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The classic play Thunderstorm concluded in downtown Beijing’s Capital Theatre to appropriately thunderous applause.
Thunderstorm was performed for eight days beginning in mid-June and is one of the theater’s many classics performed on stage annually. Yang Lixin, who plays the lead character named Zhou Puyuan in the drama’s second revival, says it is his most challenging role ever. The show is even more significant for being a tribute to Beijing People’s Art Theatre (BPAT), which he calls “home.”Yang is currently head of actors and actresses of the theater.
Published in 1934 by playwright Cao Yu, one of the theater’s founders and its first head, Thunderstorm tells a story set in the 1920s about a secret love affair, an illegal business and unethical love. Twisted relations among eight characters tell of the torturous affairs between two families spanning 30 years.
From stage to screen
Born in 1957 in Beijing, 55-year-old Yang loved to listen to Peking Opera via radio since childhood. At age 17, he enrolled in BPAT as a trainee.
In the mid-1970s, television was a luxury for ordinary families. In the absence of TV’s many distractions, Yang and his fellow trainees devoted their energy to learning performing arts from the theater’s veteran actors.
The first role that Yang played was a nonspeaking role as a military officer. His only act, according to the script, was to run from one side of the stage to the other.
“To be honest, I never envied those leading actors in the center of the stage. I was actually in awe of them,” Yang told Beijing Review at BPAT’s backstage. “The pressure and responsibility of a leading role was way too much for me at the time.”
Since the end of the cultural revolution(1966-76), BPAT had resumed its full repertoire. In May 1979, Thunderstorm staged a comeback.
“When I watched the brilliant performances of senior actors, I could not imagine getting the chance to play a leading role. I knew there was a long way to go,” said Yang.
Yang continued playing minor roles with hardly any speaking lines, or even names. But this did not hamper his passion for drama. He watched and learned from veteran actors at the theater, and read books in his spare time to find inspiration for potential dramatic roles.
The dedicated young actor finally got his first major role in 1980. In Sunrise, another masterpiece by Cao, he played Fang Dasheng, a character whose appearance was left unspecified by the playwright. Yang said his performance skill and grasp of the script and character were merely passable.
“If I could play that role again today, I would put more thought into it and research more carefully,” Yang reflected.
For over 10 years leading up to the mid-1990s, Yang played several smaller supporting roles—a good thing from his perspective.
“I don’t believe a person can perform well without first gaining experience both on stage and in life,” he said. “An actor’s capability and responsibility should be nurtured simultaneously, because every little step adds up to a big leap forward.”
In addition to theater performances, Yang also appeared in TV series and movies. In 1994, he became known to millions through the popular Chinese show I Love My Family, in which he played a middle-aged father.
The 120-episode sitcom, the first of its kind in Chinese TV history, featured an ordinary Beijing family of three generations who lived under the same roof. The plot covered relevant topics and social phenomena such as the aging population, one-child policy, migrant workers, education reform, lottery fever and studying overseas. Many episodes still resonate with viewers today.
Despite his sudden fame and lucrative contract offers, Yang’s focus on drama remained unchanged. He devoted more than half of his professional life to the stage.
Fresh challenge
Yang said his participation in the second revival of Thunderstorm was coincidental.
The year 2004 marked the 70th anniversary of the script’s launch and the 50th anniversary of the drama’s debut. BPAT planned a revival with Gu Wei, who played the leading role of Zhou Puyuan in the first revival in the late-1980s, as the director.
Before the cast was confirmed, Yang had never dreamed of acting in Thunderstorm—let alone as the leading role—despite watching it countless times since the 1970s.
“When the director asked me whether I was interested in playing Zhou Ping, Zhou Puyuan’s son, I said I preferred to play the father,” Yang recalls. “I was only kidding, and felt some regret after saying that.”
The first challenge for Yang, then in his 40s, was his age. In the 1920s, when the script was set, one’s psychological age was much older than their real one. Zhou Puyuan was a 55-year-old egocentric businessman who was born to a feudal family and studied in Germany in his early years. His personal life reflected the sea of change that the nation had undergone during the transition from the last feudal dynasty to a young republic.
Another challenge stemmed from the history of BPAT’s interpretation of the play, which varied depending on outside circumstances. For instance, the 1950s version featured struggles between social classes, while the first revival in the late 1980s focused on social problems. Moreover, the same character had been played several hundred times by senior actors who carried their own unique reading of the script.
“We set the tone for the second revival as a struggle and a call for human nature,” the 82-year-old director Gu said. “I don’t think the script is a reflection of societal conflicts. Rather, it points to the playwright’s own experiences and a cathartic approach to life.”
“I played Zhou Puyuan in the first revival, but I couldn’t ask Yang to perform the role exactly as I did, because he had his own understanding of the character. All I did was give him space for creativity,” he continued.
Gu’s directorial approach proved to be right. During the five-month long rehearsal, Yang analyzed the character by taking notes of the script, reading history books, and discussing the role with drama coaches.
The director and his star both agree that the script of Thunderstorm is well-organized, with much to explore during rehearsals.
“I am pleased with Yang’s performance,”Gu said, adding that their version would be the most authentically geared to the script.
Drama expert Xu Xiaozhong supported Gu’s thoughts. “The second revival of Thunderstorm has sent a clear signal: Cao’s work has entered an era of renewed vitality,”Xu commented.
In November 2006, two years after staging its second revival, Thunderstorm debuted in Tokyo, Japan, as part of the Chinese Culture Week, marking its first overseas showing. In June 2011, it was performed in Russia at the invitation of the 10th Chekhov International Theater Festival.
“If they could indulge in the plot, forget the performance by previous actors and conceive Yang as Zhou Puyuan, then I would say it is a success,” Xu said.
Continuing the cycle
In Chinese culture, 60 years equals a circle of life. On the threshold of the theater’s new starting point, Yang hopes BPAT will keep its style and continue performing at the highest level.
“I attended the theater’s 30th and 40th anniversary celebrations. I felt no pressures at the time, because we had so many veteran actors who could guide us and command the responsibility,” he said.
Yang said the theater’s future relies heavily on the younger generation.
“I am blessed to be a BPAT member. I hope the younger generation works hard to pursue their dreams, because drama, as far as I’m concerned, deserves lifetime devotion,”he added.
Thunderstorm was performed for eight days beginning in mid-June and is one of the theater’s many classics performed on stage annually. Yang Lixin, who plays the lead character named Zhou Puyuan in the drama’s second revival, says it is his most challenging role ever. The show is even more significant for being a tribute to Beijing People’s Art Theatre (BPAT), which he calls “home.”Yang is currently head of actors and actresses of the theater.
Published in 1934 by playwright Cao Yu, one of the theater’s founders and its first head, Thunderstorm tells a story set in the 1920s about a secret love affair, an illegal business and unethical love. Twisted relations among eight characters tell of the torturous affairs between two families spanning 30 years.
From stage to screen
Born in 1957 in Beijing, 55-year-old Yang loved to listen to Peking Opera via radio since childhood. At age 17, he enrolled in BPAT as a trainee.
In the mid-1970s, television was a luxury for ordinary families. In the absence of TV’s many distractions, Yang and his fellow trainees devoted their energy to learning performing arts from the theater’s veteran actors.
The first role that Yang played was a nonspeaking role as a military officer. His only act, according to the script, was to run from one side of the stage to the other.
“To be honest, I never envied those leading actors in the center of the stage. I was actually in awe of them,” Yang told Beijing Review at BPAT’s backstage. “The pressure and responsibility of a leading role was way too much for me at the time.”
Since the end of the cultural revolution(1966-76), BPAT had resumed its full repertoire. In May 1979, Thunderstorm staged a comeback.
“When I watched the brilliant performances of senior actors, I could not imagine getting the chance to play a leading role. I knew there was a long way to go,” said Yang.
Yang continued playing minor roles with hardly any speaking lines, or even names. But this did not hamper his passion for drama. He watched and learned from veteran actors at the theater, and read books in his spare time to find inspiration for potential dramatic roles.
The dedicated young actor finally got his first major role in 1980. In Sunrise, another masterpiece by Cao, he played Fang Dasheng, a character whose appearance was left unspecified by the playwright. Yang said his performance skill and grasp of the script and character were merely passable.
“If I could play that role again today, I would put more thought into it and research more carefully,” Yang reflected.
For over 10 years leading up to the mid-1990s, Yang played several smaller supporting roles—a good thing from his perspective.
“I don’t believe a person can perform well without first gaining experience both on stage and in life,” he said. “An actor’s capability and responsibility should be nurtured simultaneously, because every little step adds up to a big leap forward.”
In addition to theater performances, Yang also appeared in TV series and movies. In 1994, he became known to millions through the popular Chinese show I Love My Family, in which he played a middle-aged father.
The 120-episode sitcom, the first of its kind in Chinese TV history, featured an ordinary Beijing family of three generations who lived under the same roof. The plot covered relevant topics and social phenomena such as the aging population, one-child policy, migrant workers, education reform, lottery fever and studying overseas. Many episodes still resonate with viewers today.
Despite his sudden fame and lucrative contract offers, Yang’s focus on drama remained unchanged. He devoted more than half of his professional life to the stage.
Fresh challenge
Yang said his participation in the second revival of Thunderstorm was coincidental.
The year 2004 marked the 70th anniversary of the script’s launch and the 50th anniversary of the drama’s debut. BPAT planned a revival with Gu Wei, who played the leading role of Zhou Puyuan in the first revival in the late-1980s, as the director.
Before the cast was confirmed, Yang had never dreamed of acting in Thunderstorm—let alone as the leading role—despite watching it countless times since the 1970s.
“When the director asked me whether I was interested in playing Zhou Ping, Zhou Puyuan’s son, I said I preferred to play the father,” Yang recalls. “I was only kidding, and felt some regret after saying that.”
The first challenge for Yang, then in his 40s, was his age. In the 1920s, when the script was set, one’s psychological age was much older than their real one. Zhou Puyuan was a 55-year-old egocentric businessman who was born to a feudal family and studied in Germany in his early years. His personal life reflected the sea of change that the nation had undergone during the transition from the last feudal dynasty to a young republic.
Another challenge stemmed from the history of BPAT’s interpretation of the play, which varied depending on outside circumstances. For instance, the 1950s version featured struggles between social classes, while the first revival in the late 1980s focused on social problems. Moreover, the same character had been played several hundred times by senior actors who carried their own unique reading of the script.
“We set the tone for the second revival as a struggle and a call for human nature,” the 82-year-old director Gu said. “I don’t think the script is a reflection of societal conflicts. Rather, it points to the playwright’s own experiences and a cathartic approach to life.”
“I played Zhou Puyuan in the first revival, but I couldn’t ask Yang to perform the role exactly as I did, because he had his own understanding of the character. All I did was give him space for creativity,” he continued.
Gu’s directorial approach proved to be right. During the five-month long rehearsal, Yang analyzed the character by taking notes of the script, reading history books, and discussing the role with drama coaches.
The director and his star both agree that the script of Thunderstorm is well-organized, with much to explore during rehearsals.
“I am pleased with Yang’s performance,”Gu said, adding that their version would be the most authentically geared to the script.
Drama expert Xu Xiaozhong supported Gu’s thoughts. “The second revival of Thunderstorm has sent a clear signal: Cao’s work has entered an era of renewed vitality,”Xu commented.
In November 2006, two years after staging its second revival, Thunderstorm debuted in Tokyo, Japan, as part of the Chinese Culture Week, marking its first overseas showing. In June 2011, it was performed in Russia at the invitation of the 10th Chekhov International Theater Festival.
“If they could indulge in the plot, forget the performance by previous actors and conceive Yang as Zhou Puyuan, then I would say it is a success,” Xu said.
Continuing the cycle
In Chinese culture, 60 years equals a circle of life. On the threshold of the theater’s new starting point, Yang hopes BPAT will keep its style and continue performing at the highest level.
“I attended the theater’s 30th and 40th anniversary celebrations. I felt no pressures at the time, because we had so many veteran actors who could guide us and command the responsibility,” he said.
Yang said the theater’s future relies heavily on the younger generation.
“I am blessed to be a BPAT member. I hope the younger generation works hard to pursue their dreams, because drama, as far as I’m concerned, deserves lifetime devotion,”he added.