Wotou Guild Hall is Liu Heng's first attempt at drama. His film and television works, Zhang Damin, the year of the animal, and Ju Dou are all masterpieces that cannot be surpassed.
The origin of the name "Wotou Guild Hall": The ancestors of Gu Yue Zong, the former landlord of Wotou Guild Hall, ate pickles every day in the small courtyard during the exam because of their poor family. Later, in order to commemorate their lush years in the small courtyard, the ancestors simply bought the house and named it as the Guild Hall, and the word "Wotou Guild Hall" was added in front of it. "Wotou Guild Hall" describes that from summer to winter in 1948, several ordinary families struggled to survive in Wotou Guild Hall, a complex in the south of Beiping. These ordinary citizens, who can't even get along with the steamed corn bread, have to endure the psychological pressure of war and turmoil, and even the looting and injury of the wounded soldiers of the Kuomintang at that specific historical moment of 1948. And themselves, they are caught in endless struggles and conflicts. The drama conflict is unfolded by many clues, and Cuilan (Song Dandan) and Jin Murong (Xu Fan) "pinch" when they meet; Yuan Datou (He Bing) and Gu Yue Zong (Pu Cunxin) revolve around the feud and privacy of real estate for decades. The conflict between the residents of Wotou Guild Hall and the old forces represented by Xiao Baochang (Yang Lixin) reached its climax with Xiao Baochang's son pulling out a gun and killing the big head of the Garden. There is also a bigger social conflict, that is, the people's regime replaces the dying Chiang family dynasty. This is the trend of the times, and it is also the background and main line of this play.
The characters in the play are all authentic "Beijing films", which are humorous and playful, and often cause laughter. It is really not easy for people who have no knowledge of Beijing dialect to sound. Some lines are so fast that even I, a young girl who lives at the foot of Huangchenggen for five generations, don't sound so energetic.
He Bing, the star of the play, has not seen any film and television works for several years and devoted himself to the stage of the drama. His behavior is just like that of the People's Art Theater, which has remained unchanged for decades. Regardless of the rain and the wind, I have never moved, which is really rare in today's impetuous worship of money; Pu Cunxin, the actor of Gu Yue Sect, the former landlord, completely subverted the impression in people's minds. If you didn't look at the story introduction and cast list in advance, it would be difficult to recognize that he played this former lonely juren who slept in the coffin all day; Xiao Baochang, played by Yang Lixin, although he doesn't live in this small courtyard, is responsible for the collection of taxes and fees for the whole area, and often comes to the Wotou Guild Hall. Another purpose is to take the small courtyard for himself one day. Therefore, he calculated on the surface and hoped that people in the small courtyard could get his affection. Cui Lan, played by Song Dandan, was born in a bitter family. In order to treat her daughter, she worked as a prostitute. Later, she married Wang Liben, who was honest and engaged in a small business of braising and boiling. After that, she became a good person. Every day, besides constantly doing housework, she washed those pig intestines, because sitting in the front row, she could clearly see that those pig intestines were made of cotton gauze. Jin Murong, played by Xu Fan, was born in a princess with a rich life. Unfortunately, she was born in the wrong age, and she was out of fashion in the late Republic of China. She married an osteopath who could use Parker's pen with a little literary temperament to sell dog skin plaster. Her daughter at school was the most important person in her heart. She hoped that her daughter would stop being as young and restless as she was at the beginning and do something burning with passion. This character is completely living in a very self-centered world, believing in Jesus, believing that God can save her everything and forgive her everything. In the whole play, there are no villains, and many things happen. Although it violates the definition standard of human morality, it is a true expression of human nature. Teacher Liu Heng used not much pen and ink to fully show the multifaceted and complex nature of human nature. There are many stars in the play. No matter how many scenes there are, you can feel the passionate performance of the actors. The emotions of the actors can be directly conveyed to the audience. This is the charm of the role and the performance skill. It is really lucky and worthwhile to enjoy such a classic drama.
After two and a half hours' performance, the small courtyard scene, which is broken but lingering, has been hard to disperse in my mind, and the vivid characters in the play also linger in my mind, which is probably the charm of the classic.