2024 beijing cultural forum | young team leads beijing's new performing arts space young director zhang xiao: "herding geese" by feeling the stones
2024-09-21
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"have you chased the geese today?" if you don't understand this joke, you can't be considered a literary youth in beijing.
adapted from the story of the genius catcher of the same name, the panoramic immersive interactive theater "the great detective zhao gan'e" series produced and produced by zhuama aix has been continuously producing high-energy interactive output and profound dramatic expression wrapped in a comedy coat for more than a year.
the resident 77 theater has become one of the first pilot new performing arts spaces in dongcheng district, and the creative team centered around young director zhang xiao has contributed youthful strength to beijing's construction of a "performing arts capital."
not for suspense but for moving
talking about the character "zhao gan'e", which is a synonym for immersive performances in beijing, zhang xiao said that the original author "zhao gan'e" is actually a person of the same age as him, 1.9 meters tall. during the first video chat, a person wearing brown big toad sunglasses and a capable army green work suit appeared in the camera. when chatting, he was humorous and a little informal. after getting familiar with each other, zhang xiao said: "you don't look like a policeman or a serious criminal policeman in people's impression." the other party replied: "we criminal police can't look too much like 'policemen', so that we can be more covert."
when selecting from many examples in novels, zhang xiao's standard is not "suspense" but touching. "there will be a chapter that suddenly opens my imagination and the characters come to life. i can't miss it. this seems to be the resonance between the work and you. the process of adaptation is actually more about adapting to the rhythm of expression. if it is too real, it will be scattered, and drama needs to be focused."
zhang was bold and met zhua's trust
the "zhao gan'e" that is now sweeping many cities actually originated from a completely different play. "originally, i wanted to make an immersive or live house version of "hamlet", but the script was not changed smoothly. in 2021, beijing's new performing arts space is not so prosperous, so i dare not make up my mind." but just when this idea was somewhat deadlocked, zhang xiao heard that the drama production company zhuama aix wanted to do a real-life workplace oral story, and took a fancy to the novel "the great detective zhao gan'e" published by the genius catcher. "i flipped through it and found it very interesting. there are some inherent suspense and the opposition between good and evil in men. because the author himself is not a professional writer, the style is relatively free, without a particularly strong rise and fall and conflict, but there is a sense of reality that comes to the face. i felt that i could do it after reading a few chapters."
it took two or three months to write the script, and then we had frequent meetings with various types of workers, and we started working on it in one or two months. zhang xiao said: "at that time, everyone was completely inexperienced and didn't know how to do it. i could feel the pressure brought by the new project from the conversation. although i didn't know if this thing could succeed, zhuama chose to believe in me and gave the project great confidence and support." transforming the space to realize resident performances is undoubtedly the only way out for this kind of immersive performance. after a round of discussions, they finally locked in 77 theater.
there are 160 audiences, and the crew has more than 20 people. it took nearly a week to set up the stage and nearly 20 days to assemble. the part of the second floor of the theater space that extends out is almost all built. this configuration determines that "zhao gan'e" can only be performed for a long time, starting with 30 performances. "otherwise, there will be no confidence to do the next one."
today, the play has been performed in many places including tianjin, jinan and chengdu. zhang xiao said: "as long as the technical size of the space is suitable and there are enough performances, we will transport everything and rebuild it. although it is troublesome, it will always appear in everyone's field of vision, and the audience will be interested in it, which is a meaningful thing in itself."
the sense of control is not as exciting as rehearsal and creation
after many years in the industry, zhang xiao has never been tired, and has never done "trade jobs". he still finds rehearsing fun. "people ask me which stage of the rehearsal process do you like best? is it the sense of accomplishment after the performance, or the sense of control during synthesis? i say i like rehearsals the most. we study and joke together, and then put the jokes into the play. it's such a happy thing."
when he graduated, his teacher said something earnest: "just do any work you can get, and support yourself first. do every job well, and maybe an opportunity will come." in recent years, in addition to drama, he has also performed immersive performances in lao she's former residence "dan shi courtyard", tried cafes, swimming pools and other environments, and collaborated with mahua and fanxing on immersive plays. last year, he performed five or six plays in one go. now zhang xiao already has his own team, and the members are all friends of similar age. he said: "basically, everyone has no problem with living expenses now. some actors can even have 20 performances a month."
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zhang xiao was admitted to the directing department of the central academy of drama. new windows are opened every day.
zhang xiao is from qufu, shandong, and his family has little connection with art. because his grandmother used to work in the logistics department of beijing film studio, zhang xiao would come to beijing every summer vacation and meet some crews of beijing film studio shooting costume dramas, which was fun. his grandmother became the person closest to him. during the art exam, he slept on the floor at his grandmother's house and took the bus to the art exam class in the morning. practicing lines, writing film reviews, and making up stories, zhang xiao, who had never seen a drama, actually opened the door to the directing department of the central academy of drama.
during the years in college, zhang xiao watched plays every day, even if he skipped meals. "student tickets are usually 40 yuan, and the most expensive is no more than 80 yuan. the school cafeteria is also cheap, and you can get 60 yuan a month. more than 2,000 yuan a month is enough for living expenses." zhang xiao recalled that it was very simple at that time. he carried a large bottle of nongfu spring, wore a military coat borrowed from the prop room, and went to the rehearsal hall to rehearse skits without washing his face and hair. "i didn't feel tired, i just felt it was fun." in the four years, zhang xiao described himself as opening a new window every day. "in 2013, i didn't know who peter brook was. one day, i heard from teachers that there was a play called "lover's clothes" that was great. it was that play that made me remember a sentence from teacher jiang tao: simplicity is the sister of talent." in order to study this sentence, he went to the library to borrow books, watched excellent domestic and foreign plays on the library's video-on-demand system, and absorbed a lot. four years passed in a flash, and now when i recall it, i still feel that time is not enough.
