Curtain raised, actor Wang Wei, who played XIAO Jianqiu, stepped onto the stage slowly and played a melodious piano piece, leading the audience into Furong Town, which was thick with a slight spring chill.
The piano music jogged XIAO’s memory. The principal of the Furong Town Middle School, played by QU Ning, walked onto the stage with teachers at the school played by WANG Haowei and HUANG Chengcheng, TAO Lan, played by LU Fang, and Wensao, played by HUANG Wei. A past story about Furong Town unfolded little by little.
XIAO is eager to lead a peaceful life in this utopia, but he is placed in the teeth of the storm in Furong Town owing to his romantic entanglement with his lover TAO Lan and the late classmate’s wife Wensao. Cracked up by gossip, Wensao chooses to end her life. XIAO throws himself into the mighty torrent of the times while TAO Lan, who is faithful to love, decides to go to Shanghai to track down her lover.
XIAO, a character created by ROU Shi, is a typical intellectual. WANG Wei gave an exquisite performance, vividly interpreting this character, who seems indecisive, but full of strength. Moreover, he played the piano personally for his singing, adding much heft to the character’s personal charm, highlighting XIAO’s temperament as an intellectual.
Unlike XIAO Jianqiu, who is introverted and restrained, TAO looks like a bright colour from the beginning to end. Played by LU Fang, TAO, a new youth, is not only filled with enthusiasm as other young girls were, but brave and determined to face the gossip without turning a hair. Her concern and sympathy for Wensao confirms her maxim.
With snow falling thick and fast, Wensao, played by the young actress HUANG Wei, said in a relaxed tone, “If I remain here, I will unavoidably cause a greater pain to the kindhearted people”. Upon hearing her words, the audience felt a pity for her miserable fate.
The actors playing the villagers of Furong Town also gave an impressive performance. The image of bystanders jumped out of the novel and onto the stage. Their performance added radiance to the leading performers’ as if they were a chorus in a traditional Western drama.
To reveal the literariness of the original novel, the lines in the drama February are faithfully adapted from the original, and especially a poetic visual space is built in the drama. On stage, a piano was placed at the centre and eight wooden chairs were elevated slowly. The pool water beside the piano and the metal abyss before the stage formed a contrast between soft and hard, as the author’s name Roushi (means “soft stone”) does, enriching the connotations of the whole stage.
Meanwhile, a suspension gear was mounted in the middle of the stage to create changes in the weather, such as fog, rain and snow. In terms of lighting design, the simplified light source emphasized the contrast between metal texture and water while an atmosphere was created by varying colour temperatures with colour changes reduced. While the literariness of the novel was restored visually, the audience paid more attention to the performers’ performance.
Curtain raised, actor Wang Wei, who played XIAO Jianqiu, stepped onto the stage slowly and played a melodious piano piece, leading the audience into Furong Town, which was thick with a slight spring chill.
The piano music jogged XIAO’s memory. The principal of the Furong Town Middle School, played by QU Ning, walked onto the stage with teachers at the school played by WANG Haowei and HUANG Chengcheng, TAO Lan, played by LU Fang, and Wensao, played by HUANG Wei. A past story about Furong Town unfolded little by little.
XIAO is eager to lead a peaceful life in this utopia, but he is placed in the teeth of the storm in Furong Town owing to his romantic entanglement with his lover TAO Lan and the late classmate’s wife Wensao. Cracked up by gossip, Wensao chooses to end her life. XIAO throws himself into the mighty torrent of the times while TAO Lan, who is faithful to love, decides to go to Shanghai to track down her lover.
XIAO, a character created by ROU Shi, is a typical intellectual. WANG Wei gave an exquisite performance, vividly interpreting this character, who seems indecisive, but full of strength. Moreover, he played the piano personally for his singing, adding much heft to the character’s personal charm, highlighting XIAO’s temperament as an intellectual.
Unlike XIAO Jianqiu, who is introverted and restrained, TAO looks like a bright colour from the beginning to end. Played by LU Fang, TAO, a new youth, is not only filled with enthusiasm as other young girls were, but brave and determined to face the gossip without turning a hair. Her concern and sympathy for Wensao confirms her maxim.
With snow falling thick and fast, Wensao, played by the young actress HUANG Wei, said in a relaxed tone, “If I remain here, I will unavoidably cause a greater pain to the kindhearted people”. Upon hearing her words, the audience felt a pity for her miserable fate.
The actors playing the villagers of Furong Town also gave an impressive performance. The image of bystanders jumped out of the novel and onto the stage. Their performance added radiance to the leading performers’ as if they were a chorus in a traditional Western drama.
To reveal the literariness of the original novel, the lines in the drama February are faithfully adapted from the original, and especially a poetic visual space is built in the drama. On stage, a piano was placed at the centre and eight wooden chairs were elevated slowly. The pool water beside the piano and the metal abyss before the stage formed a contrast between soft and hard, as the author’s name Roushi (means “soft stone”) does, enriching the connotations of the whole stage.
Meanwhile, a suspension gear was mounted in the middle of the stage to create changes in the weather, such as fog, rain and snow. In terms of lighting design, the simplified light source emphasized the contrast between metal texture and water while an atmosphere was created by varying colour temperatures with colour changes reduced. While the literariness of the novel was restored visually, the audience paid more attention to the performers’ performance.
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