I'm just an actor

Chapter 458 Criticism
Xu Rong didn't put the old dean's biography back on the bookshelf, but put it on the left hand side.

Always warn yourself.

Being labeled as a master is not necessarily a bad thing. When he first entered the industry, he could maintain his enthusiasm for almost 24 hours of 18 hours a day.

One is being forced by poverty, and the other is wanting to earn a lot of money and marry a beautiful woman.

The external environment in the previous period was quite mild, and there was neither a strong "greed for profit" nor an urgent "excitement and compulsion". The rigor was still maintained, probably due to the habits developed over the past few years.

Now this "master" hat puts him under a lot of pressure.

Fang Zhongyong has been ridiculed for 1000 years.

What's more, at the current situation, he couldn't help but look away, because the facts are not based on his will.

He got up and was about to call Yang Lixin and Feng Yuanzheng over for a chat, pretending to arrange work for a period of time in order to prove that he didn't have a vegetarian meal, but just as he got off the chair, an acquaintance came to the door.

Li Liuyi looked at Xu Rong who had just got up from behind the desk, and after hesitation appeared on his slender face, he asked, "Leader, don't bother?"

"You've already said that, what else can I say?" Xu Rong watched him enter the door, and guessed in his heart, "Aren't you rehearsing a play, why did you come here?"

The two collaborated on "Home" last year. At that time, he served as the director and also served as the art director, and Li Liuyi served as the assistant director. Overall, the cooperation between the two was quite pleasant.

"Hi, I'm here to invite the Tathagata Buddha."

Xu Rong sat back again, pointed to the chair opposite, and said with a smile, "Master Zhu Xu, Li Shilong, Mi Tiezeng, Teacher Zhang Wankun, aren't they all there?"

The play that Li Liuyi is busy rehearsing now is "Death of a Salesman". The play was created by the famous American playwright Miller in 1949. The Play", which won the Pulitzer Prize and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award.

After it was introduced to China, it also pushed Ying Ruocheng's artistic career to a new height.

"Death of a Salesman" tells the story of Willy Loman, a salesman who asked to work in the office because of his old age and frailty, but was fired by his boss. Willie, frustrated, blamed his two sons for not doing their job properly and accomplishing nothing, and his son retorted. Laughing at him as nothing more than a lame street runner.

The old salesman had a lifetime of dreams, but now they are all disillusioned, his self-esteem has been severely bruised, and his life is difficult. In order to get a life insurance premium for his family, Willie committed suicide by driving out late at night.

Xu Rong proposed to rearrange this play last year.

The theme of "Death of a Salesman" is relatively simple. According to the judgment of the play critic, the play "portrays the tragic life of a small person and exposes the deception of the American dream." Introduced in 1949 for more than 60 years, it has caused a huge sensation all over the world.

While recommending the rearrangement, Xu Rong also recommended three actresses, Xiao Zhang, Yuan Yu and Song Yi.

Li Liuyi sat across from him, "Oh" suddenly, and said: "I just wanted to ask experts to give us a pulse, don't tell me, I almost forgot that they had participated in the performance before."

"But I don't think so. Mr. Zhu won't talk about it. Li Shilong and Mi Tiezeng each performed seven or eight plays, and no one can be found."

Xu Rong still didn't get up, and asked, "How far is it?"

"It's about to be synthesized, come again a few times, and if there is no problem, I will be interrogated."

"It's okay for me to go and see, but let me tell you in advance that you don't have to be glass-hearted when the time comes."

Li Liuyi laughed and said: "How can it be possible, Ren Puyuan can respond with a smile, what am I afraid of?"

He was referring to Xu Rong saying that Pu Cunxi's acting was wrong in front of the entire "Jiaziyuan" crew a few days ago.

The two left the office, passed by the door of Feng Yuanzheng's office, and happened to meet Feng Yuanzheng who was about to go out.

Feng Yuanzheng seemed to have heard the conversation between the two from a distance, looked at the two people who were coming, nodded without surprise and said: "Yuan Xu, Director Li."

Xu Rong greeted: "Do you have anything to do, if you have nothing to do, just go and watch "The Salesman"?"

"Okay, just to watch Xiaofei's performance."

Since Xiao Zhang studied with Feng Yuanzheng, Xu Rong never asked about it again, and the two had differences in philosophy.

After entering the theater, Xu Rong looked at Ding Zhicheng, Lu Fang, Jing Hao, Miao Chi, Xiao Zhang, Song Yi, and Yuan Yu standing on both sides of the stage, and said, "Hello, teachers, let's come and study."

"Hahaha."

Except for Xiao Zhang, when the others saw Xu Rong walk into the theater, they immediately became very energetic. It was not the title of Xu Rong's vice president or deputy director of the art committee, but pure curiosity.

A few days ago, Xu Rong was just an ordinary colleague of them, but within a few days, he became the third editor-in-chief of Renyi after the old dean and Mr. Lao She.

"let's start."

A simple scene was built with boxes and stools on the stage. Ding Zhicheng walked up from the right side carrying two large boxes. His steps were heavy and his back was not very straight. When he reached the door, he unlocked it and entered the kitchen. He took a deep breath, let go of the burden in his hand, and said in an emotional tone: "It's choking, it's really choking."

On the right side of the stage, Lu Fang put on her coat and listened attentively. She was playing Willy's wife Linda, a thoughtful wife and mother who loved her husband deeply.

"Willie?"

"Don't worry, I'm back."

Xu Rong reached out and grabbed the field notebook next to her, picked up a pen, and wrote down: [-]. The first sentence of the first act, as a wife, she should not use a questioning tone.

Li Liuyi glanced sideways, and after thinking for a few seconds, his face showed a bit of surprise, but before he had time to express his admiration, he saw Xu Rong write: Two, the play is for Chinese people, Why learn from Westerners?
Li Liuyi suddenly regretted inviting Xu Rong over, and then he said a few lines, just two questions, no, looking at Xu Rong's pen in his hand, he wrote "Three, Suggest canceling the fourth wall?" Afterwards, he smiled wryly and looked at Feng Yuanzheng, which really poked a hornet's nest.

Fourth, why did Jing Hao speak so loudly?
Fifth, why is Willie so reserved even when he cheats?

[-]. Xiao Zhang is a bit too sloppy (cross out).
Seeing that the pen in Xu Rong's hand didn't stop at all since he sat down, Li Liuyi couldn't sit still anymore, reached out and patted the bell, and said very abruptly: "Stop."

As the bell rang, Xu Rong crossed out the word "wave", put down the pen in his hand, pursed his lips silently, and said: "Since Director Li has stopped shouting, I also want to express my respect for you." Your staged protest."

After a pause, he continued: "Because you are all artists, you will be called teachers by your colleagues when you leave our courtyard."

In fact, he can accept that other people's performances are not perfect, but the only one who can't accept it is Song Yi.

Because Song Yi is different from others, she is his student, even Xiao Zhang can act badly, but only Song Yi can't, Song Yi is his big disciple, if he doesn't act well, others will think that he is not good. Will bring students.

It was too reckless to decide to bring Song Yi along!
Xu Rong glanced at the notebook and said: "First of all, I have two suggestions. First, can we act as a Chinese salesman and a Chinese-style family and society? Second, when you act, you must cast your gaze on Can you make eye contact with us in other circumstances?"

"Let's see the effect, how about it?"

The first suggestion is exactly why he recommended rearranging the play.

The last time Renyi performed "Death of a Salesman", the director was Mr. Cao Yu, who was specially invited by Miller himself. He recommended the rearrangement of this play, not to let the audience see how capitalist class conflicts squeeze and exploit ordinary Americans. .

Capital is used to develop a market economy, but the people must never be made slaves of capital.

This is his original intention to promote this drama.

To this day, he still remembers the middle-aged man he met crying and calling his mother when he was shopping.

As for the second suggestion, it was inspired by his previous study of Peking Opera.

Theater always talks about four walls, that is, the stage is regarded as a closed space, and the audience is considered to be non-existent.

On the contrary, opera is the basic characteristic of which is to fully stimulate the imagination of the audience.

The reason why he made such a change was an idea that popped up in his mind temporarily. Opera has the characteristics of "walking all over the world in three to five years, six or seven people with millions of soldiers, a career of thousands of years in an instant, and an abbot with a land of thousands of miles". It is highly realistic, and the forms of the two determine whether to stimulate the creativity of the audience.

But is the play really fully realistic?
Certainly not.

That being the case, it might as well do the opposite to fully mobilize the audience's imagination.

To let the audience participate in the creation and mobilize the imagination of the audience, the fourth wall must be broken down.

This is different from, or even opposed to, the stage concept advocated by Stanley, that is, the theory of "four walls".

But for Xu Rong, what happened to the opposition?
Seeing Xu Rong's determined expression, Li Liuyi waited for the two to nod their heads and said, "Start."

"Willie?"

"Don't worry, I'm back."

"Fuck."

Li Liuyi immediately sat up straight. Ding Zhicheng and Lu Fang did act according to Xu Rong's suggestion, but the contrast between the two was too obvious. When the two began to communicate with them through their eyes, he felt that Willie's image changed. To my heart's content, on the contrary, Linda's performance paled a lot compared to last time.

Seeing the two people on the stage stop because of Li Liuyi's outburst, Feng Yuanzheng slapped his forehead and said, "I remembered, when Teacher Yu was performing "Teahouse"."

"Cough cough."

Xu Rong coughed twice in a hurry, interrupted Feng Yuanzheng, and said, "I think it's better to call this concept 'co-creation', what do you think?"

He couldn't guess what Feng Yuanzheng wanted to say, so in the second act of "Teahouse" starring Wang Lifa, Wang Lifa prepared the Yutai Teahouse to reopen, and posted the slogans "Don't talk about state affairs" on the wall one by one. If there are too many, some paste will inevitably stick to his hands. In order to prevent the paste from rubbing on his clothes, he has no choice but to rub them with both hands. Even moving the needlework basket on the table can only be pushed away with his elbow.

There are countless similar performances in Peking Opera, and the resemblance in appearance is achieved through resemblance in appearance, which in turn arouses the audience's full association.

The fundamental principle is the same as the "eye contact" he requires, and they are all based on the concept of "co-creation" he established.

This guy Feng Yuanzheng almost robbed him of his academic achievements!

Feng Yuanzheng laughed twice. Xu Rong's proposal is good for actors with high professional skills, but it is extremely unfriendly to actors with low levels. Giving the eyes to the audience will test the actors' understanding of the characters.

Ding Zhicheng looked at the three people who had different reactions in the audience, and asked, "Director, what's wrong?"

Li Liuyi clapped his hands and said, "Yuan Xu really deserves to be a master, your performance just now has at least added one point."

"In the case of a total score of 10."

Ding Zhicheng looked at the young and excessively young Xu Rong sitting between Li Liuyi and Feng Yuanzheng, and said in awe, "Teacher Xu, you have worked hard."

Xu Rong looked at the awe-inspiring eyes of the entire crew, smiled and waved his hands, and said, "Actually, I've been thinking about the concept of 'co-creation' for a long time, and I just brought it up today. It's no big deal. Let me talk about it just now." Other questions from rehearsal."

He paused so that everyone could remember the words "co-creation", and then turned to look at the tall Lu Fang: "First of all, Teacher Lu Fang, I ask you a question, you are making After dinner, and then hearing your husband enter the door and a series of habitual actions, can you be sure that he is back?"

He didn't wait for her to answer, and glanced at the others: "Second, our show is for Chinese people, and it must make them resonate and have a sense of reality. Don't say it's a criticism of the American dream. As an actor, if you even If you want to lie to yourself, you might as well ride a tricycle."

"Thirdly, Wang Kun, when you said, 'Because, I'm not afraid of anything, such as stealing, it's a family anyway.' When you said this line, did you think that someone commented on the line on the Internet and couldn't hear clearly?"

Wang Kun stared at Xu Rong in astonishment, with an incredulous expression on his face. This line was intended to lower his voice, but in the previous version, because of the lowered voice, the barrage asked "What are you talking about?", so he deliberately raised it a bit. volume.

But how did Xu Rong know?

Is this the master?

Xu Rong was afraid that he would not understand, so he explained again: "You did let the audience hear clearly, but you also destroyed the atmosphere of this line."

Then, he turned to Ding Zhicheng and said, "Mr. Ding is probably not the first time to perform cheating. In fact, I am just curious. When cheating, do you feel embarrassed?"

No one answered his question.

Ding Zhicheng hesitated for a few seconds, and said with a smile: "If, if I am too happy with it, isn't it a little bit?"

"hypocritical!"

"Cheating is such a happy and happy thing. If you are not happy, you still cheat."

"Cough cough."

"Cough cough."

Xu Rong's eloquent talk came to an abrupt end under the prompts from the left and the right. Looking at the scrutinizing gaze cast by Xiao Zhang at the entrance of the stage, he immediately changed his tone, with a serious and sonorous expression: "I don't care about this kind of immoral behavior. , Violating the bottom line, the more you enjoy it, the more critical you will be!"

(End of this chapter)