I want to stay in Aranya

Even if I am a wage earner on the seaside

Some people say that Aranya is a utopia for Beijing’s middle class to live a better life, while others say I feel like this is a siege built by self-deception.

It is a three-hour drive from Beijing and located on the Bohai Sea in Qinhuangdao. Eight years ago, this place was deserted. Later, residential buildings began to be built, and there was a lonely library, an auditorium, and various living facilities for food, drink, and entertainment, and it gradually turned into a way of vacation.

Aranya is to Beijing what Moganshan is to Shanghai.

We also flew to the Aranya Theater Festival that just ended the day before yesterday. It turned out that this was another carnival in the name of drama.

Drama fans are here to watch the world premiere of Meng Jinghui’s new play and Chen Minghao’s experimental imagination; literary youth are here to browse the Archives Bookstore and take a look at the exhibitions at UCCA Dune Art Museum.

Lonely Library

As for ordinary people, there is a lot to do. Check out various Internet celebrity buildings, taste world cuisine from south to north, and various It’s a boutique shop where you might even encounter celebrities such as Hao Lei and Mei Ting.

Art and life are within easy reach. In the summer of 20 degrees Celsius, this kind of seaside vacation life is so comfortable!

What impressed me the most while I was here was watching a performance of "Romeo and Juliet by the Sea" at three o'clock in the morning.

The words of senior director and actor Chen Minghao may be the most suitable annotation for this drama festival, "Aranya is life, and drama is also life."

01

Watching a theater at the beach at three in the morning

What is it like?

Two fifty in the morning.

After pressing the fifth alarm clock, I finally crawled out of bed. While getting dressed, I was regretting, "Why did I choose this show?"

Accompanied by the coolness, I rushed all the way to the seaside theater, and also passed an incredible sheep pen.

The auditorium was already a bustling place, and many people were wearing bathrobes and flip-flops. I found a seat in the gap, tightened my clothes, and listened to the yawns next to me.

At three o'clock in the morning, noisy singing came from the distance, and the sound from the audience gradually became quieter. Only the rolling waves lapped on the beach, sometimes surging, sometimes softly.

Several actors held up torches and led a group of audience members to enter... "Romeo and Juliet by the Sea" officially started!

This is an experimental drama collaborated by the avant-garde theater director Chen Minghao and the Black Cat Theater Company. Before the show started, the tickets for this show had been sold from hundreds to thousands.

With the sky, earth and sea as the curtain, and the empty beach as the stage, the plot advances and develops with the skylight.

The morning light is faint.

Juliet committed suicide, and a funeral that was 600 years late began to be held...

"That is the east, and Juliet is the sun." When God's voice sounded, the sun had just emerged from the sea!

As the red sun rises, the actors walk from the beach into the waves and towards the sun...

"It's so beautiful!" It wasn't until the end of the play that everyone started as if they had returned to their souls. applaud.

Shocking, majestic, and moving, during the whole process, I forgot the coolness of the wind, and forgot that I was at the beach, only this natural drama!

The sea is the background, the soundtrack, and one of the protagonists. The tension of the drama is maximized and released in nature, full of appeal! The idea of ??going back to catch up on some sleep was extinguished from the first minute of the show, and after watching it, I didn’t come back to my senses for a long time.

Apart from Aranya, where else can there be such a magical and accidental dramatic effect!

In this 11-day drama festival, "sea" is the best protagonist and the carrier of artistic expression. A large proportion of the 25 dramas are related to the sea.

Many dramas take the element of the sea into consideration in the early stages of creation. The science fiction drama "Universal Robot" directed by Yang Ting, "Song of the Sad Cafe" and "Medea" by Meng Jinghui are all The most important one.

"The Song of the Sad Cafe" is the world premiere, adapted from the book of the same name by the talented American female writer McCullers. This is the first time that McCullers' work has been put on the Chinese theater stage. .

It is performed at the Lonely Wai Theater, the largest seaside open-air theater in China, and tells three love stories.

A ray of light and sea breeze all affect the presentation of the entire drama. Such uncertainty is full of temptation and excitement, and makes every game slightly different.

This is probably the charm of drama.

02

Walking the dog, watching the sea

There are also "small advertisements" all over the street

Wandering in Aranya, You will find that this is a very lively place.

Beijing adults are walking their dogs on leashes, non-mainstream young people are looking at the sea "deeply", and half-grown teenagers are obsessed with playing in the water.

It makes people relax unconsciously, making them want to be invisible in the crowd and become one of the summer-loving people.

And Aranya, who is in the drama festival, has more literary and artistic sense than usual.

The lawns and rooftops are full of dynamic, interesting and colorful theatrical elements.

You don’t even need to plan any itinerary. As long as you are walking on the street, you may be attracted to watch a drama by the "small advertisements" distributed along the road in the next second.

These "small advertisements" are derived from the most unique section of the theater festival - the "Migratory Bird 300" project. 300 creators recruited from all over the country worked together to create 300 hours of results. .

Lawns, streets, woods, sand dunes... every corner is a stage for their performances. Simple and rough, it is the richest and wildest part of the drama festival.

Ma Yin, founder of Aranya, said that this is an "anti-aesthetic" drama.

At 7:40 in the evening, just after dinner, I followed the "small advertisement" to watch a play "Meet You in Paris" that uses music as a form of expression.

In the small hemispherical space, there are only three people performing, and the lights change along with the deafening music, just like a disco scene!

After only five minutes, my friend bumped into my shoulder and told me to leave quickly, saying, "I can't bear it, I can't understand." Fortunately, I can't stay any longer. Maybe there is some art, just the cries of a few people.

Just a few steps out the door, I heard "There will be a performance art show at the Huangershen Theater at eight o'clock tonight." When I looked up, I saw a young man wearing a white T-shirt and flip-flops, shouting with a loudspeaker.

With the feeling of "I've come here", I walked towards the theater not far away.

A British man was digging a hole on the beach, a girl kept falling backwards towards the sponge mat, and a boy in a skirt was spinning in circles.

The pit was dug deeper and deeper until water appeared; the girls became more and more exhausted as they jumped, and the more painful they became while lying on the mat panting; while the boys began to ask everyone in the audience, am I beautiful? do you like me? Why do people hurt me because I'm gay?

When others responded that they didn’t like it, he slapped himself hard, leaving no room for error and loudly saying, “It’s so scary, I don’t want to see it anymore.” Some people began to leave.

He stood on the spot and fell decisively to the unprotected wooden floor with a "bang", "bang", heavy and heavy. The audience came to him one after another to stop him from hurting himself.

A confrontational but warm aura has formed between people.

Being there, he was shocked, shocked, and even scared. The one-hour performance ended with him crying bitterly. Before leaving, I went to hug him and said, "Are you stupid? They are all acting." My friend suddenly said this.

Maybe, but there’s nothing to lose in giving a little warmth and encouragement. If this is the sincerity brought by art, then I would choose to believe it.

03

Multifaceted Aranya

What else is there besides the Lonely Library

There is an Aranya in everyone’s heart Ya.

I think, don’t think too much, this is a multi-faceted community where you can enjoy shopping, have fun, enter art, and retire and live. Anyone can find the side he wants.

From the unbridled electronic music festival of subculture to the theater festival loved by young people, such a large span is enough to prove that in Aranya, nothing is impossible.

It can be used as a tourist attraction to check in.

Lonely Library

Aranya Auditorium

Lonely Library and Aranya Auditorium designed by Dong Gong, UCCA Dune designed by OPEN Architects Each building in the art museum, Neri&Hu's Aranya Art Center, has a unique temperament.

On the seaside, on the beach, and in residences, their appearance has become the spiritual landmark of Aranya.

Aranya Arts Center

It is also a great place for a holiday to eat, drink and have fun.

Buyer stores, video game arcades, art galleries, and multi-functional spaces can meet various needs.

The Yellow River flows into the sea, the taste comes from the mountains and the sea, BACCO Italian winery... From the down-to-earth northwest pasta to the world-style delicacies, you can taste it all here.

Erzhu has accommodation spaces of various price ranges such as Yinlu Serviced Apartments, Anlan Hotel, Mediterranean Hotel, and Pulan Hotel.

Later, we will also welcome The Tang Tangshe Hotel built by Shuhei Aoyama, a kennel and pet hotel tailored for pets, and a naive Utopia integrating books, coffee, bars, and youth hostels, etc. facility.

The Tang Hotel

Naive Utopia

In the future, Aranya’s tenth and eleventh phases will continue to broaden the imagination of a better life. Just wait and see what it looks like next year.

Today’s topic:

Do you like this kind of theater festival?

Written and Editor/Stacy

The above content comes from "The Bund"

A lawyer has been authorized to pursue and defend the copyright of the article.