介绍:
Based on a children's book, the drama War Horse is considered as a triumph of theatricality. Hailed as "the most moving and spectacular play in London", this Tony Award-wining piece has been performed more than 3 thousand times and watched by over 5 million people worldwide.
Now, this international sensation is ready to hit the stage in China and awe local theatre-goers with a Chinese version of this popular play.
We go to Doris Wang for more.
Reporter:
Michael Morpurgo's bestselling novel War Horse, set during the first world war, is about the quirky and dramatic experience of a young boy named Albert and his beloved farm horse. Instead of telling the story from Albert's perspective, the book is narrated by the stallion, Joey.
Using life-like and life-sized horse puppets, the theatrical adaption leads spectators into a world that is alternately idyllic and horrific. Following the clip-clop of Joey, audiences could be taken on a journey from the peaceful countryside of England to the brutal battlefield in France.
Once staged at the National Theatre in London, the play has been tremendously successful and adapted into German and Dutch versions. And now, a Chinese language production of War Horse is ready to take off.
The National Theatre of China is in charge of the production of this new version. Its director Zhou Yuyuan explained that since the anthropomorphic puppet horses are the real stars of the show, they have put great energy and time to select suitable candidates to be the puppeteers.
"From the time that we signed the contract last year till the beginning of the intensive training in March this year, we have already picked out 15 performers to be the puppeteers from applicants nationwide. The audition is not over yet. Both the producer and me have paid special attention to this project. Particularly in terms of the process of production, we want to bring this drama authentically to Chinese public. "
Made of cane, canvas and mental, these life-sized puppets are required to be highly realistic on the stage. They can trot, snort, whinny and carry performers on their backs, just like real horses. Since each puppet weights over 100 pounds, it takes three people to operate this machinery.
Zhou Yuyuan elaborated the challenges that Chinese performers face during the rehearsal.
"I think the technique of the operation and the collaboration among three puppeteers are very important. So we have to train at least three teams. After each performance, they are all pretty knackered. So how to keep up physical training is a tough task. Another problem is about the stage technology. It looks fine right now, but how to construct the stage and meet the technical requirements is something we need to concern in the next step."
However, despite of the disparities of stage technology, Nick Starr, executive director of the National Theatre from Britain, praised the efforts of his Chinese counterparts.
"War Horse is very much close to the heart of the National Theatre. In all the productions that have been made around the world, it has been made with great passion and great love. And I can already tell the passion and love that have been getting into this production of War Horse, which excites us greatly. "
In order to bring out the essence of this epic play, artists from both National theatres have trained together on how to work with life-like puppets. Chinese performers even went to a stable in Beijing to get an intuitive understanding of the movements and temperament of horses for two weeks.
In order to warm up for the new edition, the organizers also established a props demonstration at a shopping mall in Shanghai. As one of key exhibitions at the Shanghai International Arts Festival, the show allows the Chinese public who may not be familiar with the background story of War Horse to have a better idea.
On a regular basis, passersby could even watch puppeteers operating Joey stroll inside the mall and be impressed by this verisimilitude.
Three-year-old Zhang Ruoxuan is chasing after Joey everywhere.
"I like Joey, because it's so pretty."
Local resident surnamed Wang is more taken away by the exhibits.
"I found the news of this exhibition from a newspaper, so I just pay the visit this afternoon. I also watched the horse running through the mall a while ago. It looked so realistic "
Accordingly, the Chinese edition of War Horse will be released in Beijing in September 2015 and land Shanghai theatres in November next year. Then it will tour around Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore.
As a part of China-UK Theatre Strategic Cooperation Project, War Horse will lead more theatrical works from both countries to be introduced.
For Studio Plus, this is Doris Wang.
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