Yangzhou Puppet Show "Praise Foreign Countries" Xu Hong Puppet Troupe

On the fourth floor of Jiangsu Performing Arts Group in Nanjing Huowa Lane, the pillar actor of Yangzhou Puppet Troupe is a talent introduction from the province, and now he is the head of Xu Hong Puppet Troupe of Jiangsu Performing Arts Group.

Today, Xu Hong has achieved great success. She starred in 10 large and medium-sized plays such as Ah Fu and Qionghua Fairy, and won the 8th Wenhua Performance Award and four Golden Lion Awards in the 2nd National Puppet Shadow Play Competition. The life of art lies in innovation. Her "Chang 'e Sleeve" broke the traditional practice of actors hiding behind the scenes and made "dolls on the same stage" appear in front of the audience for the first time. I was lucky enough to see Xu Hong's performance in the CCTV Quyuan Miscellaneous Talk Program. The exquisite and vivid performance of Chang 'e and the dazzling flight of the actors are amazing. A newspaper once commented on her manipulation of Chang 'e: "Chang 'e not only moves his mouth and eyes, but also has flexible hands, handing things and drawing swords." And her movements are clean. "The handkerchief in Chang 'e's hand is very beautiful, completely in the style of Beijing Opera and Kunqu Opera. Pinch the corner of handkerchief with three fingers and cock the orchid finger, which is not a real person, but better than a real person. "

Xu Hong, a native of Gaoyou, Jiangsu Province, began to learn dance at the age of 9. She is the "elf" of the little red flower propaganda team. Perhaps because my mother works in the People's Theatre, "watching white drama" has given her more opportunities to be enlightened by traditional drama. I believe that the drama seeds planted in her childhood will definitely support her future artistic life. That year, 14-year-old Xu Hong was admitted to Yangzhou Puppet Troupe with seven other students. At that time, the life of students was very hard, with only 15 yuan per month. In order to learn puppet performance, we should not only "sing and beat" and "step by step with hands, eyes and body" like opera actors, but also practice the basic skills of "lifting and twisting" in a down-to-earth manner. Among them, "lifting" means holding a puppet weighing three or four pounds in your hand, not for a few minutes, but for dozens of minutes, and you should be free to move. Xu Hong said that at first, his back ached, his arms were numb, and even he was so swollen that it was inconvenient to eat and hold chopsticks.

Puppet shows are mostly performed in rural towns. They often tear down the stage overnight and transport several tons of props to the next performance site by car and boat. "At that time, we were still young and fell asleep when we moved." "Those theaters are also very humble. Some halls and schools are ruined temples. " Try to imagine that under the starry night sky, several boats are shuttling in the lake city, which reminds us of the scene of the movie stage sisters and the line "Act seriously and be a clean and upright person". There were 25 people who joined the puppet troupe with her at that time. Later, for various reasons, they changed careers one after another, and finally four people persisted. Xu Hong and her husband were among them.

In order to deepen our understanding of the "staff puppet", that afternoon, Xu Hong specially took me and photographer Qu Shan to the rehearsal hall of the regiment and gave us a vivid teaching lesson.

"Puppet with a staff head" is about one meter long. It is also called "puppet playing", and there is a more popular name called "three sticks". In other words, the puppet is made up of three sticks. The main stick supports the head of the puppet, which can control the closing, opening and turning of the ears, eyes, nose and mouth, as well as the twisting of the head and neck. The other two sticks manipulate the puppeteer's hand, which is also called "loading". When performing, the performer can grasp all kinds of props freely, flexibly and accurately with both hands, which is called "picking hands" or "picking hands".

There are two kinds of "stick-headed puppets": one is "gun handle type" and the other is called "straight stick type". For example, the former shows Hua Dan's gentle and honest character. The latter is the characteristic of combining rigidity with softness in military life. That day, under the guidance of xu teacher, we practiced Wu Sheng and Hua Dan with our bare hands, but the same puppet was beautiful in the teacher's hand, but it was stupefied and human in our hand. Why is the gap so big?

Innovation is the life of art, and Xu Hong was the first person to put the puppet on the big stage. For example, her original painting on the Banqiao can manipulate puppets to paint on the stage. The sketch "Zhi Dou" can make puppets light cigarettes; In addition, FACE/OFF makes puppets change their faces in turn on the stage, which shows the unique personality skills of puppet show to the extreme. Over the years, she has performed in nearly 20 countries and regions such as Italy, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, France and the United States. , earn enough face for China puppet. Of course, the party and the people also gave her great honor. Today, Xu Hong is a national first-class actor, a judge of the 11th Wenhua Award, a member of the International Puppet Federation and a member of the Jiangsu Provincial Political Consultative Conference.

Historically, folk artists who were "Yangzhou puppets" were called "Playboys". Wandering around the countryside performing arts, eating up human suffering-bullying anyone who wants to. Today, through the efforts of Xu Hong, Feng and many artists engaged in puppet art, this ancient folk art has been inherited and innovated, and it has also entered the international stage, which the dead puppet artists never dreamed of.