Stills of the drama "Jiaziyuan". Zheng Rong (second from left) plays the old Red Army Jin Zhenshan. Photo courtesy of Beijing People's Art Theater
Teacher Zheng Rong is recognized by us as a particularly hardworking actor in artistic creation, and a scholar-artist with theory and practice. He regards acting as a subject of knowledge throughout his life. This attitude is worth learning for our literary and art workers today
As the founder of the Beijing People's Art Theater, Mr. Zheng Rong is the "first edition" actor of Zhou Puyuan in the drama "Thunderstorm" and Chang Siye in the drama "Tea House". This is also his most popular role image.
From 1954 to 1998, Mr. Zheng Rong played Zhou Puyuan in the drama "Thunderstorm" for 44 years. In every performance in these 44 years, he will have new thinking and attempts on the role. In 1979, when he was in his 50s, he presented Zhou Puyuan on the stage, which was difficult for other actors to surpass. But in the face of success and praise, he dared to deny himself and even spoke out about his shortcomings. When he played Zhou Puyuan again at the age of 73, he also found various versions of "Thunderstorm" videos and watched them repeatedly. He stared at the actor in the opponent's play, looking for the inner reaction from the speech and behavior of the other party, so as to complete Zhou Puyuan's complete thought line, and finally handed in the "unfinished answer sheet" to Mr. Cao Yu, the playwright of "Thunderstorm".
The same is true when Mr. Zheng Rong portrayed Fourth Master Chang in the drama "Tea House". For more than 30 years from 1958 to 1992, he continued to study and revise this character. From simply playing Chang Siye as a tough guy at the beginning, to finally finding the feeling of the character and meeting Mr. Lao She's request of "you should perform the cultural performance of "Tea House"", "Chang Siye" also became the "teacher Zheng Rong" One of the masterpieces".
From 1952 to 1959, it was an important stage for the formation and development of the Beijing People’s Art Drama School. During this period, more than 70 plays were performed. Mr. Zheng Rong played in "Longxugou", "Thunderstorm", "Tiger Talisman", "The Man with the Gun" and "The Man with the Gun". Teahouse, "Taking Tiger Mountain by Outsmart", "Cai Wenji" and other plays have played important roles.
The rehearsal of the drama "Longxugou" opened the door to his life and became an important turning point in his acting career. Teacher Zheng Rong once said that it was Jiao Juyin, the director of the drama "Longxugou", who guided him to a new way of acting: starting from life and creating characters. Before entering the rehearsal venue, the actors went to experience life for two months, and wrote a diary of their experience every day, which was handed over to Jiao Juyin for review. In the early days, Teacher Zheng Rong always wanted to find someone like Uncle Zhao in the script, who turned a blind eye to the surrounding environment; when he entered the rehearsal field, the characters had no reality to rely on, so they had to rely on programmed performances, which was criticized by Jiao Juyin. Under Jiao Juyin's guidance, he gradually understood that he should not only think about "acting a character", but also understand the character's thoughts in daily life, otherwise it will lead to conceptualization of the performance. Slowly, Mr. Zheng Rong learned to observe life, became more and more familiar with Uncle Zhao's living environment, and managed to "live" on stage. The successful shaping of Uncle Zhao, a bricklayer, made him realize that "acting in roles" and "living in roles" are two concepts.
It is not easy to root the concept of "life is the source of drama" in the heart and externalize it in the form, and it takes a long time to work. Under the influence of Jiao Juyin, Teacher Zheng Rong set the goal of studying the nationalization of drama and exploring the unique performance style of Beijing People's Art, and has been studying drama theory and practicing on stage for decades. In order to let drama, an artistic style from the West, take root in China, make the characters in the drama closer to the people, and create more drama works that Chinese audiences love, Mr. Zheng Rong and his predecessors have made arduous efforts and finally achieved a long-term success. In the practice of stage art, he created vivid characters one after another, and rehearsed and performed one classic play after another.
He created Hou Ying in "Tiger Talisman", Sybiltsev in "The Man with a Gun", the mountain sculpture in "Taking the Tiger Mountain by Outsmarting", the Youxian King in "Cai Wenji", "Brave Sword" Wu Zixu in ", Fang Lingxuan in "Danxinpu", Feng Ram in "The Butcher" and the old Red Army Jin Zhenshan in "Jiaziyuan" and many other stage images with different personalities and changing images left a deep impression on the audience The impression of him made his artistic life never fade away on the stage. Behind these roles, there is his own intellectual pursuit. As performance artist Su Min said: "Zheng Rong's portrayal of characters can be portrayed to the depths of the soul, and his artistic creation has entered the realm of perfection."
He regards acting as a subject of knowledge throughout his life. This attitude is worth learning for our literary and art workers today. The first time I came into contact with Mr. Zheng Rong was when I was playing a role in the drama "Qinhuang Father and Son" as a student of the Beijing People's Art Student Class. In the rehearsal hall, we only rehearse and talk about plays, and devote ourselves to creation. Teacher Zheng Rong asks us and himself in this way. He set an example, let us know what is the rule of being a man in art, and always remain in awe of art.
Teacher Zheng Rong embodies the academic spirit of the older generation of artists. Both the younger actors and the audience are treated with a rigorous and serious attitude. In the past, when Beijing Renyi recruited new actors every year, if the body allowed, teacher Zheng Rong would participate, give lectures and dramas to the juniors, quote scriptures, and check the information in detail. To communicate and share with the audience, he will also make full preparations and write a thick speech. In 2008, at the "Drama Eternity" art lecture held by Beijing Renyi, 84-year-old Mr. Zheng Rong, as the first guest, shared two wonderful lectures with the audience, "Welcome to the Tomorrow of Drama" and "Drama is for the audience" , making unremitting efforts to popularize drama.
Teacher Zheng Rong is usually modest and low-key, and she is very enthusiastic towards colleagues and juniors. Once faced with art, he becomes a "real person". Mr. Zheng Rong is a member of the Beijing People's Arts Committee. When reviewing plays, he will watch carefully and record carefully. His speeches often have handwritten scripts. Even if it is a line or a problem with an actor's performance, he will bluntly say outspoken. Later, I dared to express my opinions at the Beijing People's Arts Committee, which was also influenced by Mr. Zheng Rong.
Teacher Zheng Rong is recognized by us as a particularly hardworking actor in artistic creation, and a scholar-artist with theory and practice.
(The author is the director of Beijing People's Art Theater)