Chapter 914: Rehearsals for "The Root of Calamity," the actor replacing Xiao He?
The Flying Eagle Awards event thus came to a successful conclusion.
This also signifies that Xiao He's leisurely vacation is officially coming to an end.
Liu Rulan immediately assigned Xiao He a bunch of tasks.
Xiao He didn't even have time to rest. Almost as soon as he arrived in the capital, Liu Rulan hurriedly took him away to work.
As for Weifeng, it thoroughly enjoyed its "leisurely dog life" along the way. Then Xiaochen was entrusted with an important task and temporarily took on the job of a zookeeper.
The dog had no idea that it was about to move into a luxurious garden mansion, and it happily followed Xiao Chen away.
Well, it's quite affectionate towards everyone, which is actually a good thing. Otherwise, Xiao He would really be worried that it would be too clingy and he wouldn't have time to take care of the dog when he's busy.
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As for work, Xiao He had previously promised Yang Heng to participate in the performance of "The Root of Calamity," but now that he had stood them up for so long, he promptly returned to the National Theater as soon as he got back to Beijing to participate in their final stage of rehearsals.
This time, it was completely different from the last time. Last time, only Yang Heng practiced and went through the motions with Xiao He. The two of them trained directly in a small classroom and didn't need to be with a lot of people. But this time, the entire troupe participating in the performance had already worked out all the scenes and had gone through several large-scale rehearsals.
So when Xiao He arrived here, the entire stage was already packed with people, and the scene was very lively.
Since it wasn't a formal performance, the clothes everyone wore weren't their official costumes, but rather rehearsal outfits. They brought some props that symbolized their character settings, and they weren't made up or dressed up. Just by looking at them, you could tell that their demeanor had changed a lot.
The elderly king, leaning on a cane, still exuded a regal aura, even though his clothes were not particularly splendid.
The arrogant nobleman, though without makeup, sported a few crooked mustaches. As he waited to enter, he would occasionally rub his mustache, his eyes haughty.
A shrewd businessman, on the other hand, puts on a cunning and mean-spirited demeanor, giving people a sizing look when he glances at them, and deliberately using a mercenary tone when speaking to his companions.
These are actors whose personalities can still be discerned from their demeanor even without makeup. As stage actors, their performances naturally need to be more exaggerated, and their characters need to be more distinct. After all, stage performances tend to overwhelm many details, making them less clear and nuanced than those seen on television. Therefore, their performances tend to have a more contrived feel.
This is why some stage actors may be criticized for "overdoing it" when they transition into formal film actors.
Of course, stage actors still have a great advantage when transitioning to acting. After all, they are said to have a certain "craftsmanship", which means they have a natural foundation in acting. In every aspect, they are definitely better than newcomers who are not from academies. Just in terms of Mandarin alone, they are better than many self-taught guys.
At least on the big stage or the big screen, their Mandarin proficiency is beyond doubt. This is how they make a living, and they always need to be able to speak their lines clearly.
Therefore, many actors will go to the stage to learn. If they can hone their skills, they can still leave behind a large number of other actors who are just going through the motions.
Moreover, there are many academics here, including many big names. Any connection you make with one of them could be the best helper for the next Best Actor or Best Television Actor.
So Xiao He actually quite likes to come here to stroll around and, incidentally, to build good relationships with everyone.
However, he came in a low-key manner this time, only giving Yang Heng and the others a heads-up beforehand.
And so, when Xiao He arrived, they were in the middle of another round of intensive rehearsals—
At a higher point towards the back of the stage, a separate platform has been set up, estimated to be about three meters high. This platform is high enough to be above most people's heads, and it also ensures that the actors standing on this platform are positioned precisely in the visual center of the stage, without deviating from the main positions of the actors below, thus not affecting the viewing experience for the audience.
However, just looking at it like this, you'll find that this isolated, high platform is actually very dangerous, especially for the actor standing on it. Obviously, there's not much protection available for the actor on stage, so just standing on that high place requires a certain amount of courage and skill.
What's more, he was standing there delivering his lines, occasionally making large gestures to provide corresponding feedback.
As the actors on stage moved, the high platform standing alone for him swayed slightly, but he remained calm, simply gazing at the "ants" below and continuing his lines: "Greedy people further spread the anger of others, inciting emotional conflict, and thus, war breaks out..."
He looked down at the hero before him, raised his hand, and with a slight smile, said with a mixture of pity and coaxing, "How important is your victory or defeat to them? What is the justice you speak of, hero? What is the victory you humans speak of?"
"In the end, didn't this victory only come to a smooth conclusion in the form of a transaction after everyone reached an agreement and divided the spoils?"
...
Xiao He did not go up to disturb their rehearsal at this time, but simply stood aside and watched.
Because he discovered that the actor was playing the same character as him—a god symbolizing evil.
This must have been a temporary substitute actor that Yang Heng and his team found during the period when he was away from the troupe, to fill in for Xiao He and help everyone with positioning and rehearsing the plot.
After all, the entire play needs to maintain a certain level of integrity during rehearsals. We can't just skip the role of Xiao He every time it becomes vacant, otherwise it would be inconvenient to calculate and arrange many personnel changes, which could cause problems later on.
Xiao He couldn't possibly expect the troupe to wait for him to come and rehearse together.
That's definitely unrealistic.
Therefore, Xiao He already knew that the troupe would find a substitute actor.
He's here mainly to observe the performance of the understudy, to see what different actors have different ideas when playing the same role, to see if there's anything he can learn from, and to go through the story with the rehearsal progress, reviewing the scenes he rehearsed individually before, and comparing the performance rhythm of the team now working together.
To be honest, Xiao He thought the substitute actor was actually performing quite well.
It's clear that although the other person was a substitute, they must have put a lot of effort into studying the script and the role.
Xiao He nodded in approval as he read.
And so it went until the end of their entire performance, when Xiao He applauded everyone and went over to greet them.
"Yang Heng!"
"Xiao He!"
Yang Heng was already covered in sweat, but he didn't bother to wipe it away. He was watching the replay with the other members of the troupe and discussing some problems that had been discovered during the rehearsal.
Upon hearing Xiao He's voice, he immediately turned his head to look over, then chuckled and slightly raised his chin, saying rather impolitely, "I saw you on stage just now. Come over and take a look at our recent rehearsal results. See if there's anything that needs improvement."
"Everyone performed exceptionally well, how could I possibly offer any criticism?"
Xiao He shrugged helplessly and walked to Yang Heng's side.
Before he could finish his sentence, a figure darted over and bowed to him, saying, "Hello, Teacher Xiao!"
Xiao He: "? Hello."