China News Service, Changsha, September 17th (Zhang Xueying, Li Ying) As the only play in Hunan Province selected for the 7th National Ethnic Minority Literature and Art Festival, the large-scale Hunan opera "Zuo Gongliu" created and staged by the Hunan Provincial Xiang Theater will be performed twice in a row at the Beijing National Culture Palace Grand Theater from September 18th to 19th.
This stage work, rooted in the fertile cultural ground of Hunan, is based on the tragic historical facts of the famous late Qing Dynasty general Zuo Zongtang's expedition to Xinjiang and the recovery of Ili while carrying his coffin. It tells the heroic story of Zuo Zongtang leading his Hunan children to the border to resist foreign aggression and regain the lost territory, planting willows along the way to express his feelings for his family and country. The repertoire interweaves the vigor of Hunan's high tune and the melodiousness of Xinjiang's folk music on one stage, using a willow tree to connect the friendship between the Xiangjiang River and the Tianshan Mountains.
In order to present a warm and flesh-and-blood Zuo Zongtang on the stage, the creative team went to Zuo Zongtang's former residence, Xiangyin, Hunan and other places to collect a large number of folk memories about Zuo Zongtang's governance. In terms of choreography, the play organically combines the traditional figures of Hunan Opera with Uyghur and Kazakh folk dance steps; in terms of music creation, it blends the high tune of Hunan Opera with intangible cultural heritage elements such as Xinjiang Uyghur Twelve Muqams and Kazakh Aytes into a unique auditory landscape, allowing the artistic beauty of different ethnic groups to bloom on the same stage.
When explaining the original intention of the creation, Bruce Lee, the executive director of "Zuo Gong Liu" said that the screenwriter Sheng Heyu is from Hunan and is good at exploring the little-known side of the characters. The whole play uses "willow" as the image, and the fourth scene "Yangliu Yiyi" is specially designed to tell the story of Zuo Zongtang helping compatriots of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang solve their difficulties; the willow in the title of the play also implies the beautiful meaning of willow trees taking root in the territory, flourishing branches and leaves, and "the territory is strong".
"Zuo Zongtang is the last strong figure in the late Qing Dynasty. To play him well, you must not only play the majesty, but also the heaviness and determination of a veteran who is sick and heading west." Xu Jun, a national first-class actor who plays Zuo Zongtang, said that "Zuo Zongtang" does not portray Zuo Zongtang as a heroic symbol, but talks about the worries, responsibility and concern for the people of Xinjiang behind his coffin-carrying expedition.
The 37-year-old Cao Weizhi was born in a Hunan opera family and plays the role of Cixi in the play. At first, she couldn't always grasp the character's temperament well. Director Zhang Manjun told her: "We need to break the stereotypes of characters and simply devote ourselves to restoring the mental journey of historical figures." This sentence made her realize that in order to present this complexity, she cannot just rely on routines, but must start from the characters themselves to find the fulcrum of the performance.
Talking about the running-in and thinking during rehearsals, Xu Jun said that he memorized lines, practiced posture, and polished details repeatedly. Sometimes just a look would require dozens of rehearsals. As a Hunan opera performer, it is a great honor for him to be able to make each of the vivid characters stand firmly on the stage. "The mission of an actor is to accurately and honestly convey the spirit of various characters to the audience."
In order to make his body shape more suitable for the character, 59-year-old Xu Jun has been managing his body for more than a year. He also visited the late Hunan opera master Wang Yongguang many times and asked him to help adjust his movements and singing. He hopes to fully present to the audience the national spirit of Zuo Gong carrying the coffin in the war. Cao Weizhi bought his own flag clothes and flowerpot-soled shoes for daily wear and practice, so that his body could get used to the manners of historical figures.
There is also a touching scene in the play: an ordinary Huxiang soldier "Manyazi" accompanied Zuo Zongtang on the western expedition and died in the fire to save the people of Xinjiang. According to Wang Yanjun, who plays "Manyazi", this character reflects thousands of ordinary people who work hard for national unity. "One person may be limited in what he can do, but when countless such people come together, they can achieve the wonderful life we have today."
"The Hunan nursery rhyme "Leading the Sheep and Selling the Sheep" is also intertwined with Xinjiang folk songs, touching the hearts of the audience." Xiao Yuan, who plays the mother of "Man Yao Zi", said that "Man Yao Zi" was about 12 years old when she went on the military expedition. When she missed her mother in the military camp, she would sing nursery rhymes from her hometown; and her mother traveled thousands of miles from Xiangyin, Hunan to Xinjiang to find her son. After learning about his death, she also sang nursery rhymes to her son with tears in her eyes.
It is understood that "Zuo Gongliu" is the key creation play of Hunan Provincial Xiang Theater in 2024. In the same year, it was performed in Liuyang as a play at the 8th Hunan Art Festival and won the Tianhan Award.
For this performance in Beijing, the crew carefully polished the original "Zuogongliu" play, changing "Japan" to "Japanese" and "self-study English" to "self-study foreign language" to fit the historical context of the late Qing Dynasty. At the end, a happy reunion drama section was added in which people of all ethnic groups help each other and build the border together, creating a Hunan opera classic with historical value, artistic value, ideological and political education and national unity propaganda.
