The literary era since 1979

Chapter 150: Injection of Fresh Blood

The next day, Fangyan went out early in the morning.

First, I went to Shen Shuang's house to wish her a happy new year. Then, according to the scheduled time, I visited Zhang Guangnian, Ding Ling, Wang Zengqi, Shen Congwen, Ai Qing, Wang Meng, etc.

The appointment with Wan Fang was at 2:30 p.m., and Fangyan showed up at Wan Jiabao's house on time, and the topic was always about drama.

After completing the first draft of "Shang Yang", Wan Jiabao was visibly in a good mood and was very talkative. He talked about how he wrote when he was young.

"At the time, we were on a small steamer on the Yangtze River in Sichuan. The weather was extremely hot and stuffy, and I sweat a lot."

"But even in this hot and sweaty weather, from morning till night, I was not distracted at all. My pen kept catching up with my thoughts, writing sentence by sentence and scene by scene."

“It was truly the happiest time of my life.”

"Since Wang Zhaojun, I have never written so freely and thoroughly, until I came across your work."

"It's my honor to be praised like this, sir!"

Fangyan smiled knowingly.

"I'm afraid it will be difficult for me to have such a feeling again, or to write such a great thing again," Wan Jiabao said with emotion.

Fangyan advised: "Don't say that. Tolstoy, whom you like, wrote Resurrection when he was over 70 years old."

"How can I compare with Tolstoy?"

Wan Jiabao looked sad. "Just like Tolstoy said, the process of artistic creation is not based on logical thinking, but on fanatical impulse. We should take advantage of the fanatical impulse to write more great works. I have less and less such impulse. It was only when I was writing Shang Yang that I rekindled it briefly."

"Yanzi, you didn't understand what Dad meant."

Wan Fang half-jokingly said, "He wants you to produce more works like The Great Qin Splitting, so that you can act like a young man again!"

"You, you."

Wan Jiabao and Fang Yan looked at each other, both showing helpless smiles, and tacitly changed the subject. Now that the first draft of "Shang Yang" has been finalized, in addition to revising and polishing it, they also have to start casting.

"Look at this."

At Wan Jiabao's eye signal, Wan Fang handed a set of stills and a stack of photos to Fang Yan.

"This is?"

Fangyan took it and looked at it carefully.

“These are the actors who performed in the first performance of the play ‘Wang Zhaojun’.”

Wan Jiabao said that he had discussed it with the director team and planned to use the actors of the People's Art Theatre as the main body and then add some branches and leaves.

Fangyan looked at the pictures one by one, looking very serious.

Lan Tianye plays Shang Yang, Di Xin plays the queen mother, Yu Shizhi plays Jing Jian, Zheng Rong plays Qin Xiaogong, and Gu Wei plays Gan Long...

Wow! They are all the backbone of the People's Art Theatre!
Moreover, it is basically the original crew of "Tea House"!

"what do you think?"

Seeing that he was hesitant to speak, Wan Jiabao encouraged him, "If you have anything to say, just say it boldly. Don't be shy."

Fang Yan said, "Sir, this is what I'm thinking. Can we add some fresh blood to the play Shang Yang so that the old, middle-aged and young generations can all be in it together?"

"Three generations living together?!"

Wan Fang was shocked when she heard this.

Wan Jiabao was very interested and said, "Go on."

"When Shang Yang entered Qin, he was about 34 years old, while Qin Xiaogong was in his 20s. Shang Yang, Mr. Dinglan, I have no objection, but for Qin Xiaogong, can we choose someone younger, who seems more aggressive and upbeat?"

Dialect looks left and right.

"But if we really find someone in his 20s, can his acting skills and stage experience handle such an important role as Qin Xiaogong?"

Wan Fang frowned.

“Not in my 20s, but in my 30s.”

Fangyan suggested whether a group of people could be picked from the performance classes of the National Theatre of China, the Central Academy of Drama, the Beijing Film Academy, or even other theaters and drama troupes.

"It seems like you already have a suitable candidate in mind."

Wan Jiabao smiled and said, "Say it all, speak boldly."

"For example, for the role of the Queen Mother, I would like to ask Lü Chen to play it."

The person who speaks in dialect is the one who played Wu Zetian in "Detective Di Renjie" and the "I want all foreigners dead" Empress Dowager Cixi in "Towards the Republic".

"I have an impression of this female comrade."

Wan Jiabao's eyes lit up and he said that she was the wife of veteran actor Wu Guiling (the actor who played Zhen Yuanzi in Journey to the West), and that she had played Zhou Fanyi in Thunderstorm and had portrayed him vividly.

"What do you think of her?"

"No hurry, I'll comment after you finish. Who else?" "King Xiao of Qin, I want Bao Guoan to play the role."

"Bao Guoan?"

Wan Jiabao was very surprised; he had never heard of this person before.

Fang Yan frankly said that when Yanjing University held a drama and art performance, Ruan Ruoshan, the vice president of the Central Academy of Drama, attended with teachers and students representatives. Bao Guoan was one of them. After getting to know him, I found that although he was a student, he already had rich stage performance experience before going to school. At that time, I felt that he was very suitable for the role of Qin Xiaogong.

"Just based on these few encounters, you conclude that this person must play the role of King Xiao of Qin?" Wan Jiabao narrowed his eyes.

"It's just an intuition, just like when I was casting for The Shepherd, I immediately recognized Zhu Shimao because he looks and acts just like her."

Fangyu said with certainty: "If nothing unexpected happens, I will recommend him to the Xi'an Film Studio to play the role of Qin Xiaogong in the movie version."

"Hearing what you said, I would like to meet this Bao Guoan." Wan Jiabao became very interested.

No!

This Cao Cao must meet.

The dialect was a sip of water. Bao Guoan was able to perform a historical figure as complex as Cao Cao to the level of "If the historical Cao Cao did not look like him, then it must be Cao Cao's problem". The difficulty of performing Qin Xiaogong was not as great as that of Cao Cao.

"anything else?"

Wanfang became more and more interested.

He speaks the dialect like he knows it by heart.

For example, King Huiwen of Qin in his youth, Jiang Wen.

If Chen Daoming wasn't too young and immature, we wouldn't have given him a chance. Now he can only play a small supporting role.

There's even little Karami who doesn't have a single line.

"The suggestion of selecting young talents from the performance classes of the National People's Art Theater, the Central Academy of Drama, and the Beijing Film Academy is indeed worth considering."

“Drama needs more fresh blood to carry it forward.”

Wan Jiabao pondered for a moment and asked Fangyan to compile a list.

"Yako, everyone is talking about dad's play, what about yours?"

Wan Fang asked, "How is the movie going?"

"Of course, we will wait for the premiere of Mr.'s play first, so that we can learn a lot from it when we make the movie."

Fangyan said half-jokingly.

"Haha, you're such a clever little guy."

Wan Jiabao shook his head and laughed: "You are the only one who has many tricks."

In the end, Fangyan's proposal was retained and brought back to the People's Art Theatre, where it was decided only after discussion with the editing and directing team.

At that time, we really need to select from the People's Art Theatre training class, Beijing Film Academy, and the Central Academy of Drama. Fang Yan, as a consultant, will naturally have to attend.

"I couldn't ask for more, sir!"

Fangyan smiled faintly, then said goodbye and left.

After sending the guests away, Wan Fang stared at Wan Jiabao with a smile, "Dad, you didn't tell the truth to Yan Zi just now."

Wan Jiabao cleared his throat, "What?"

Wan Fang said, "You obviously want to be Tolstoy."

"Stop talking nonsense!"

Wan Jiabao smiled bitterly and said, "You, you really hurt me. I, Cao, want to be Tolstoy. Isn't this a huge joke?"

"Dad, you just want to be one."

Wan Fang emphasized the word "want".

The implicit meaning is that he is not saying that he is Tolstoy, he just wants to be one, it's just a thought.

"Don't talk nonsense."

Wan Jiabao frowned, but under Wan Fang's gaze, he coughed a few times and strongly opposed making this wish public.

He even warned her, "If you make it public, I will say that it was all made up by my editor daughter. I never said that at all!"

"Dad, you..."

Wan Fang was at a loss whether to laugh or cry, and secretly decided to write it down in her diary.

The two looked at each other, the father was loving and the daughter was filial, and they were very happy.

(End of this chapter)