On June 29, the Yuhua Theater located at No. 9 Yuhua West Road, Yuhuatai District, Nanjing officially completed its renovation and opened. This is Nanjing’s first immersion theater, which will rely on the surrounding red resources such as Nanjing Yuhuatai Martyrs’ Cemetery to create a “national red repertoire performance base” and an important position for spreading and experiencing the heroic spirit of Yuhua. On the same day, the Publicity Department of the Nanjing Municipal Party Committee, the Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, the Municipal Federation of Literature and Tourism and the Municipal Cultural Investment Group jointly released a series of themed literary and artistic works entitled “The Heroic Spirit of Yuhua”.
The Yuhua Theater, which was built in 1986, has been the memory of many residents of the south of the city. In 2020, under the guidance of the municipal party committee and municipal government, Nanjing Cultural Investment Group took the lead in the renovation project of Yuhua Film Theater, which lasted more than 400 days.
Zhang Lilin, chairman of Nanjing Culture and Art Center (theater management company), introduced that the main building of the newly completed Yuhua Theater has a total of 4 floors, with 719 preset audience seats, the main stage is 18 meters wide, 13.8 meters deep and 17.7 meters high, and the stage entrance is 16 meters wide. The height is 6.85 meters, the height of the grid top is 15.5 meters, with a mechanical lifting device that can be changed up and down in the whole area of the stage, 27 sets of fully electronically controlled programmable lifting booms, the sound reinforcement system adopts the British DIGICO digital mixer, the French LA series audio; the lighting system adopts MA3 console, Pearl River brand LED imaging lights, dyeing lights, cutting lights, three-in-one computer lights, etc., a total of 286 sets. Through intelligent control, it can meet the needs of various performances. Mr. Yan Gongda, a professor and doctoral supervisor of Tsinghua University and a famous calligrapher, inscribed Yuhua Theater.
Yuhua Theater has also become the 7th theater carrier operated by Nanjing Wentou Group after Sun Palace Theater, Nanjing Culture and Art Center Grand Theater and Concert Hall, Dahua Theater Group Theater, Dabaoen Temple “En Theater”, and Shizhuzhai Art Center.
In recent years, Nanjing has created and performed a number of red classic stage plays around the theme of Yuhua heroic martyrs, with various forms of expression and rich stage presentation. On the day of the opening of Yuhua Theater, the Publicity Department of the Nanjing Municipal Party Committee, the Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, the Municipal Federation of Literature and Culture and the Municipal Cultural Investment Group jointly released a series of themed literary and artistic works entitled “The Heroic Spirit of Yuhua”.
Among them, Nanjing’s first red immersion drama “Codename 1921” has attracted much attention. Chang Xiaochuan, director of Nanjing Repertory Troupe, introduced that the play uses a multi-line narrative method to criss-cross different time and space, various cross-time and space combinations and dialogues, so that the audience can further feel the power of faith after a richer aesthetic experience, which will be a landmark red resident performance in Nanjing. “Codename 1921” is different from the viewing effect of traditional drama, the audience has been immersed in the atmosphere of drama since entering the theater, following the characters through the dark prisons, being “arrested” with the characters, and experiencing interrogation, confrontation, betrayal, and struggle with the characters… Let the audience be immersed.
According to reports, the rehearsal stage of “Codename 1921” has entered the end, and it will soon enter the theater for more high-intensity and high-load synthesis and rehearsal, which is expected to premiere in August this year and will be performed in the new Yuhua Theater.
In addition, Nanjing invited a team of outstanding domestic artists composed of famous composer Yin Qing and famous lyricist Wang Xiaoling to complete the large-scale symphonic suite “Yuhuatai – The Power of Faith” for more than a year, which was grandly launched at the Jiangsu Grand Theatre and the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing in March and April. Guan Hui, president of Nanjing Song and Dance Theater, introduced that this work has recently been revised, and the large-scale original scene concert “Yuhuatai – The Power of Faith” was auditioned and launched at the Nanjing Great Hall of the People on June 24, and the response was enthusiastic.
Since its premiere in September 2015, the large-scale epic drama “Yuhuatai” has received enthusiastic responses, and in 2017, it won the 14th “Five Ones Project” Outstanding Work Award for the Construction of Spiritual Civilization by the Propaganda Department of the CPC Central Committee, and this year it was honorably selected for the “Exhibition of Excellent Stage Art Works Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Founding of the Communist Party of China” sponsored by the Propaganda Department of the CPC Central Committee, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and appeared on the stage of the National Centre for the Performing Arts.
The original musical “Love” tells the story of Yuhua’s heroic lilac. Wu Haiyan, a first-level researcher of the Nanjing Federation of Literature and Literature, introduced that he hopes that through the novel, popular and youthful art form of musicals, the stories of the heroes and the spiritual world of the martyrs will be presented artistically, and the spiritual brilliance of the young people of that era will be displayed, illuminating the present, especially inspiring the young people of the present.
The original historical drama “Changming” truly reproduces the heroic feat of Nanjing’s underground party organization “eight setbacks and eight incidents”. Feng Mian, founder of Zilu Drama and screenwriter of “Changming”, introduced that the play restores historical details according to historical materials, and most of the lines or plots are the words and experiences of martyrs.
Yangtze Evening News/Purple Cow News reporter Zhang Ke
Proofreader: Li Haihui
Source: Purple Cow News
