narrow red

In the last week of August, the Cultural Foundation introduced by Uncle Liang came to Ruyi Island.

There were three people in total, two in their 40s and one in his early twenties, all wearing suits and glasses.Baochan saw that their suits were far worse than Kuangzheng's, but they were full of style.

"Hello," Baozhan led everyone to greet him at the entrance of the troupe, "I am the head of Ruyizhou, and this is our troupe member."

"Hello," they stretched out their hands one by one, and greeted coldly, "This is the building? It's so old, why hasn't it been demolished yet?"

Baochan smiled awkwardly: "There are many cultural relics protection units nearby, and they cannot be demolished."

They looked at each other, and then said in an official voice: "Let's do the interview first, we need a small room."

Baochan invited them in. The building had been cleaned a few days ago, but because of the power outage, the entire first floor was dark, and nothing could be seen clearly.

"Why don't you turn on the lights?" they asked.

"Power outage." Baochan led them up to the second floor.

They didn't expect that the troupe was so poor that they couldn't even pay the electricity bill: "What a coincidence."

Shi Kuoting and the others followed, Master Kuang was at the end, the old man didn't pass by this, pulled Ying Xiaonong and said: "Xiao Nong, what's the test, you go first."

"Don't worry," Ying Xiaonong helped him, "Lao Shi and I go in first, and Lao Hebao is at the back."

When we arrived at Baochan’s room, the table had already been set. Under the nave of “Yanbo Zhishuang”, there were three bottles of mineral water on the table. People from the foundation sat down and chatted for a while. One of them majored in art history and the other majored in art. product investment and management, and another majored in finance. After working for a long time, no one understands the game.

Everyone's heart sank a little.

"Come one by one," they said in the lead, "others avoid first."

Shi Kuoting came up: "I am the first."

Baochan and the others went out to close the door, Shi Kuoting raised his head and sat down on the old wooden chair.

"What's your name?"

"Shi Kuo Pavilion."

The foundation has a watch in its hand, which was provided by Baochan before, and ticked the column of Shi Kuoting: "What do you do in the troupe?"

"I'm the violinist."

They really didn't understand, so they asked, "What piano?"

Shi Kuoting felt insulted. After playing the qin for half his life, he had to be judged by a group of "sticks" (1) whether he was professional enough: "Jinghu, the main accompaniment instrument of Peking Opera."

"Oh," they understood, "of the band."

"Our jargon is called 'scene'," Shi Kuoting explained, "With a huqin, Jiaoer can hang his voice."

They nodded:

"Then what is your relationship with Ruyizhou, or why did you come to this troupe?"

Shi Kuoting thought for a while, and answered truthfully, "Ruyi Island is my family's theater troupe."

Those people were surprised, they pushed their glasses and asked: "Then why is Baochan in charge?"

"He also belongs to my family," Shi Kuoting said proudly, "My junior brother."

"Then you guys are like this..." They laughed, "It's okay when there is no money. Once the funds come in, aren't you afraid of instability within the troupe?"

"My money is his money. There is nothing unstable about our family."

Those people don't understand the survival mode of traditional theater troupes, which is far from the modern management concepts taught in schools: "Then what do you... have for the future of theater troupes?"

The vision is like the lines of a TV series, Shi Kuoting found it funny: "There are plays, there are audiences, live on."

The three people looked up at the same time, as if they were overwhelmed by these nine words, "There are performances, audiences, and survival", the humblest wish of contemporary Peking opera actors is also the most arrogant ambition.

They took notes and asked Shi Kuoting to call the next one in.

The next one is Ying Xiaonong, with a magnificent face and outstanding momentum, he will sit on a chair and report his family: "Ying Xiaonong, Tsing Yi, I'm afraid you don't understand, she is the heroine in the play."

Those few people saw someone ordering dishes, and seeing his style, they changed their honorific names: "Are you... a male role?"

Ying Xiaonong nodded slightly.

"In this day and age," they exchanged glances, "do you think there are any advantages for male roles over female roles, or what is the value of male roles?"

This is an understatement, Ying Xiaonong smiled: "If you have watched Kundan Opera and Qiandan Opera, you will naturally understand."

He went back, these people have never seen any drama: "How to say?"

"First, a man's small voice is naturally wider and clearer than a woman's, and his breath is full. Who doesn't want to listen to beautiful operas? Second, it's also water sleeves and sword dance. Can women's strength compare with men's?"

At this point, he stopped, causing those people to ask: "Is there a third?"

"Of course," Ying Xiaonong raised her legs and raised her eyebrows, with a kind of unpredictable coldness, "Women never know where their true beauty is, only men know."

Whoa!The Foundation member smiled, and the atmosphere immediately relaxed: "Why did you come to this troupe?"

Ying Xiaonong said without hesitation, "Because the treasure is here."

They were surprised.

"When I had nowhere to go, Baozhan gave me a hand." Ying Xiaonong is an actor, but he was very manly when he said this. "Now that he is in trouble, I have to support him with all my heart."

There is a kind of friendship between traditional opera actors that cannot be measured by money. Several people in the foundation admired him and sent him out personally, and invited the next one to come in.

Master Kuang trembled, bowed deeply, and sat down on the chair.

"Old man, what's your name, what exactly do you do in the troupe?"

"Kuang Youzhong, over 70, drummer."

Those people frowned: "Drum master...can you explain?"

Mr. Kuang summed it up, and made up a foreign word: "It's the conductor of the band!"

Those people laughed: "Which one is more important, you or the luthier just now?"

"Of course it's me," Mr. Kuang stretched his neck, "The place where the drummer sat was called Jiulongkou in the past, but now every corner of the stage has to stand there to make a face, do you think the drummer is important?"

As soon as those people heard this, they immediately scored 9.5 points in the column of Mr. Kuang on the form: "Then old man, why did you come to this theater company?"

"I grew up in Ruyizhou," Master Kuang said. "I played and sang old students in elementary school, and then I lost my position. I worked in the second road (2) for two years, but I still couldn't do it. I had to weigh the drumsticks. This weight is 40. for many years."

"Then what are your wishes... expectations for the future of the troupe?"

"Oh," Mr. Kuang touched his knees with his old hands, "To be honest, there is no hope. Now the show is not easy to sing. I see young people chasing stars to listen to concerts, but those stars can't sing well. After the dance, I lose my breath, unlike our opera singers, who turn somersaults and are full of tunes... Let’s not talk about it, it’s boring, I just hope that our Baozhan will be happy and stop worrying about Ruyizhou!"

The old man's words were not adulterated, and the people in the foundation were a little sad when they heard it. They went to invite Baochan, and saw him come in, flourishing like a tree with green branches, sitting upright like a gun.

"Bao Chan, a veteran of civil and military affairs, the fifth generation head of Ruyizhou."

In a word, those people are awe-inspiring. They have heard too much about Baochan from other people, and they seem to have nothing to ask. They exchanged opinions briefly and only asked one question: "Mr. Bao, what do you think of Ruyi?" Is there any hope for the future of Africa?"

Baozhan was silent for a long time, and smiled wryly: "Ashamed, before you came, I only thought about what to do with the rent of this building, what to do with water and electricity bills, what to do with everyone's living expenses, as for the future... I didn't dare to think about it."

The foundation people were dumbfounded.

"If you have to say it," Baochan raised his eyes, "it might not be the future of Ruyizhou, but the future of Beijing Opera."

Once Beijing Opera is finished, Ruyi Island will be fine.

"But Mr. Bao," those people had to pour cold water on them, "the future of Peking Opera art will be promoted by professional troupes. Compared with professional institutions supported by the state such as the Municipal Peking Opera Troupe and the National Theater, what is the significance of the existence of Ruyizhou? "

Baochan thought about this question over and over again, and immediately answered: "A possibility."

People from the Foundation were puzzled.

"As far as I know, the Peking Opera Troupe in the city has no senior civil and military students. Their senior students can only sing but not play, and they only sing a few times. They are different from us. They don't stand next to the board. Their bodies and faces are different. Gold is more precious than ours, and the drama played out in their glass cover is not in the same taste as our "Yeluzi"."

He said "Ye Luzi" in fact, implying that Ruyizhou, a non-academic troupe, has truly preserved the original flavor of Peking Opera: "If one day our private troupe disappears, I'm afraid they will search the whole city and never see it again." I can't find a civil and military veteran."

The people of the foundation carefully recorded: "Okay, we understand, Mr. Bao, please prepare for your performance." They opened the file, and the column of skill display read, "Sit in the palace."

"Sitting in the Palace" is a twist of the traditional drama "Si Lang Visits His Mother". It tells the story of Yang Silang who survived the battle and was exiled in Fanbang. , Yang Silang asked the princess to steal the arrow and disguised himself as the story of Guan Jianmu.

The exhibition site is in the large rehearsal hall on the second floor. There is a cracked old wooden plaque hanging in the middle of the north wall, with the three big characters of "Ruyizhou" written with dragon tendons and phoenix bones.

Because it is an old building, the windows are too small, and there is still insufficient light during the day. Several people from the foundation squinted their eyes to see the libretto handed by Shi Kuo Ting.Master Kuang was sitting at the bottom, in front of him was a single-skin drum, with a drumstick in one hand and a sandalwood board in the other, his eyes that were usually dim were sparkling now.

Shi Kuoting sat next to him, stretched his fingers, crossed Erlang's legs in an uninhibited posture, the huqin rested on his thighs, opened the bow with one hand, and controlled the strings with the other.

With a few drumbeats, "Yang Silang" in full outfit stepped onto the stage with square steps.

Baochan's eyelids are full of rouge, the tails of his eyes are high, he is dressed in a big satin red python, and he wears a horse cover on his head. Outside the emerald pearls are thirteen large and small pompoms. A pair of plumes are two or three meters long, trembling with every step, and they seem to be alive On the pheasant.A pair of white fox tails hung behind his head, Jiang Ya's water sleeves were chic and handsome, and Duan Yu's lips touched lightly:

"Jinjingsuo Indus," a line of introduction, with softness and rigidity, the tone flows away, "Long sigh empty with a gust of wind—!"

(1) Bangchui: Peking opera jargon, referring to laymen, with a slightly derogatory meaning.

(2) Er Lu: The Er Lu old student, the secondary role of the old student, can be understood as a supporting actor.