Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 113 This script is suitable for your People's Art Theatre
During a play, the actors are the most shining presence on the stage. But after the curtain falls, the screenwriter is the most shining one.

If film is the art of directing, then drama is undoubtedly the art of screenwriting.

Lin Chaoyang stood in the center of the stage, surrounded by a group of people. There was thunderous applause and cheers from the audience. The feeling was intoxicating.

If it weren't for nothing, everything would be perfect. A little thought suddenly popped up in his mind, and then he despised his own low taste.

Why are you always thinking about money on such a grand occasion?

Vulgar, too vulgar!
Tao Yushu stood beside him, looking up at him with his head tilted to the side, as if looking up at a mountain, his eyes intoxicated.

The people on the stage forgot how long the curtain call took. They just kept bowing and taking curtain calls, and the applause never stopped.

It wasn't until everyone finally returned to the backstage that someone glanced at their watch and exclaimed, "It's already half past nine!"

The performance of "The World's Number One Restaurant" ended just after nine o'clock, and before we knew it, they had been taking a curtain call for half an hour, which was terrifying.

It is a bit exaggerated to take half an hour to take a curtain call, but today the vast majority of the audience are students, and it is understandable that they cannot control their emotions once they get excited.

Half an hour had passed since the end of the performance. The initial excitement had gradually passed, and physical fatigue had swept over, but the emotions were still high.

Especially when they saw several school leaders standing backstage waiting for them, everyone felt even more proud.

"Comrade Chaoyang, thank you for creating such an excellent drama for our Yanshi University!"

Jia Zhen held Lin Chaoyang's hand, smiling and friendly.

Just now, he was sitting in the audience and witnessed the charm of "The World's Number One Restaurant" with his own eyes. He was deeply impressed by the brilliance of the drama and admired Lin Chaoyang who wrote the script even more. His eyes were filled with appreciation and admiration when he looked at Lin Chaoyang.

"Thank you for the compliment." Lin Chaoyang said politely.

Jia Zhen shook his head. "No, it's not an award. Just now when the show was over, I heard some students talking about how this play is in no way inferior to the level of the People's Art Theatre. I fully agree with that. We at Yanshi University and the students of Yanshi University are honored to have the opportunity to witness the birth of such an outstanding work."

Jia Zhen's high evaluation of Lin Chaoyang and "The World's Number One Restaurant" made the students behind Lin Chaoyang express their joy beyond words. Now they share the honor and disgrace with Lin Chaoyang and "The World's Number One Restaurant".

In their view, Jia Zhen's praise for the first two was also praise for them.

It is a happy thing in itself that a student drama attracted school leaders to come backstage to express their condolences, not to mention that it received such high praise.

This kind of praise is different from the enthusiastic response at the curtain call, because it carries the official affirmation and makes everyone feel a sense of accomplishment in participating in a great cause.

The laughter backstage in the Yanshi Auditorium continued, and the students in the auditorium also left with excitement.

They walked together in twos and threes, each with a surge of emotion and boiling blood. Some commented on the plot loudly, some recited the lines from the play wildly, and some excitedly gestured with their classmates.

Many people also talked about Li Luyang's kneeling in the audience during the curtain call.

In the eyes of the students, his actions did not contain any self-deprecation or flattery, but instead revealed a sense of piety.

In fact, isn’t Li Luyang’s behavior the embodiment of these students’ psychological activities?

Just now, they witnessed the birth of a stunning work, and were savoring every character and every line on the stage. Those wonderful moments still made them feel excited until this moment.

After watching "The Best Restaurant in the World", many people felt an urge to worship the screenwriter Lin Chaoyang.

This night will surely become an unforgettable experience for many Yanshi University students.

"You have to look up to yourself first, then others won't look down on you. Hey! That's really cool!"

Zhang Yaozhong and Chen Jiangong were walking among a group of students, reciting the lines spoken by Lu Mengshi on the stage. The more they recited, the more they found them interesting, and they couldn't help but swear.

He looked at Chen Jiangong again. Chen Jiangong had not spoken much since they started watching the drama.

"Jian Gong, why don't you say anything? This time we also watched "The World's No. 1 Restaurant", what do you think?"

Chen Jiangong's voice was somewhat lazy and negative: "I don't want to say it, I don't want to comment."

"Why..." Zhang Yaozhong was about to ask, but suddenly shut up.

Whether it is "Beautiful Love" written by Li Chun or "Conscience" written by Chen Jiangong, although they have caused quite a stir among the student community and have influenced many universities in Yenching, in the final analysis, these are all students' games.

Compared with excellent dramas that truly have artistic vitality, there is an insurmountable gap.

In fact, everyone is very clear about this.

But sometimes, even though we understand it in our hearts, seeing the gap with our own eyes often makes us feel more desperate.

Obviously, Chen Jiangong was facing this kind of despair at this moment.

"In fact, I think there is still a big gap between "The World's Number One Restaurant" and "Teahouse". Especially these actors. To be honest, they are far behind Li Tong, Liu Zhida and others, not to mention the veteran artists of the People's Art Theatre."

Seeing that Chen Jiangong looked depressed, Zhang Yaozhong wanted to say something to comfort him.

But as he was talking, he noticed that Chen Jiangong looked at him with a strange look in his eyes, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Chen Jiangong's voice finally showed some emotion, "Can you please say less? Is there anyone who can comfort others like you?"

"Then how can I comfort you? We have to face up to the gap. You can't let me lie with my eyes open, right?"

As they talked, they walked to the place where they had parked their bicycles. This bicycle was bought by Chen Jiangong with his royalties at the beginning of the year. With it, Chen Jiangong could travel more conveniently among the various universities in Yenching.

Chen Jiangong got in the car. Zhang Yaozhong sat in the back seat, holding his waist. He waited for a long time, but Chen Jiangong didn't move. He frowned and thought.

"Let's go?"

Zhang Yaozhong urged him, but Chen Jiangong still didn't respond. Zhang Yaozhong became impatient and got off the bike just to let him take over, but Chen Jiangong seemed to have made a decision at this time.

He just put his legs together, pushed his feet, and the bicycle rushed out.

"Hey hey hey, I haven't gotten on the bus yet!" Zhang Yaozhong shouted from behind.

Chen Jiangong then realized that Zhang Yaozhong hadn't gotten on the bus, so he quickly stopped and said, "Why are you getting off? Hurry up!"

He was distracted just now, and now he was impatient, which prompted Zhang Yaozhong to ask, "What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing."

Chen Jiangong replied to him, pedaled his bicycle quickly, walked out of the gate of Yanshi University, and headed south.

"Hey, this is the wrong direction!" Zhang Yaozhong reminded.

Yanshi University is located near the northwest third ring road in later generations, and Yan University is on the northwest fourth ring road. To return to Yan University, you should head in a more northwest direction.

"I'm going to find someone."

"Who are you looking for in the middle of the night? People aren't sleeping yet?" Zhang Yaozhong asked puzzledly.

"Don't worry about it. I disturbed his sweet dream and he should thank me!"

The bicycle went south, passed Xinjiekou, passed Xisi, turned onto Chang'an Avenue and then went east, crossing half of the city of Yanjing, and stopped at the entrance of an alley near Dengshikou in Dongcheng District.

Zhang Yaozhong is not from Yanjing, so he is already confused by now.

They walked half of Yanjing City in the dark. If it weren't for the flashlight to light the way, they would have fallen countless times.

The car finally stopped, and Chen Jiangong drove him to the gate of a quadrangle in the alley. No. 56 Shijia Hutong is a large house with three entrances and cross courtyards in the east and west. It was the headquarters of the Yanjing People's Art Theatre when it was first established in the 50s.

Later, the People's Art Theatre built a new campus and theater, and this place became a family compound where the staff of the People's Art Theatre lived in a relatively concentrated manner. There is a building in the front yard of the quadrangle, which was designed and built with the help of Soviet experts at that time and is also a family compound.

Jiao Juyin, Shu Xiuwen, Zhu Lin, Yi Shizhi...

No. 56 Shijia Hutong houses half of China's drama.

Chen Jiangong came here in the cold wind late at night, looking for one of the pillars of the People's Art Theatre - Lan Tianye.

It was almost eleven o'clock in the evening. The yard was pitch dark and every household was asleep.

Chen Jiangong and Zhang Yaozhong knocked on the door of the north room in the east wing, and voices were heard from inside the room.

"Who?"

"Old Lan, I'm good at strengthening my body."

"Why are you here at this hour? Wait."

The lights in the house came on, and there was a rustling sound of someone getting dressed. After almost two minutes, the door opened.

After riding in the cold wind for nearly an hour, Chen Jiangong and Zhang Yaozhong were now red in the face from the cold. Seeing this, Lan Tianye had no time to complain. He let them into the house first and poured them some hot water.

After the two men recovered, Lan Tianye asked, "What happened? Why did you come here in the middle of the night?"

"If it's not a big deal, can I come to you in the middle of the night?"

Chen Jiangong kept it a secret but didn't say what he was here for. Lan Tianye said impatiently, "If you have something to say, just say it. My old bones can't stay up all night with you guys."

"Do you remember the drama I performed some time ago?" Chen Jiangong asked.

"It's only been a few days. I'm old, not stupid." Lan Tianye teased Chen Jiangong, "What's wrong? What's wrong with the drama? Isn't the response good?"

Chen Jiangong nodded. "The response is good, but that's not what I want to talk about. After our school started the drama craze, it also inspired several surrounding schools, Shuimu, Renmin University, Yanshi University... Now everyone is doing student drama. A while ago, Yanshi University wanted to learn from us to do drama and invited Lin Chaoyang to write the script for them..."

"Lin Chaoyang? Is it Xu Lingjun?"

Before, when they were at Yanjing University, Chen Jiangong introduced Lin Chaoyang to Lan Tianye.

"Yes, that's him."

"What's up with him?"

"He wrote a play for Yanshi University!"

The two of them repeated two sentences like a tongue twister, and Lan Tianye finally realized that the main point Chen Jiangong wanted to talk about was "this drama."

"What's so unusual about this play?"

Lan Tianye’s first reaction was that the drama written by Lin Chaoyang violated some political taboo. After all, it must be no small matter to make Chen Jiangong run to Shijia Hutong in the middle of the night.

"No." Chen Jiangong shook his head and looked at Lan Tianye with a serious expression, "It's just that the script is too good!"

Lan Tianye was confused. What did you mean? The novel was so well written? You came here in the middle of the night to disturb my sweet dreams just to say this to me?
His face was engraved with an expression of "you kid are making fun of me", and just when he wanted to vent his resentment for being spared Qingmeng, he heard Chen Jiangong say:

“Not inferior to Teahouse!”

Lan Tianye's words were blocked and he stared at Chen Jiangong in a daze, "What nonsense are you talking about?"

At this time, Zhang Yaozhong hurriedly interrupted and said, "No nonsense. Comrade Lao Lan, that play really has the flavor of "Tea House". You don't know, the premiere at Yanshi University tonight, the auditorium was blown up, the curtain call alone took half an hour, the applause never stopped, the students were crazy!"

A half-hour curtain call?

Lan Tianye looked at Zhang Yaozhong in surprise, and then rationally analyzed how much exaggeration there was in his words.

Not to mention ordinary amateur performances, even on a top stage like the People's Art Theatre, a curtain call lasting half an hour is unheard of.

They performed well at the Capital Theatre and received at most ten minutes of applause.

If you clap for half an hour, won’t your hands become like bear paws?

This sounds ridiculous.

Seeing Lan Tianye's suspicious expression, Chen Jiangong confirmed Zhang Yaozhong's words.

"Old Lan, don't disbelieve me. If it were a professional performance, you might think this is a bit exaggerated, but you have to know that the audience today are all college students like us. Everyone is full of great enthusiasm for good works, not to mention that this is a drama created by our student group ourselves."

After listening to Chen Jiangong's words, Lan Tianye's doubts were somewhat dispelled, but he still couldn't believe it.

"How good must this play be to deserve such high praise from you?"

Chen Jiangong said anxiously: "Why don't you understand yet? It's not about how good the performance is, but the script is good."

Lan Tianye responded: "I understand."

He is an actor of the People's Art Theatre and has never acted in a bad script. It's like building a house on a mountain. The altitude will definitely be higher than a house built on flat ground.

One of the important reasons why "The World's Number One Restaurant" has been so wildly popular among students like Chen Jiangong is the sharp contrast between the excellent script and the immature performances.

Even though everyone has noticed the poor acting skills of the actors on stage, they are still willing to immerse themselves in the play and in the dream created for them by the screenwriter.

Isn’t this enough to prove the excellence of the script?
However, as the saying goes, seeing is believing.

No matter how much praise Chen Jiangong and Zhang Yaozhong gave Lan Tianye, he had no concrete concept in his mind and could not take it seriously at all.

"Then you are here..."

Chen Jiangong said, "Have you forgotten that when I was drinking with you guys, you always complained that the People's Art Theatre lacked good scripts? I can assure you that you will definitely like "The World's No. 1 Restaurant". This script is very suitable for your People's Art Theatre. I strongly recommend this script to your People's Art Theatre."

After a lot of buzz, Mr. Lao She passed away and Mr. Cao Yu ran out of creative inspiration, the People's Art Theatre has been facing a script shortage in recent years.

Therefore, the vice president, who was an actor, had to personally serve as the head of the creative team and plan and write the scripts with the screenwriters.

However, the screenwriter talent at the People's Art Theatre has fallen into a period of transition. How can they produce a good script so quickly?
Therefore, in the past two or three years, the National Theatre of China has been troubled by a shortage of scripts.

This situation continued until the 1980s, when the People's Art Theatre recruited a group of young and energetic screenwriters to improve the situation. At that time, the excellent troupes of Yanjing People's Art Theatre produced one drama after another, which can be said to be a sign of revival.

Chen Jiangong's tone was sincere. Lan Tianye felt his sincerity and said seriously, "I understand. Will this "The World's No. 1 Restaurant" still be performed tomorrow?"

This……

Chen Jiangong hesitated for a moment, "They should perform. The December 9th Cultural Festival will be held in two days, and they will participate in the festival. They should perform in the next few days, so they should polish the stage more."

Lan Tianye nodded, "Okay, I'll go with you tomorrow."

After getting Lan Tianye's reply, Chen Jiangong was about to leave, but Lan Tianye quickly stopped him.

"It's already midnight and it's freezing cold. Where are you going? Stay at our house for one night."

(End of this chapter)