On 8 December, "Peer Gynt", the graduation production of BA Directing 2019 and BA Stage Design 2019 of Shanghai Theatre Academy (STA) made a brilliant debut in the STA Experimental Theatre. The cooperation among a number of national first-class undergraduate majors has made this world famous play a hundred years ago shine again.
"Peer Gynt" has always been called "difficult drama". In the 1980s, the Central Academy of Drama put it on the stage for the first time, with Xu Xiaozhong as the director. On the basis of full respect for the original work, the STA version of the play has cut from the original five acts and thirty-eight scenes to the current eleven scenes, reducing from the original eight hours to the current two hours.
In the STA version of “Peer Gynt”, the hero is divided into three stages: youth, middle age and old age, with three actors playing each role respectively. On the one hand, it is a consideration from the perspective of teaching, and on the other hand, it is to enhance the speculative color of the play, trying to pursue a "sense of holiness" and "sense of ceremony" in the presentation of the play. Moreover, the play also uses a lot of "separation" techniques, and having three Peer Gynts is in itself the biggest "separation".
The perfect presentation of "Peer Gynt" was inseparable from the joint efforts of more than 80 teachers and students of all majors concerned in the production. The 14 students of BA Directing 2019 were both the directors for individual scenes and the actors of the play. They made all kinds of explorations and attempts in the rehearsal hall, and one of the scenes was rehearsed up to a dozen versions.
As pointed out by some industry experts, while calling for original creation, the current drama stage should also constantly introduce new versions of Chinese and foreign classic works, and it is also important to also inject new theatrical concepts and stage aesthetics in rehearsal and performance of these plays while respecting the original works, and the STA version of “Peer Gynt” has made a useful attempt in this regard.
Performance Information
Time: 7.15 pm, 8 to 12 December 2022
Venue: STA Experimental Theatre (630 Huashan Road)
For Tickets: Please contact each college or department
