Latest News:  

English>>Life & Culture

A rebound for White Deer Prairie

By Raymond Zhou (China Daily)

13:21, June 07, 2013

White Deer Prairie features a starry cast including Pu Cunxin and Guo Da. (China Daily/Wang Yuchen)

The revival of White Deer Prairie is long overdue. Ever since the poor reception of 2012's film version, translated as "White Deer Plain" and also adapted from the 1993 novel, those who presented the stage version should have got a boost in confidence. It is a worthy addition to the hallowed repertory of Beijing People's Art Theater, known for its solid style of socio-realism.

Spanning the first half of the 20th century, White Deer Prairie performs the impossible task of combining a historical vista with the intimacy of individuals caught in the constant turmoil.

The dueling patriarchs of the Bai (white) and Lu (deer) families provide an anchor for a panorama of rural China as it writhes in the transformation from an old era to a new one.

The play, written by veteran playwright Meng Bing, retains much of the huge cast of characters. Some have only a few scenes yet manage to be three-dimensional portrayals rather than tokens or caricatures.

Amazingly, none of them remain static over the course of the epic story, and their transformations are at once mind-boggling and credible. Most end in tragedies that are emblematic of the fate of the nation.

Leading an ensemble cast that merges seamlessly with real farmers from Shaanxi province, Pu Cunxin and Guo Da deliver top-notch performances, complete with the local dialect and rural mannerisms.

The farmers chant folk songs during transitional, opening and closing scenes, giving breathing room to a densely plotted tale and imbuing it with authenticity and poignancy.

The use of live chanting does not turn the play into a Broadway-style musical. Instead, it gives director Lin Zhaohua a means to achieve a Brechtian distance for the audience, enabling viewers to accurately put what takes place on stage in a specific time and location and thereby not immersing too deeply into the grand sweep of the drama, or ironically, not relating too much to the present.

Lin's ability to bring out nuances in a predominantly realistic production has injected new blood into a hoary tradition. The crowd scenes are stylistic and many of the monologues are delivered right to the audience, breaking the fourth wall.

Yi Liming's design of the set and costumes also evokes the "yellow and dusty plateau" without being too literal or messy. The gloom is thought-provoking, not suffocating.

The difficulty of bringing this mammoth tale of Chinese history to a performing-arts platform is obvious, as testified by the failure of Wang Quan'an's sumptuously photographed film.

Part of the trick lies in the female lead of Tian Xiao'e, the concubine who defies tradition by marrying a farmhand. Her beauty upsets the tenuous harmony of a traditional Chinese community.

Unlike the movie version, the play refuses to go in the direction of melodrama and does not fall into the trap of centering much of the story around her.

Everyone suffers in that society, and women more so than men. That point is driven home, but is part of a much larger tragedy, and should remain so.

We recommend:

30 romantic sceneries around world

Have a look! Hottest female stars

A visit to pupils in deep mountain area

Nanjing students present fantastic nude painting

Travel guide for Children's Day

Wandering the Shuyuan Gate of Xi'an

Six Chinese cities with best feng shui

Tears and laughters of children's childhood

Childhood games of Chinese early 80's

Email|Print|Comments(Editor:DuMingming、Ye Xin)

Leave your comment0 comments

  1. Name

  

Selections for you


  1. PLA Air Force in confrontation training

  2. U.S., Cambodian Air Forces in exercise

  3. Russian President Putin, wife divorce

  4. 2,000 cheongsam fans put on a show

  5. A drug addict's journey to new life

  6. 5 killed in central China rainstorms

  7. Sky-high zongzi displayed in Shanxi

  8. Kung Fu kicks ass in Hollywood

  9. China's cloud computing chain ready

  10. Top Wine China 2013 Expo kicks off in Beijing

Most Popular

Opinions

  1. Law desiderated to protect interns' right
  2. China owes a huge debt to the environment
  3. China's middle class emerges, to spend more
  4. Xi-Obama meeting of milestone significance
  5. Violation of women's rights root of sexual assaults
  6. China not to tolerate rogue act on S. China Sea
  7. Imaginaion: essential for cultural confidence
  8. How ZTE is winning the US market
  9. Global IT and techno-jingoism
  10. Copycats stifle Chinese innovation

What’s happening in China

1 killed in SW China helicopter crash

  1. 5 killed in central China rainstorms
  2. Law seeks to regulate potable water dispensers
  3. Four nabbed for paying for blood donations
  4. Govt pushes for support of childless parents
  5. Policewoman wrongly detained as prostitute