past, a performance group paid attention to performing in one place for two or three months without looking back. At present, the performing groups can perform more than a dozen plays at most, and will return soon. In recent years, there are only four plays of "Mei School": Drunken Imperial Lady, Farewell My Concubine, My Goddess Scattered Flowers and Feng Haichao. The dramas of "Shang School" are only 30% off, such as the levee of Zhao Jun, the loss of children and the drums in Jinshan. The drama "Cheng Pai" is nothing more than Sorin Capsule and Tears of the Barren Mountain, plus a discount for Six Heroes in the Snow. "Xunpai" drama is more common than "matchmaker". An inheritor of an old school drama said: "My predecessors have performed many plays, but I only learned to perform three or four now. I'm tired of singing and the audience is tired of listening. I want to learn more, but acting is different from telling stories. I can't do it without a supporting role. I learned, others didn't learn, and I can't arrange what I learned, so I can't act. I didn't practice. After a long time, I forgot. I still have to sing those songs! "

As for the popularity in recent years, let the drama director direct the drama, lead the tricks to the words and sing, lose the characteristics of the drama, and even approach the "sketch" and make a fool of yourself on the stage. Such a play is not uncommon. In the past, some people said that "laymen can't lead experts" and were defined as "right-leaning" remarks. In fact, this is true, but it is not comprehensive. A layman can become an expert as long as he loves and is willing to study. Chairman Mao, Premier Zhou, Comrade Peng Zhen and Comrade Li Ruihuan are not people in the field of traditional Chinese opera, but they love traditional Chinese opera and are more familiar with it than those with professional backgrounds. People like them, as leaders and directors, are definitely qualified. In the past, Jiao Juyin and Xia Chun, two famous drama directors of Beijing People's Art, both successfully directed operas; When directing Cai Wenji and Tiger Father, Mr. Jiao Juyin also used the movements of China's traditional drama and joined the "Gong" of Peking Opera. Just because they know opera. If a grass-roots opera leader says, "I don't know opera and I don't like it. I'm here to transform you. "Only such a person can revitalize the opera!

From this point of view, if Peking Opera and all operas want to be truly revitalized, they must have leaders from all walks of life who love opera, change the present situation of few actors and plays on the stage, and put the fabricated plays on the stage to deceive the audience.

Some people say that Beijing opera, including the whole opera art, is in a state of "decline". Personally, I think the word "decline" is not enough to explain the present situation of Beijing opera art. What is "decline" can be measured from three aspects: first, there are fewer employees and fewer performance venues; Second, the artistic level is low; Third, there is no mass base and no one cares. I don't think I can mention the above three points. It is not so much a "decline" as a "low tide" of development.

There are many reasons for the current "low tide", including Peking Opera and all the traditional arts in China, such as opera, calligraphy, folk music and traditional Chinese medicine. Why not? There are many reasons, one of which is the strong foreign cultural shock (mainly commercial pop culture in developed countries). I think it is a temporary phenomenon. As far as classical art is concerned, it belongs not only to China, but also to the world.

However, how to revitalize Beijing Opera? How can we get out of the current "low tide"? However, there are always two kinds of understandings, two kinds of policies and two kinds of results in specific work, which affect our revitalization plan. Now there is the strongest voice, and that is reform. Reform is the driving force of artistic progress! Without reform, Beijing opera will lose young people; Without reform, the pace of Beijing opera is too slow to adapt to the modern fast-paced life; Without reform, Peking Opera will be too old to adapt to the ever-changing world. In a word, without reform, Peking Opera cannot be revitalized. "Reform" has great popularity and the trend of the times. Yes, reform, how can there be mistakes? But how to change it? The lighting set and the chemical handle are combined, and the stage is set with "multi-perspectives". Freehand brushwork becomes realism, and virtuality becomes reality. It is fashionable to "boldly break the rules of procedure" and the principle of transforming Peking Opera with drama. Although there is undeniable success, I think it is not normal for the director of the play to become the "grandfather" and "savior" of Beijing opera for a time.

Since someone put forward the idea of "revitalizing Peking Opera", the leaders of the CPC Central Committee have also attached great importance to it, and personally planned "Audio-visual Project", "Sunset Project", "Caixia Project", "Children's Peking Opera Hope Project" and "Graduate Project" and so on. The work is done in depth and concrete, which can be described as boundless merits. In particular, the New Year's Peking Opera Evening held in Huairentang, Zhongnanhai, was particularly inspiring to every Peking Opera worker, especially those from other provinces and cities.