The origin and development of drama

Drama art generally refers to drama with words and actions as the main means of expression. In European countries, drama is popularly called drama. Drama is drama and theater in English, which comes from the Greek theater-theaton, meaning "place to watch"

The art of drama originally evolved from the activities of festivals and witchcraft ceremonies of ancient people. Later, it gradually developed into a comprehensive art composed of literature, performance, director, music, art and other artistic elements. Generally, people, plots, scenes and conflicts are used to express certain ideas or themes, showing artistic charm.

China's early dramas were produced in 1907 under the direct influence of the new Japanese drama school. At that time, it was called new drama or civilized drama. Liu Chunshe, a group of Japanese students studying in China, performed La Traviata (the third act) and Black Slave's Call to Heaven in Tokyo. Up to now, China's plays have gone through a hundred years of history. 1928 This new play was named Drama by Hong Shen, an early drama activist in China.

The development of drama

19 At the end of the 20th century, a large number of western dramas flooded into China, and the traditional operas in China also experienced the impact of the trend of change, which set off a wave of opera improvement. So there is the "current affairs game", which has been integrated into the form of drama. 1899, China students from St. John's College wrote and performed a game called "The Ugly History of Officialdom", which was very different from the traditional classics. Some plots borrowed traditional operas, which laid the foundation for later literati acting. Therefore, students are regarded as pioneers of China's early dramas.

The first prosperous period of China's plays was the decade before and after the May 4th Movement. During this period, China's plays were influenced and infiltrated by western classicism, romanticism, realism and neo-romanticism, showing a rich and colorful artistic landscape. But on the whole, realism is its main theme. Influenced by western neo-romanticism and absorbed by China's traditional opera techniques, the drama realism in the May 4th period was poetic realism.

Troupes are spread all over the country, and this development has increased the influence of drama. At that time, almost every political movement had several plays to respond. Under the background of planned economy, going to the theatre has become the mainstream cultural consumption. In this way, dramatic art has entered the stage of social change in China with great vigour. In that era of vigorous spirit of change, the era of "going to the theatre is leisure" has passed, and drama has become the "wheel" to promote social progress. At the same time, a large number of artists emerged, such as Lao She, Tian Han, Cao Yu and Guo Moruo. And works such as Thunderstorm, Teahouse and Silence. It has become a classic symbol that drama has changed an era.

Classic drama

Teahouse is a play written by Lao She, a famous writer in China. Under the guidance of Jiao Juyin, a famous director in China, a group of outstanding performing arts from Beijing People's Art Theatre participated in the performance. Over the years, the play has achieved great success and become a rare masterpiece in the history of contemporary drama in China. In the early 1980s, Teahouse went to the Federal Republic of Germany, France, Switzerland, Japan and other countries to perform, which received strong response and was praised as "a miracle on the oriental stage".

Teahouse is set in a big teahouse in old Beijing, and describes the social features of Beijing in three different historical periods: the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China and the victory of the Anti-Japanese War. Time span of 50 years, 70 characters, truly shows the grand picture of national historical changes. At the end of the play, several old people who were destroyed by the world and teased by fate came together. They grabbed the paper money picked up in the street and held a memorial service for themselves with a helpless smile. The appearance of this scene depicts the face of an era in which a person is deeply mired in poverty, and also shows the message that such an era is bound to end and a new era is bound to come. The success of Teahouse shows not only the heroic brushwork of Lao She's drama creation, but also the superhuman talent of stage management directed by Jiao Juyin.

How to watch a play

Watching a play and appreciating the lines are the key points. The lines of a good play must have something to say, which is different from the prelude to film and television dramas that people are used to watching. Dramatic performances often unconsciously pull up the curtain, and characters walk around the stage, talking in exaggerated voices instead of ordinary life, just like chatting loudly. This is the "words" in drama, which mainly uses language as a means of expression, tells stories, introduces plots, and explains the relationship and conflicts between characters to the audience through language.

When watching a drama, the second angle of appreciation is to see if there is a drama. This play refers to drama. An important criterion for us to judge whether a play is good or not is whether it is dramatic. In fact, this requirement is the same for all dramas, just because the unique expression of drama requires it to be more dramatic. The so-called drama, that is, strong dramatic actions and sharp contradictions and conflicts.

stage of development

social context

Drama is a foreign form of drama transplanted to China, and China's drama came into being because of the need of social change. Drama was originally introduced from the west, and its English name was drama. At first, Chinese translations used names such as new dramas and civilized dramas.

From 65438 to 0920, Bernard Shaw's famous drama "The Occupation of Mrs. Warren" was staged on the new stage in Shanghai and the People's Drama Society was established, which marked the official stage of China. Throughout the 1920s, the word "drama" was basically equivalent to the later "drama".

1928, director Hong Shen proposed to name it drama, in order to unify all kinds of appellations about this new art form, and to distinguish it from traditional China opera, and to stand tall in the China art world with independent artistic character and brand-new posture.

Drama is a drama with dialogue and action as the main means of expression, which is generally called drama in European countries. China's early dramas came into being in 1907 and were called "new dramas" or "civilized dramas" at that time, but the new dramas gradually declined after the Revolution of 1911. After the May 4th Movement, European drama was introduced into China, and modern drama in China rose. At that time, it was called "American drama", "white drama" or "true new drama" 1928, playwright Hong Shen put forward the name "drama". Famous plays include The Merchant of Venice.

New drama period in late Qing Dynasty

1in the winter of 906, inspired by the Japanese "new school" drama, Japanese students studying in China Zeng Xiaogu and (Xi Shuangshi) formed a comprehensive art group-Spring Willow Society in Tokyo. Chun Wu, Ma Jiang, Xie, Lu Jingruo and others joined successively. 1907 (thirty-three years of Guangxu in Qing dynasty), Liu Chunshe performed La Traviata and Slave Xu Tianlu in Tokyo. In the same year, Wang Zhongsheng and others organized the "Chunyang Society" in Shanghai and performed "Black Slave's Call to Heaven". This marks the foundation and beginning of China's drama. This kind of stage play with dialogue as the main means is called new drama, and later it is called civilized drama. 19 10 (in the second year of Qing dynasty), the new drama was introduced to Liaoning, and Liu Yizhou (Mu Duo), a member of the League, came to Liaoyang from inside Shanhaiguan to perform the new drama "Sorrow in the South of the Yangtze River" and "Spring and Autumn in the Mainland". In May of the same year, he went to Fengtian, and jointly performed a new drama "Blood of Congress" attacking feudal autocracy in Ming Sheng Tea Garden with opera artists Lilac and Du Yunqing. The Japanese consulate protested against this, and the Fengtian municipal authorities gave in to the pressure and ordered the play to be banned. During the period of 1907- 19 17, a number of new operas appeared in Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Nanjing, Wuhan and other places, and performed Hot Blood, Long Live * * and Social Clock. After the failure of the Revolution of 1911, the new drama gradually declined. The representative figure of this period is Ou Yangyuqian.

New drama period of the Republic of China

In the first year of the Republic of China (19 12), Miao Tianyu and Feng Dihan, members of the Shanghai delegation, led a delegation to the Guangde Tea Garden (Liaoyang Daguanlou) to perform plays such as "The Tragedy of Polish National subjugation" and "The Soul of the Republic of China". After the introduction of drama into Liaoning, theater fans all over the country organized drama performances. In the fifth year of the Republic of China (19 16), Chen Fei of Dalian initiated and organized a drama club and served as its president. Its members are mostly businessmen from cities and cultural figures from newspapers and schools from all walks of life. His plays include the comic plays The Drunken Man's Drinks, The Prostitute in a Brothel, Tears of Xiangjiang River and Half-brothers. 1 1 (1922) The primary school affiliated to Fushun YMCA performed Bad Marriage and Rebellion in Fushun West Theater.

/kloc-in 0/4, Ou Yangyuqian went to Dalian, Shenyang and other places to give lectures on popular art to local drama circles and young people who like new dramas and spread modern dramas. Zhang Guangqi (female), an underground worker in party member, Shenyang, and female teachers and classmates were recruited to participate in the drama troupe organized by the Fengtian YMCA, performing plays such as The Story of Qiu Jin and Xu Xilin, Peacock Flying Southeast, Crime and Marriage Proposal. Ou Yangyuqian and Zhang Guangqi also performed "The Fan of a Rich Family" and "After Going Home" on the same stage. In February of the same year, at the invitation of Dalian China Youth Association, Ou Yangyuqian gave a lecture on "The Road to Drama Reform in China". Amateur drama groups have been organized all over Liaoning, and their performances are very active.