Who transforms youth into the rings of a tree?
Who nourishes the lush mountains with sweat?
The "Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further and Comprehensively Deepening of Reform and Promoting Chinese-style Modernization," passed at the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, made specific arrangements for deepening the reform of the ecological civilization system, and several times mentioned forestry and related work.
On the evening of July 28, the original drama "The Soul of Trees" premiered in Zhouning County, Ningde City, Fujian Province. The play uses brilliant artistic expression to give trees a soul, establishing a soul through drama, and can be considered a tribute to ecological civilization.
"The Soul of Trees" was co-planned and produced by the Publicity Department of the CPC Ningde Municipal Committee, the Ningde Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, the CPC Zhouning County Committee, the Zhouning County Government, the Fujian Art Vocational College, the Shanghai Theatre Academy and the Tongji University. Huang Changyong, president of the Shanghai Theatre Academy, served as the playwright and artistic director, and Professor Lu Ang of the Shanghai Theatre Academy served as the chief director.
"The Soul of Trees" is based on the famous Huang Zhenfang family forest farm in Ningde, Fujian, and is divided into three acts: "Deforestation", "Afforestation" and "Forest Protection." It tells the touching story of the forest farm owner Lin Shougen and the county party secretary He Jianqiao jointly planting three trees: the "Witness Tree", the "Relief Tree" and the "Future Tree."
Playwright Huang Changyong stated, "This time, we are telling the story from the perspective of an ordinary farmer, narrating his journey of leading three generations of his family and villagers to plant trees and create miracles and great achievements with perseverance and determination. This is a “song of the earth”, and we hope this work can go beyond Zhouning, reach further and bring inspiration to everyone."
Chief Director Lu Ang remarked, "This is a modern drama where rural culture, red culture, She ethnic culture and ecological culture interweave, with multiple structures and intersecting time and space. The overall style is vast, emotional, poetic and bright. The endless thousand-acre forest sea and lush jungle flowers and trees embody its vastness; the hard work day and night, the unwavering perseverance for decades interpret its deep emotion; the beautiful mountain and tea garden scenery, the ethnic lifestyle paintings write its poetry; the joyful and lively tea-picking songs, and the She ethnic culture known for singing and dancing shine with its brightness."
Teachers and students from the Shanghai Theatre Academy's directing department played major roles in the play and contributed significantly to backstage work such as lighting, sound effects, props, costumes and stage management. They collaborated with teachers and students from the Fujian Art Vocational College to present this new work to the audience with a vivid and exhilarating effect.
In the early stages of creation, through his course “Play Creation”, Professor Lu Ang organized graduate students from the directing department and those from other colleges and departments taking this course as an elective to conduct comprehensive and in-depth study and discussion from the initial concept of the performance to the integrated stage production.
Facing the challenges of performing a newly created work in an unfamiliar city, the complex changes in props and scenes, and the coordination of numerous extras, the graduate student team from STA overcame difficulties through thorough preparation and teamwork, ultimately bringing the premiere to a successful conclusion.
As the initiator and pioneer of the significant ecological concept of the "Water Reserves, Financial Reserves, Grain Reserves and Carbon Sequestration, " Zhouning County has continuously advanced afforestation, forest tending, and mountain closure for forest cultivation. This has transformed barren mountains into green ones, increased the county's forest area by 525,000 mu, and raised the forest coverage rate to 72.96%. The county has earned national honors such as the National Ecological Civilization Construction Demonstration Zone and the "Green Mountains and Clear Waters are Gold and Silver Mountains" Practice Innovation Base. "The Soul of Trees" portrays a group of vivid and realistic characters, particularly the image of Lin Shougen, providing another typical farmer figure in the world of literature and art. May this profound new stage work reach further, and go nationwide.
