|
|
 |
![]() |
Avant-garde Dramas in 2004
|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
2004-12-27 10:38:57
CRIENGLISH.com
|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
With 2004 coming to a close, Chinese drama circles are taking more time to reflect on the experiments and reforms they've experienced over the past year, and exactly what they've lost and won.
|
![]() |
![]() |
 In China, traditional theatre means drama. And the subject matter is always either a historical event or a serious societal issue. Left rehashing the same material, traditional theatre companies 每 such as the National Theatre and Beijing Peoples' Art Theatre 每 try to appeal to audiences through skilful performance. What avant-garde theatre means in China is more synonymous with the rest of the world 每 it means pushing boundaries, though, here, it is easier to do so. Avant-garde troupes may not offer as polished a performance as their traditional counterparts, but the subject matter they deal with is often thought-provoking 每 or at least presented in an innovative way. Looking back at the 2004 theatrical year reveals a year marked by strong competition between avant-garde and traditional, as the emerging former began taking theatre space and audience from the latter.
Though scheduled performances of the Chinese rendition of The Vagina Monologues were called off by venues in Shanghai and Beijing after the play's Guangdong debut due to "sensitive themes", the American play was only the tip of an iceberg of "experimental" or "avant-garde" theatre pieces now crashing into the country.
Now playing in Beijing 每 in two of the capital's small but influential theatres are two avant-garde dramas: "Temporary Residence Certificate" and "Behind the Door."
"Temporary Residence Certificate" is a combination of acting and dancing, showcasing the predicament of the city's migrant workers.
"Behind the Door" is crude in terms of acting and set-design, but it boldly adapts stories from two controversial modern writers and touches on such sensitive topics as one-night stands and perverted, young minds. The language used is very conversational and the actor never shies away from cuss words.
"Behind the Door" has been so popular that another twenty performances have been added to its schedule. And on Valentine's Day, it will be performed at the Tianqiao Theatre, one of the city's largest.
Thirty-year-old Guo Ran is the director of "Behind the Door." He says his vision of the drama has not been fully realized because of compromises made to stage the drama smoothly. But despite some dissatisfaction with "Behind the Door," Guo Ran is eager to continue with avant-garde theatrical theater.
"The so-called avant-garde is more like a revolutionary attitude regarding theatrical themes rather than form. Without a cutting-edge attitude and understanding, a drama can never be called avant-garde."
 Unlike traditional theater, avant-garde can explore a variety of other genres. Pieces such as horror "Suffocation" and the much acclaimed "Rhinoceros in Love" have made appearances in various small theaters around the city.
That was a clip from "Cuihua, The Happy Six," now playing at Beijing's Chang'an Grand Theatre. "Cuihua" is a comedy hoping to draw New Year's crowds. It is advertising itself as an "M play," with the "M" standing for maximize, mix, myself, modern, motion, mature＃ basically any word you can think of to describe the fashionable generation born in the 70s. Based on the hit NBC show Friends, "Cuihua" focuses on the lives of six twentysomething friends who make fun of cheap commercials and pretentious films. According to the producer, M plays can both be avant-garde and commercially viable at the same time.
Part of the success of avant-garde theater may be due to the fact that for the most part they are performed in small venues. The advantages offered by these spaces are obvious: audiences sit closer to the stage, so they can more easily form an intimacy with performers and more easily immerse themselves in the plot. Furthermore, the small stages allow directors to more easily customize set d谷cor to different audiences. Zhang Luyi is the male lead of "Behind the Door."
"Our subject material is closely-related to peoples' ordinary lives. The small performance space lessens our distance with the audience. They can easily observe any defects in our performance. So a small theatre is in fact very demanding on us."
A 2000 survey shows that the Beijing Peoples' Art Theatre, a first-rate national theatre company, staged nearly 200 performances that year, with an overall box office revenue of over 10 million yuan. Performances in small- and medium-sized theatres accounted for half of that revenue.
Traditional theatre will have to make some changes or continue to lose out to avant-garde. Renditions of classic theatrical masterpieces such as Li Bai and Thunderstorm are covered with critic accolades, but are they still attractive enough to win over audiences?
In September, a theatrical festival named Forever Chekhov was launched by the National Theatre Company and the Lin Zhaohua Drama Studio to mark the 100th anniversary of the death of Anton Chekhov, the late Russian writer and dramatist. Plays adapted from Chekhov's works were performed by both foreign troupes and their counterparts in China. Chekhov's most famous work Cherry Orchard was adapted by acclaimed Chinese director Lin Zhaohua, who has gained a reputation for bringing avant-garde dramas to the stage. But it seems the 60-ish director doesn't agree with this label. And when compared to new plays which boast dazzling stage design, video shows and even special effects, Lin's works seem conservative.
"I don't have a conception of ＆being avant-garde' when directing a play. Some people say I destroyed the tradition of the Peoples' Art Theatre. In fact, my education and decades with the company have had an overwhelmingly classical influence on me. I believe I've stuck to this tradition. "
Cherry Orchard made only 200,000 yuan, recouping only half of its total investment. Lin Zhaohua admits he would not have worked on the drama if market were the first concern.
But the market should be the first concern. In China avant-garde dramas like "Behind the Door" and "Temporary Residence Certificate", which may not raise any eyebrows in the West, are excluded from mainstream theatre, and remain untouched by Chinese theatre critics 每 without the possibility of reviews or awards helping to promote them. But even out of the mainstream they attract audience members.
But not everyone views avant-garde and traditional as locked in competition. Chen Peng, producer of "Cuihua, the Happy Six" has this to say.
"We are not contesting the market with traditional dramas. We don't clash with each other. Our common competitors are pop and orchestral concerts and dances. We want to snatch a share of their market."
It is true that traditional theatre will always have an audience. But whether it retains its dominancy remains to be seen. It is likely China's theatre critics will have to start reviewing the country's avant-garde theatre 每 publicly 每 to stay in-line with their readers.
|
![]() |
|
 |
|
|
Home
