1991年 由诗人、剧作家韩非子组建的韩非子剧社是以经营皮影、木偶戏和戏曲演出的民营剧社。以皮影表演艺术家“小梅兰芳”金传武、付荣魁,皮影表演艺术大师齐永衡 和关门弟子——韩迟、韩星为艺术品牌。剧社由于确立了“重创作、贵演出、善研究、求提高”的理念,和坚持“舞台道具,小巧轻精;演职人员,一专多能;传统 艺术,发展继承;边穷老少,装在心中;上演剧目,群众欢迎;送戏上门,雷厉风行”的方针,使之一跃进入了艺术殿堂——参加国内外一些大型汇演,并创作了一 批如《驴之计穷》、《三打白骨精》、《智斗花公子》、《宋定伯卖鬼》、《灯官油流鬼》等优秀剧目,并制定了“演遍京城,演红世界名城”外向型的发展方向。 《人民日报》、《人民画报》、《光明日报》、《中国文化报》、中央电视台、北京电视台、香港卫视及海外等几十家新闻媒体报道。
韩迟,韩非子剧社社长,生于黑龙江省皮影艺术故乡——双城市。自幼酷爱皮影艺术,启蒙于素有 “小梅兰芳”之称的皮影艺术家金传武先生。1992年随剧社参加文化部“全国木偶皮影戏汇演”,被中国皮影表演艺术大师齐永衡收为关门弟子,1998年率剧社到北京发展,2005年参加“中国•唐山国际皮影艺术展演”并获得“优秀表演奖”, 2008年当选为“联想奥运火炬手”。多次率团在国内及海外演出。
韩非子生于1949年黑龙江双城市。1975年在双城市文化馆创作组从事文艺创作,曾在哈尔滨文艺杂志社《诗林》编辑部主办“诗人沙龙”活动中心、《诗人沙龙》报编辑,1988年调入黑龙江省《经济新闻导报》任副刊编辑、编辑部主任,曾主办“第二届中国•哈尔滨冰雪节诗会”。2002年任黑龙江日报报业集团《今天消费报•大生活家》专刊主笔。近年来在《剧作家》和报刊上发表剧本十余部。
导演萨拉•奥本娜毕业于法国巴黎高等师范学校,学习戏剧和汉学研究,对中国戏剧和神怪戏颇有研究。在法国同著名导演学习、合作,曾导演作品有:狄亚•罗尔的《蓝胡子》、史特林堡的《朱莉小姐》、还有根据布鲁诺•舒尔茨作品改编的《月桂商店》。她有着四年的中国鬼戏研究经验,在中国农村考察两年,拍摄了和戏曲仪式有关的纪录片:“面具及傀儡”;在北京,与韩非子剧社合作,为了开展中法文化艺术交流。2009年“中法文化交流之春”活动中,导演了实验京剧《灯官油流鬼》,并获得好评。
王雪桦毕业于北京市戏曲学校,专攻武丑;1997年 至今在北京京剧院工作,先后跟随郎石昌、王少达、张少华、刘长生等老师学艺,曾演出过《三岔口》、《秋江》、《时迁偷鸡》、《孙悟空三借芭蕉扇》、《闹龙 宫》、《昭君出塞》之马童、《铁弓缘》之陈母等角色;多次出访到日本、韩国、英国、爱尔兰、德国、匈牙利、俄罗斯、澳大利亚、新西兰、新加坡、马来西亚等 国家展演,均受好评。
韩兴,生于黑龙江省皮影艺术故乡——双城市,耳濡目染,自幼酷爱皮影艺术,同民间皮影雕刻艺术家韩玉琈学习雕刻技艺。由皮影表演艺术家卢光勇先生启蒙,工皮影表演,后跟随中国皮影表演艺术大师齐永衡先生继续深造表演。1998年随剧社到北京发展。2000年赴四川跟随著名布袋木偶表演艺术家沈慕垠父子学习,又到中国木偶剧团,跟木偶制作大师刘霁先生学习制作。
Experimental Beijing Opera Traditional Shadow Puppets
“The execution of the judge of hell” :
An international collaboration between a Chinese playwright and a French director
A dialogue between the worlds of Beijing opera and traditional shadow puppetry.
Amazing tableaux and a moving story that brings you into a world of fantasy.
Dates : August 5, 6, 7th 7.30 pm
August 8th 2.30 pm
Venue : Fangjia hutong 46 hao Theater (Dongcheng district, Andingmen nei, Fangjia hutong, 46)
Tickets price : 280, 200, 150, 50 RMB (student’s ticket)
Duo prices : two 150 RMB tickets for 200 RMB, two 200 RMB tickets for 300 RMB
How to buy tickets :
Fangjia hutong 46 hao Theatre (tel: 400-630-6016)
Piaowu on line (tel: 400-610-3721)
Introduction about the play :
“The Execution of the judge of hell” started with the collaboration between Han Chi, the artistic director of the Han Feizi Shadow Puppet Company and Sarah Oppenheim, a French theatre director. They invited the playwright Han Feizi to adapt the traditional play “Zha Panguan.” It became “The execution of the judge of Hell” (“Dengguan Youliugui”), a brand new vision of the story. The play was performed for the first time in 2009 for the Croisements / Jiaoliu Festival. Its originality and innovative spirit aroused the interest of specialists, and offered new perspectives on how to preserve the declining art of shadow puppets.
“The Execution of the judge of Hell” is an experimental play, with a clown role, the “oil pouring demon” of hell as the main character.
For the performance on stage of this colourful and fantastic « ghost play », actors and puppeteers act in concert. The drape where the puppets are performing is also used by the actors, who are themselves transformed into shadows and puppets.
Combining Beijing opera’s astonishing technique and beauty with the magic and wonder of shadow puppets, the stage is a place of dream and illusion. It is a world of transition between life and death, humans and ghosts, actors and shadows. Unreality and strangeness invade the stage.
Renewing the chinese traditionnal theatrical process and inspired by some processes like « a play within a play » and motion montage, the performance leads the audience through different spaces and times, from earth to hell.
Highlights :
The play, directed by a young French director, allows a dialogue between Beijing Opera and Shadow puppetry where both Chinese and western theatre worlds can meet. It is a premiere on Chinese stage.
The adaptation of the text renews the traditional story of “Zha Panguan”, thus providing the audience with a radical new vision of the play.
A great shadow puppet master and his disciples perform together, and combine the actual performances of the actors with the mysterious and magical puppets movements.
The young and talented actor from the Beijing Opera Academy specialized in clown roles, Wang Xuehua, gives to You Liugui, the main character of the play, all the wits and vivacity that he needs to face powerful figures.
“Who cares I’m a ghost or a man, if I can make the night never falls”.
The plot :
On the day of the Lantern Festival, You Liugui, a lone “Oil pouring demon” watches the human festivity. Meanwhile, a young girl is strangled to death by a ruffian. Her beloved is wrongly accused of committing the murder and is sentenced to death. The girl’s ghost complains about this injustice to the Judge of Hell. In order to protect the murderer, who happens to be his nephew, the Judge sends her to a hidden place to be tortured. You Liugui saw everything, but he is under the threat of the Judge of Hell. At that point, the famous Judge Baogong decides to go down to Hell to investigate …
Biographies :
Han Feizi : Playwright
Han Feizi was born in 1949 in Shuangcheng city in Heilongjiang province. He managed the creative department of the artistic of Shuangcheng Cultural Center, directed the « Poetic Activities Center » and took charge of the editing work for the editing department of the Harbin « Shilin » Art and Literature Magazine. In 1988, he became chief editor of the « Economic News Magazine » of Heilongjiang province, and took charge of the 2nd Poetry Committee of Harbin Ice Festival. In 2002, he became chief editor for the weekly magazine < Consume today, Da shenghuo jia>. He has been publishing more than 10 theatre plays in « Juzuo jia ».
Sarah Oppenheim - Director:
After literature studies, Sarah Oppenheim entered the Ecole Normale Superieure in 2003, majoring in theatre and Chinese. She did her thesis on Chinese theatre, and more specifically on plays involving ghosts. She wrote two essays on this subject. Alongside of her university work, she directed Dea Loher’s The Hope of Women in 2004, August Strindberg’s Mademoiselle Julie in 2005, and Bruno Schulz’s The Cinnamon Shops in 2006. In 2007, she made a documentary film on the Chinese tradition of ritual in theater : “The Mask and the Puppet.” Working with the Han Feizi shadow puppet company since 2006, she put on stage “The execution of the Judge of Hell”, performed in june 2009 in the Croisements/Jiaoliu Festival in collaboration with Beijing opera actors. She was awarded from the “Villa Medicis Hors les Murs” for this artistic project.
The “Han Feizi piyin jushe” - Shadow puppet company:
The “Han Feizi shadow puppet company” was established in 1991 in Heilongjiang countryside by the playwright and poet Han Feizi, with the masters Qin Zhuanwu, Fu Rongkui, Qi Yongheng and their disciples Han Xing and Han Chi. In 1998, the company moved to Beijing. Since then, the Han Feizi piyin jushe has been one of the few professional and independent shadow puppet companies remaining in the capital. Thanks to their will to preserve the tradition, but also to explore the future of Chinese shadow puppetry, the company soon became prominent within the Chinese art world. Today, besides shadow puppets, they also use glove puppets and stick puppets, in order to diversify and improve the quality of their art.
The Han Feizi piyin jushe was invited to participate in numerous art festivals both in China and abroad (Shanghai International Artistic Cartoon Festival in 1998, Tangshan international art puppet festival, in 2005, Dashanzi International Contemporary Art Festival in 2007, ...). In 2009, they collaborated with Beijing Opera Actors and the French theatre director Sarah Oppenheim to perform the experimental play “The execution of the judge of hell”.
Han Chi is the Han Feizi piying jushe company artistic director :
Born in Shuangcheng, Heilongjiang, Han Chi has been fascinated by shadow puppetry since her childhood. She was taught the shadow puppet performing art by Master Qin Zhuanwu, known as the “Mei Lanfang of shadow puppetry” and by Master Qi Yongheng.
She participated to all company’s perfomances, in China and abroad.
Han Xing is Han Feizi piying jushe main puppeteer :
Born in Shuangcheng, Heilongjiiang, Han Xing has always evolved in the shadow puppet world. He learned the art of shadow puppet engraving with the engraver artist Han Yufu, and the performing art with Master Lu Guangyong and Master Qi Yongheng. He performed with both of them during many years. In 1998, he moved to Beijing with the Han Feizi piying jushe. In 2000, he went to Sichuan to learn glove puppet with the famous master Shen Muying.
He also joined the Chinese Puppet Company, to learn puppet making with Master Liu Qi.
Wang Xuehua – Beijing Opera actor:
Wang Xuehua was born in 1978, and has been acting since childhood. He graduated from the Beijing City Opera School (Beijingshi xiqu xuexiao) in 1997. Afterwards, he joined the Beijing Opera academy (Beijing jingju yuan), where he specialized in “warrior clown” parts. He learned from renowned masters such as Lang Shechang, Wang Shada, Zhang Shaohua, Wu Rongxi, …
Throughout his career, he interpreted many roles of Chinese Opera and achieved fame through his interpretations of Sun Wukong, the famous Monkey King. He also played in many plays as “San cha kou”, “Qiujiang”, “Jie gong yuan”, …
Together with the company of Beijing Opera as well as the International Monkey company, he toured the world (Japan, Korea, Germany, Austria, England, …) and played in many international festivals.
Qi Yongheng – Shadow puppets artistic counselor :
Renowned Master Qi Yongheng is puppet performer and the former director of the renowned Tangshan shadow puppet company. Born in a puppeter family, he performed for over 60 years. Throughout his life he worked for the evolution of the shadow puppet art within the tradition. He has performed in numerous countries. In the 1980s, UNESCO invited him to give three months of lectures and classes in Europe. In 2009, he participated as performer and shadow puppetry counselor to the play « The execution of the Judge of Hell ».
Zhang Shaohua – Beijing Opera artistic counselor :
Renowned Master Zhang Shaohua specializes in the Warrior Clown character, the most demanding character in Beijing Opera. A disciple of Zhang Chunhua, a legendary Warrior Clown, Zhang has performed for President Nixon and Chairman Mao. He has been a senior teacher at the National Academy of Chinese Traditional Opera. Now a retired member of the Beijing City Opera Company where he became famous as one of the most talented and respected performers of the warrior character, he involves himself in the creation of innovative opera plays. In 2009, he participated as performer and Beijing opera counselor to the play « The execution of the Judge of Hell ».
Team and supports :
Producing company : Han Feizi piying jushe
Producers : Han Chi, Sarah Oppenheim
Writer : Han Feizi
Composer : Ai Bing (Beijing Peking Opera Academy)
Director : Sarah Oppenheim
Lights : Benjamin Crouigneau
Scene consultants :
Master Zhang Shaohua (Beijing opera)
Master Qi Yongheng (shadow puppets)
Beijing Opera leading part : Wang Xuehua (Beijing Peking Opera Academy)
Puppeteers :Qi Yongheng, Han Chi, Han Xing, …
Stage set and accessories making : Han feizi piying jushe
In charge of international diffusion: Cross-Media Culture
Cross-Media Culture’s Asia representative, production follow up: Lucille Enel
Press Relation and tickets sale: Beijing Ru cong zhi cheng wenhua yishu zuowu
Communication material design and web design : Flow