Ren Chenwei (left) and HuYu rehearse the play "Ninety-Three."

Shanghai Daily news

Two plays by the China National Drama Theater, one a classic romantic tale of the French Revolution, and the other an avant-garde piece that suspends time about wars and atomic bombs, shows the depth and range of this Beijing-based theater group, writes Guo Feifei.

From the classic to the avant-garde, Shanghai's drama stages are offering a pair of high-quality treats to local audiences this spring. These two productions from the prestigious China National Drama Theater provides a good alternative to Shanghai's light-hearted theatrical repertoire.

France, 1793 -- It's the year of guillotine. The architects of the French Revolution have set up the Convention, designed to stem social chaos, and their troops engage in bloody battle with counter-revolutionaries. Ideals topple in the face of political necessity and intrigue becomes a way of life. This is the setting for ``Ninety-Three (Quatre-vingt-treize),'' French romantic writer Victor Hugo's last work of fiction. This epic play kicks off a new season for the China National Drama Theater. With 45 performers (only one female), the play is the theater's biggest production since its founding, merging the former China Youth Arts Theater and China Central Experimental Drama Theater in 2001. Following its Beijing debut, the play will come to Shanghai early next month. Hugo started to write this novel at the age of 71. 1793 was a make-or-break year for the French Revolution. The novel tells of how the royalist Lantenac met republican leaders Major Gauvain and Chaplain Cimourdain in battle in that year. As it happens, Gauvain is Lantenac's great-nephew and also Cimourdain's former student. Defeated by the republican, Lantenac is cornered to hide in his former mansion which belonged to him before his exile. Three republican children are taken hostage in the mansion at the same time to prevent republicans break into the house. Not intending to surrender, Lantenac escapes through a secret underground passage and one of his men sets fire to the library, where the children are imprisoned. But as he emerges into the open, Lantenac is frozen in his tracks by the screaming of the children's mother who's standing helplessly outside the mansion and returns to rescue them. Cimourdain then arrests Lantenac. But Gauvain, overwhelmed by the nobility of Lantenac's act, sets him free. Cimourdain orders Gauvain executed, but as the guillotine's blade falls, Cimourdain shoots himself. ``The theme -- which is played in brilliantly unexpected variations in all the key incidents of the story, and which motivates all the characters and events, integrating them into an inevitable progression toward a magnificent climax -- is man's loyalty to values,'' said Ayn Rand, the well known 20th century American writer. As a literary work, ``Ninety-Three'' has long been regarded as the grand finale of Romantic literary school, since during the years when Hugo was writing the novel, from 1872 to 1873, the Naturalist school of fiction had already become France's dominant literary influence. ``I read Hugo's novel to the letter when I started to write this play,'' says playwright Cao Lusheng. ``It took me more than a year to complete the play, during which time I revisited Hugo's memorial hall in France.'' Cao says that he has been a fan of Hugo since his student days, and holds a particular fascination for the writer's expressive language. ``His language is full of passion,'' says Cao admiringly. ``The romantic language surges from this novel vigorously. It warms my heart and inspires my writing.'' The strong cast features three main actors, all key players from the theater, coached by professional acting teachers. ``Our goal is to use modern means to present the a masterpiece of classic literature,'' says director Wang Zunxi. Modern means, says Wang, includes body language and language rhythm. ``But body language doesn't mean dancing,'' he clarifies. ``What it means is the way the actors move, the way they use their bodies. '' The language rhythm, he explains, is borrowed from music. The actors' lines are joined with a quick rhythm, which is completely different from a stereotyped recitation on the stage. ``Another highlight are the long monologues,'' continues Wang. ``Lantenac has a six-minute monologue.'' ``Today, the language in many Chinese plays are too plain,'' echoes Cao. ``So I emphasize the power of language. Audiences can experience the beauty of language with the actors' long and passionate monologues.'' ``I was impressed by the language on the first reading,'' agrees Guo Tao, who plays Lantenac. ``I'm working hard to practice my body language skills. It's a grind.'' Although this is a large-scale production, ``Ninety-Three'' offers favorable ticket prices in the hope of bringing in real drama fans. This is, in part, because of complaints about the high price of tickets of last year's Shanghai Drama Week. Theater fans who saw the theater's productions at Drama Week last year are looking forward to this year's plays. ``Their style is totally different from plays made in Shanghai,'' says Li Qing, a 24-year-old who attended the plays last year. ``Their plays are deep and heavy.'' Shanghai plays, in contrast, reflect the life of the local people, at the same time providing great comic relief. China National Drama Theater plays, she adds, are usually produced in a serious, and careful manner, leading to introspection and thoughtfulness. ``Ninety-Three'' is a classic epic, then ``Copenhagen'' stands out as an avant-garde play. In 1941, two Nobel laureates of the 20th century met in Copenhagen. But what they discussed in that meeting and its implications for both scientists have long been a mystery that has puzzled historians ever since. Noted British author Michael Frayn wrote this internationally acclaimed play which has won several awards including the 2000 Tony Award for Best Play. Three souls get together to talk about their meeting in 1941 when the German physicist Werner Heisenberg, who led the Nazis' atomic bomb team, made a clandestine trip to Copenhagen to see his old mentor and friend, Danish physicist Niels Bohr and his wife, Margrethe. They talk about the war in 1941, the rainy September night in Copenhagen, the Nazis' nuclear reactor, quantum mechanics and the uncertainty principle which had revolutionized atomic physics. They also talk about Beethoven and Bach's music, their struggling efforts for their own countries, the distorted bodies left in the war-torn cities ... The three souls try to recount the ``truth'' of that meeting, yet the result is still left uncertain. Since the play merges the worlds of science and theater, it is inevitable that it comes down to the esoteric vocabulary of theoretical physics, which poses a difficult problem for the three performers. To keep the audience involved, the director invited a doctoral student from Beijing's Tsinghua University to explain the scientific terms . ``But this doesn't mean that the play is all about teaching science,'' explains director Wang Xiaoying, China's first director to acquire a doctorate in directing. ``The play tries to share with the audience the philosophy of man's life and thought.'' ``The heart of `Copenhagen' is how we know why people do what they do, and even how one knows what one does oneself,'' Frayn once said of this play. ``It's a fundamental question...this is the heart of the play.'' This play only has three roles, or, to be more precise, three souls. The pale white background and costumes provide a sacred and pure environment for the souls' conversations. Three chairs are only props while a slide show is used to show historic scenes like the explosion of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima, Japan and other successful tests of atomic bombs throughout the world. Wang explains that because of the play's special characteristics, the concept of normal logical time and space is absent in this play. ``Time, in particular, is broken, upside down and constantly repeating ,'' Wang says. ``In other words, different times and spaces are woven together. Those who are used to traditional plays with linear logic and development may find the play confusing when they comes to enjoying the play.'' Since its birth in 1998, ``Copenhagen'' has been staged in Europe, the United States, Australia and Japan. Although it is an avant-garde play, many audiences and critics from mainstream plays take great interest in it. It has even aroused attention from scientists and historians. ```Copenhagen' is a phenomenon and challenge,'' says Wang. ``It's a theater highlight. The interesting question is how the stage, the audience and drama theorists in China will react to that challenge.''

Ninety-Three

Time: 7:15pm, May 5-6

Venue: Majestic Theater, 66 Jiangning Rd

Tickets: 60-280 yuan Tel: 6272-0332, 6473-0123

Copenhagen

Time: 7:15pm, May 7-10

Venue: Shanghai Drama Arts Theater, 288 Aufu Rd

Ticket: 120 yuan

Tel: 6272-0332, 6473-0123