Revolutionary Heroic Spirit Portrayed in the Play “Shangganling” Earns Acclaim
By Cao Zhoutian (Senior Editor of People’s Education Press)
The National Center for the Performing Arts recently showcased a remarkable performance of the play “Shangganling,” based on the Battle of Shangganling. The play tells the poignant story of a small group of volunteer soldiers who displayed astonishing bravery by holding their position in a small tunnel, enduring extreme conditions without essential supplies or communication with their organization or families. The production captivated audiences with its thrilling narrative, ingenious stage design, grandiose war scenes, and outstanding performances, effectively conveying the heroic spirit of resisting foreign aggression and upholding patriotism. This powerful portrayal of voluntary martyrs carries tremendous educational significance and evoked thunderous applause from the audience.
Stills and file photos from the drama “Shangganling”
As a classic patriotic play with an educational focus, “Shangganling” exudes positive energy. The drama features a diverse cast of characters, including seasoned and composed veterans, spirited young recruits, and clever and brave female health workers. Though each character possesses distinct personalities, they all embody the spirit of Shangganling, demonstrating qualities such as perseverance, dedication, willingness to sacrifice, and unity. Their portrayal serves as an inspiration to the audience.
Unlike the cinematic grandeur seen in films, the central setting of the play is a specific and confined space — a “tunnel.” This choice not only drives the plot but also immerses the audience in the war-torn environment. The tunnel acts as a metaphorical lens, enabling a deeper connection for viewers and enhancing the overall stage experience.
Stage design plays a crucial role in any theatrical production, creating the visual ambiance and helping to amplify the overall atmosphere. The play’s director exhibits creativity by featuring explosion scenes and enlisting the expertise of a professional special effects team. Through the interplay of sound, light, and electricity, the team artfully crafts a setting filled with bullets and smoke. The cleverly designed gun holes that appear in sync with the characters’ movements add a touch of inventiveness and effectively depict the intensity of a fierce battle.
The play boldly explores artistic expression, seamlessly integrating macro-descriptions and micro-portrayals within its narrative. The theme of war takes center stage throughout the nearly two-and-a-half-hour performance. The play artfully depicts various aspects of warfare, from explosive scenes to the sound-driven portrayal of events, as well as action-packed sequences like running and fighting. These vivid renditions collectively recreate the intensity, urgency, and thrill of the Battle of Shangganling. Each character is brought to life, showcasing attributes such as the volunteer soldiers’ vitality and bravery, the loyalty and humor of Ma Jingtian, the leader of the cooking squad, and the intelligence and capability of female health worker Lin Lan. As the plot unfolds, these vibrant portrayals captivate the audience, leaving them deeply immersed in the reality of the story with heartfelt emotions.
Plays centered around war typically exude seriousness, depth, and tragedy. However, they also carry a positive and optimistic outlook on life, emphasizing the importance of conduct. On one side, the audience witnesses the brutality of war, while on the other side, they observe the brotherhood among the volunteer soldiers within the tunnel. This emotional contrast of grief and joy, bitterness and happiness injects a heartwarming touch into the tragic backdrop of war. It also highlights the volunteers’ bold spirit and revolutionary fervor in confronting foreign enemies. Notably, the character Ma Jingtian, the leader of the cooking squad, provides comic relief, further humanizing the story. The engaging banter among the volunteer soldiers about mundane aspects of life and their aspirations post-victory encapsulate revolutionary romanticism. These lighter moments provide a counterbalance to the intense and brutal war scenes, offering the audience a dual aesthetic experience that combines thought and humanity.
Within the contrasting elements of excitement and warmth, the play skillfully merges realism and lyricism. In drama, lines serve as the essence and soul of language art. Through the characters’ dramatic dialogues, the play conveys the individual traits of Ma Jingtian as a funny, affectionate leader of the cooking squad, and Lin Lan as a clever, fearless, and loving female health worker. These characters’ traits are revealed through their personal exchanges. Additionally, the play incorporates artistic styles such as Shandong Kuaishu and the “War Hymn of the Volunteer Army,” along with enchanting harmonica accompaniment, to further enhance the overall expression.
The play reaches its climax through a flashback, recreating the scene when the young volunteer soldiers embarked on their journey across the Yalu River Bridge a year ago. This juxtaposition of time and space evokes admiration for the heroes among the audience. The soul-stirring a cappella rendition of “My Motherland” resonates throughout the stage. Concluding with this beloved tune, widely recognized by the Chinese people, the play leaves the audience with an ardent sense of anticipation. The final chorus elevates the entire performance to its zenith, perfectly encapsulating the play’s central theme and sincerely paying tribute to the heroic volunteer army.
Source: “Guangming Daily” (September 27, 2023, page 16)
Edited by Sun Zonghe
Author: Cao Zhoutian (Senior Editor of People’s Education Press)
Recently, the play “Shangganling” was performed at the National Center for the Performing Arts. The play is based on the Battle of Shangganling and tells the moving story of a small group of volunteer soldiers who fought tenaciously and held their position in a small tunnel where there was no food, no water, no ammunition, and no communication with the family. organization. The exciting story, ingenious and flexible stage design, grand and realistic war scenes and the great performances of the actors interpret the revolutionary heroic spirit of “resisting the aggression of the United States and helping Korea, defending the motherland and defending the country”, and vividly depicts the heroic deeds. of the voluntary martyrs, which is of great importance The strong educational significance of patriotism. The entire performance peaked one after the other and was completed simultaneously, earning warm applause from the audience.
Stills and file photos from the drama “Shangganling”
As a classic patriotic play on the theme of education, the play conveys positive energy. In the drama, there are mature and calm veterans, young recruits who have not faded, and female health workers who are clever, clever, clever and brave. Although they have different personalities, they all show the Shangganling spirit of perseverance, dedication, fear of sacrifice, and unity and mutual aid.
Unlike the grand scenes of the film, the main place where the story line of the drama takes place is a specific small space “tunnel”. It can be said that the tunnel is not only a place where the plot develops, but also a mirror for the audience to experience the scene of the war in immersion. The small tunnel has the right effect of seeing the big from the small. The audience can follow the development of the plot and connect fully through this small space, further expanding the expression of the stage.
Stage design is an important part of a play and its task is to use a variety of plastic art methods to create the external image of the environment and characters in the play, and to play the role of exaggerating the atmosphere of the stage. The director of the play creatively staged the explosion scene and invited a professional special effects team to join. Through the interplay of sound, light and electricity, he created an atmosphere full of bullets and smoke. In particular, the shape of the gun holes that appear gradually according to the movement of the characters are full of creativity and can appropriately show the location of a fierce battle.
In terms of artistic expression, the play boldly explores and emerges creatively, paying attention to the combination of macro-description and micro-portrayal of the narrative. The theme of war is at the heart of the play. In the nearly two and a half hour performance, there were many pieces that directly or indirectly described macro-war scenes, or explosion scenes where only the sound was heard but no one was seen, or action performances such as running and They are i all vividly reproducing the fierce, thrilling and urgent state of Shangganling’s battle. The drama depicts the characters vividly and vividly, for example, showing the vitality and courage of the volunteer soldiers, the loyalty and humor of the leader of the cooking squad, Ma Jingtian, and the ability of the female health worker , Lin Lan. Each of these vivid artistic images appear one by one as the plot unfolds, allowing the audience to capture the reality of art from microscopic detail, and get the feeling of seeing the person, being there, and enjoying the emotion.
Plays on the theme of war are serious, deep and tragic, but they also contain a positive and optimistic attitude towards life. How to behave well is particularly key to the relationship. On one side is the fierce scene of the war, on the other side is the brotherhood of the volunteer soldiers in the tunnel. This emotional contrast between sadness and joy, bitterness and joy, on the one hand, injects a refreshing warmth into the tragic theme of war, and on the other hand, it highlights the bold spirit and revolutionary feelings that displayed by the volunteer soldiers when facing foreign enemies. . . In particular, the performance of the role of the leader of the cooking squad Ma Jingtian incorporates many comedy elements, making the story more realistic and touching. The kind banter among the volunteer soldiers about the details of life and their beautiful thoughts after the victory of the war all show revolutionary romantic feelings. These clips add lubrication to the fierce and brutal war scenes, allowing the audience to have a dual aesthetic enjoyment of thought and humanity.
The play embodies the unity of realism and lyricism in the contrast between excitement and warmth expressed in dramatic language. Lines are the root and soul of the language art of drama. The leader of the cooking team Ma Jingtian is funny, cute, affectionate, and the female health worker Lin Lan is smart, brave, fearless and full of love. The volunteer soldiers have a tenacious fighting spirit. the character traits of these characters are all shown through personal dramatic language. In particular, several of the inner monologues of the female health worker Lin Lan and the leader of the cooking squad Ma Jingtian reveal thoughtfulness, care and a little self-blame in their words, which outline a touching scene of a father caring for his daughter and his daughter. lost her father. In addition, based on the line language, the play also incorporates artistic styles such as Shandong Kuaishu, “War Hymn of the Volunteer Army”, charming harmonica accompaniment, etc., to enhance the expression of the play.
The finale of the play uses a flashback technique to recreate the scene when this group of young volunteer soldiers went on a train across the Yalu River Bridge a year ago. This contrast between time and space evokes the audience’s admiration for the hero. The soul-stirring a cappella song “My Motherland” came from the stage. “A great river has wide waves, and the wind blows the fragrance of rice flowers on both banks.” He ended with this classic tune familiar to most Chinese people, leaving the audience with endless expectations. The final chorus brought the atmosphere of the whole play to a climax, which not only highlighted the theme of the play, but also truly expressed the sincere tribute of all the creative staff to the heroes of the volunteer army.
“Guangming Daily” (September 27, 2023, page 16)
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责编：孙宗鹤 ]
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