The reason why Zhao Xirui chose this story is not only because it contains feelings of family and country, passionate battles, and tragedy that makes people cry, but also because an unnamed woman is involved in it.
The ancestors of the queen of Cheshihou were Han people. She thought of her motherland, so she secretly provided intelligence and food to Geng Gong and others to support him in holding on.
Although she did not leave a name, her actions can still be praised.
Zhao Xirui personally participated in the work of screenwriting and directing, and made a very important contribution to the rehearsal of this play. She also advertised throughout the show through the Fuxing Society's publicity system, saying that the drama troupe affiliated to the Women's Department of the Fuxing Society was going to perform. It’s a drama, everyone is welcome to watch it for free.
The revival meeting's publicity system was very powerful, and people throughout Zhongdu City soon knew the news, but they didn't quite understand what drama was.
At this time, the story of the thirteen soldiers returning to Yumen played a big role.
In line with the current craze of the Western Regions, although many people do not know what a drama is, since it involves the story of the Western Regions, they are still willing to watch it.
Anyway, it’s free and doesn’t cost any money, so you won’t lose anything by just taking a look.
Su Yonglin strongly supported the drama arrangement of "Thirteen Generals Returning to Yumen" that Zhao Xirui promoted. During the last rehearsal before the performance, Su Yonglin took senior officials of the imperial court and the main cadres of the Renaissance Association to watch and cheer. .
And then gave this play a pretty good review.
Zhao Xirui has a good foundation in history. She was in the rear area earlier, and the books she read the most were history books.
For this play, she also made a surprise visit to the history books about this story to learn about the background of the times. She also consulted some historian experts from the Department of National History, so this play did a good job in restoring history.
Then in terms of setting, actor selection, lines, transitions, costume props, etc., Zhao Xirui, as the de facto chief director, also did a good job.
Because Geng Gong and others fought in the Western Regions for more than a year, during which they experienced the hardships of the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter, Zhao Xirui also focused on showing the passage of time.
When the sun is shining brightly in summer, more lights are used to illuminate the scene, and the actors have to take off most of their clothes and only perform in leather armor.
To express the bitter cold in winter, the actors need to wear very thick clothes, find catkins to act as snowflakes, use large fans to mount on the runner, and shake the runner to create a larger air volume, showing the state of the cold wind, etc.
On rainy days, water is sprinkled down from the ceiling of the performance stage. The amount of water increases from small to large, and finally reaches the simulated state of pouring rain.
Especially in the scene where Geng Gong takes advantage of the stormy night to sneak attack on the Huns camp, and no one knows how much water Zhao Xirui got. All the actors acted like a drowned rat in the scene of a desperate fight on a stormy night, with very strong expressiveness.
In addition, they also prepared large-scale props such as sand, stones, loess walls, etc., in an effort to portray the hardships and dangers that Geng Gong and other Han Dynasty soldiers struggled to endure.
Of course, the rehearsal of this play was so successful that special thanks must be given to the help of the Tiger Guards.
In order to perform the play well, Zhao Xirui found Su Yong and asked him for help, so Su Yong sent several officers from the Huben Guards to provide professional guidance and help Zhao Xirui train the actors so that they at least knew the true meaning of the play. How the army defended the city and fought hand to hand.
After the last "live-fire" rehearsal, Su Yonglin took the lead in standing applause. Officials and cadres gave warm applause to all the actors and creators, praised their professionalism, and treated them to a feast at their own expense. A meal.
With Su Yonglin's affirmation, all members of the theater troupe became more motivated and more confident. On the evening of May 15, the 10th year of Hongwu, a theater stage was set up at the corner of the bustling street to officially perform this performance that was destined to go down in history.
Su Yonglin took some time that night and booked a tea room on the top floor of the tea house in the southeast corner of the drama stage, where he watched a performance that would surely go down in history.
From the hustle and bustle of the audience, to silence, to the roar of cries, and finally the tsunami-like applause and shouts at the end, Su Yonglin experienced the whole process.
An hour later, when all the cast and crew came on stage for the curtain call, the audience's applause and shouts could even spread from the bustling street to Jiefang Street, making the diners on the street very surprised and wondering what was going on here.
After that, things fell into place.
After the performance, the audience who watched the performance all turned into high-action tap water and strongly recommended this performance to those around them, saying that it was a brand-new performance they had never seen before and it brought them a new experience. A new and shocking experience that has never been experienced before.
Many people who have never seen it are very curious about it.
There are also some people who did not go to a better viewing position to grab a seat at the first time and regretted it. They felt that they were standing too far away and did not see the wonderful performances of the actors from the best viewing angle. They strongly wanted to watch it again. Again.
So they went to the door of the Women's Department of the Renaissance Association to petition one after another, or went to the public consultation room to report to the staff inside, hoping to know when the next performance would start, where it would be held, and whether they could do it more often. Shows and stuff like that.
Because the response was so overwhelming, the staff at the People's Situation Consultation Office had to report the matter to the palace and let Su Yonglin know about it directly.
After Su Yonglin found out, he was very happy and told Zhao Xirui about it.
"This battle was so beautifully fought. My Queen, how do you plan to play the next move?"
Zhao Xirui smiled quite proudly.
"How? A single spark can start a prairie fire. This is what you told me. Now that a single spark has been made, we only need to start the national tour step by step, and everything will become what we want to see. Let's start from there. I want to Let the name of the Women’s Department Drama Troupe be known throughout the country!”
"Rebirth of the Great Era of Fighting Waves"
Zhao Xirui takes action when he says to do it. Following the craze for the Western Regions, the drama "Thirteen Soldiers Return to Jade Gate" immediately aroused a violent response and aroused a frenzy to watch the drama in China.
In the following days, in order to respond to the people's desire to watch the drama, the theater troupe members performed "Thirteen Soldiers Return to Jade Gate" twice every day after sunset, exhausting their energy.
But this cannot satisfy more people’s desire to watch dramas.
The public consultation room continued to receive responses such as "I arrived late and didn't even have a place to stay" and "I stood too far away and couldn't hear the actors' voices clearly".
These circumstances are enough to prove how popular this new style of performance drama is.
