|
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.
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.
Profile of Yang Lixin
- August 1957, born in Beijing
- 1975, enrolled in BPAT as a trainee
- 1980, earned the first role in his career in a drama called Sunrise
- 1993, played a lead character in a popular TV-series called I Love My Family
- Present, serving as head of actors and actresses of BPAT
Plot of Thunderstorm
The drama features complicated relationships among the members and servants of a wealthy family, and follows its disintegration in the 1920s and 1930s. Zhou Puyuan, the lead character, is a greedy and merciless owner of a factory and an autocratic father. His affair with a maid named Lu Shiping in his youth bore him two sons, though he cruelly deserted them to marry a girl from a rich family. Lu later married a butler and had a daughter with him named Sifeng. Thirty years after her mother was forced out of the Zhou family, Sifeng was incidentally sent to the family by her father. History repeats itself as Sifeng and her half brother, Zhou Ping, fall in love. An entangled family history unfolds in the play, with an ending doomed to tragedy.
Email us at: chenran@bjreview.com | 
