Over the years, the National Theatre of China has held an international drama season, that is, outstanding domestic and foreign theatrical troupes are invited to perform related plays with specific themes, so that the audience can enjoy more diverse performances, and Chinese and foreign dramatists can get together, exchange their creations and feelings, and share rich world drama cultural resources. Following the theme of Chekhov, Ibsen, Shakespeare and other playwrights, and the theme of "Cai Hua Asia", this time, with the theme of "Cai Hua Europa", nine plays from six countries including France, Germany, Denmark, Russia and Israel were invited to appear on the domestic stage, presenting a rich "drama feast" for the audience.

An unexpected choice in reason

Turandot, a drama jointly created by Chinese and Russian dramatists, as the opening drama of the drama season, had a strong response when it premiered in Kazan. Ma Zheng Hong, a director from China, has many years of experience in drama communication before, and is one of the few directors who can rehearse in four languages: Chinese, Russian, English and Spanish. For the first time, she was widely concerned by domestic drama circles, which can be traced back to ostrovsky's five-act comedy Wolf and Sheep, which was staged in 2006. At the invitation of Kazan National Theatre, it is not difficult to rehearse Turandot. Because since 1922, when Vakhtarkov staged Turandot in Moscow, the performance of the play has become a milestone in the history of Russian drama. However, due to the ability to guide Tatar actors to interpret stories with oriental mystery, such cooperation made her accept the challenge gladly. The director moved the life background of Princess Turandot to China, borrowed a lot of traditional elements from China, such as acrobatic performances, martial arts sparring with swords and spears, dragon and lion dances, etc., especially the scenes familiar to the audience, such as No One Sleeps Tonight, used the assumption principle of the opera stage, and produced unexpected and wonderful effects. Of course, compared with the profoundness of China's traditional operas, the Tatar actors' reference and imitation is a bit immature and even funny, but it is a bold attempt.

Simple works of China color

Just like the requiem brought by the Israeli Carmel Theatre in the first international drama season, The Enemy, A Love Story, premiered in China by the Geischer Theatre from the same country, won special praise from people in the theater and audiences. The play tells the story of Herman, a Jew who survived the Holocaust in World War II. Although he moved to new york and mistakenly "owned" three wives, the wounds caused by the war could not be erased, and he eventually became a victim of society and his own personality.

After the performance, Wang Xiaoying, vice president of China National Theatre, as the promoter of the performance in China, expressed regret that China lacked works to show people's lives and reconstruction after the disaster. He said: "This drama can express such a strong and complicated inner experience, which has gone far beyond the meaning of the word' real' and really deserves our reflection."

In addition to the shocking performances and words, the perfect combination of stage design and performance of the play amazed the audience and benefited domestic drama workers. Through different combinations and changes, the six boards divide the actor's performance area from a large frame stage into several small stages with different sizes and lengths. The interaction of scenes and the closure of wooden boards not only ensure the smooth narration of the story, but also show the broken state of the individual life of a generation represented by the protagonist Herman, who experienced cruel wars and massacres.

And Wojcieck from the Wiesbaden National Theatre in Hesse, Germany. The vivid interpretation of the four leading actors makes Bisina's unfinished works clearly show the sadness and helplessness of the little people and the antics and ignorance of the big people in front of the audience, making everyone present aware of the deep social reasons behind Vojcsek's criminal road.

French playwrights also brought four plays to the audience. Among them, "Building Blue/Away from Argonne" and "Smiling Man" were both created by Chinese National Theatre and French artist * * *. In the former, Feng and two China actors cooperated with French screenwriter and director Jean-Paul Unzer to show the depression and discomfort of two generations in retirement at different times in the same room. The Smiling Man was specially created in memory of the novelist victor hugo. Screenplay adaptation and director Amina Ashmi led domestic actors to put this work on the stage. Between the dim light and the dark blue curtain, the audience can feel the mysterious and strange exotic customs contained in this work.

In addition to Blue of Architecture Far from Argonne, Jean-Paul Unzer also brought his other directorial work, Follow Me. Although the layout of the audience on both sides of the black box is very common in China, the actor's body expression, especially the scriptwriter's multi-angle interpretation of the word "bear", has deeply infected the audience.

The dance drama "Twilight Flower" by Avigil Dance Company of France and the musical "The Mystery of Sailors" by Odessa International Music Theatre (Borderless Troupe) of Denmark, which were the first to meet the audience in the drama season, both surpassed the language barrier to some extent. The former explained the charm of beauty to the audience through the body interpretation of six female dancers over half a century old, while the latter put on a modern and fashionable coat for the ancient poem Ode to an Ancient Ship through the mix and match of various musical styles such as rock, jazz and gospel music. These dramas have broadened the horizons of domestic drama audiences and added some bright colors to the international drama season.

In addition, Shakespeare's Richard III, which was specially created by Wang Xiaoying at the invitation of Shakespeare Globe Theatre in England, was once again presented to the audience as the finale of Europa. When this work was performed in London, the British "Guardian" once commented that the director's interpretation of Richard's mental disability rather than physical disability made his pursuit of Lady An "strangely convincing for the first time", and the elements of China opera used in it fascinated the British audience.

Although Cai Hua Europa has ended, the thinking and communication between Chinese and foreign dramatists has never stopped. Everyone's understanding and exploration of the essence of drama and the development and practice of the art market have benefited dramatists from all over the world. With the increasingly close exchanges and cooperation between Chinese and foreign dramas, more and more Chinese and foreign artists perform on the same stage or invite foreign behind-the-scenes teams to direct works for China actors, which undoubtedly provides a broader world for the collision and blending of different drama traditions and ideas.