Chapter 244 Mr. Wan's Purpose
"The Horse Catcher" is a big drama and also the main play of the People's Art Theatre in the second half of the year.
As the third drama work of Lin Weimin introduced by the National Theatre of China, although this work was not adapted by Lin Weimin himself, the collaborators are old acquaintances such as Ouyang Shanzun and Lan Yinhai, so the National Theatre of China is very relieved.
What's more, since "The Horse-Trapping Man" was published in the January supplement of "People's Literature" in January, it has directly overshadowed the main publication.
So far, the sales of the January supplement publishing "The Horse-Trapping Man" have exceeded 1.5 million copies, setting a sales record for special issues, feature issues and supplements of all literary magazines in the country.
Not only that, the sales volume also surpasses a number of mainstream literary magazines such as "Harvest", "October", and "Zhongshan".
In the first half of 1983, the only magazine that could compete with it was probably the first issue of Contemporary, which came out at almost the same time.
Coincidentally, Lin Weimin's name occupies a very important position in these two issues of the publication.
A kind of superstition is gradually forming in the People's Art Theater.
As long as it is Teacher Lin’s work, you can’t go wrong.
After watching the rehearsal of "The Horse Catcher", Ouyang Shanzun talked to Lin Weimin about the situation of "Farewell My Concubine".
Since its premiere last year, the drama has been enthusiastically sought after by drama lovers in Yenching, and has been reported many times by television stations and newspapers.
The fame of "Farewell My Concubine" was so great that it even caused a great response in the domestic drama circle. It was invited to perform in Shanghai, where it also received warm welcome.
It’s June again, and it’s time for the performance of “Farewell My Concubine”.
Last year's performance in Shanghai caused a huge response, and many cities sent out invitations, hoping that the People's Art Theatre could perform "Farewell My Concubine". However, due to the overall arrangement of the theater, it could only return to Yanjing after the performance in Shanghai.
The National Theatre of China plans to send the "Farewell My Concubine" crew to perform in several major cities in China again after the performance this year.
For the actors or backstage staff of the theater, performing in other places, especially in other major cities in the country, is definitely a good job, otherwise they would not have given up Zhijiang and went to Shanghai instead last year.
Ouyang Shanzun asked Lin Weimin if he wanted to take this opportunity to go out for a walk, and Lin Weimin declined again.
His life now is almost entirely filled with work and writing. He even visits Tie Sheng's house less frequently. Besides, he has something important to do in a few days.
A few days later, Lin Weimin accompanied Mr. Wan and the leaders of the People's Art Theatre to the Yanjing Airport to pick up Mr. Arthur Miller.
Arthur Miller came to China at the invitation of Mr. Wan. Mr. Wan was very busy with work, so after receiving the guests twice, the rest of the work had to be handed over to his student Lin Weimin.
As Mr. Wan had requested, Lin Weimin took a few days off to serve as Arthur Miller's tour guide and visited many tourist attractions in Yanjing.
For Americans, Yenching University in the 1980s was still full of mystery, and Arthur Miller was curious about everything around him.
These few days were also a rare rest time for Lin Weimin. Although Arthur Miller's visit to the People's Art Theatre was unofficial, the Ministry of Culture still stepped in and sent a car, an interpreter and a driver.
With people from the Ministry of Culture around, Lin Weimin's job was very easy, and he mostly just ate and drank, and boasted.
We have been playing in Yanjing for almost a week, and have fulfilled our duty as host. Today, there is only one item left to do.
"Farewell My Concubine" was officially performed, and Mr. Wan invited Arthur Miller to watch the performance.
In the front row of the Capital Theatre, Mr. Wan and Lin Weimin sat on either side of Arthur Miller, highlighting their importance to him as a guest.
Arthur Miller looked at the performance on the stage, his eyes gradually becoming solemn.
At the end of the performance, several people stood up with the audience, and the actors took their bows on the stage, and the audience applauded loudly and for a long time.
"Mr. Miller, what do you think of this play?" Mr. Wan asked with a hint of pride between his brows.
"This is an outstanding work!" Arthur Miller praised excitedly.
He couldn't understand the lines of the actors on stage, but fortunately Lin Weimin was there to act as a translator. In addition, by observing the actors' body reactions and facial expressions, it was not difficult for him to understand the plot.
“This work is comparable to Teahouse and Thunderstorm!”
Arthur Miller added, which shocked Lin Weimin, "Mr. Miller, you are too kind."
Mr. Wan laughed and said, "Before the performance, didn't you ask me who the scriptwriter of this play was?"
He pointed at Lin Weimin and said, "He is far away in the horizon, yet he is right before our eyes."
"Lin?" Arthur Miller's expression was full of surprise.
Lin Weimin kept a low profile during the days he served as his tour guide. He only told Arthur Miller that his main job was an editor and that he occasionally wrote some works for publication. Mr. Wan was too busy with work and never introduced himself to Arthur Miller, which led him to always believe that Lin Weimin's most important identity was just an ordinary student of Mr. Wan.
"Not only that, my old friend, did you know that the novel of this play has also been published in the United States?"
"Really?" Arthur Miller was surprised again.
Lin Weimin could see that Mr. Wan was going to show off in public today, so he could only continue what he said, "Yes. This work was a novel first, and then it was adapted into a play. The publication in the United States is handled by Random House."
Arthur Miller naturally knew that Random House was one of the largest publishing companies in the United States. He was surprised at the excellence and stunningness of Lin Weimin's work, but he was even more surprised at the spread of this work.
After all, he is a cultural celebrity in the United States, so he naturally knows how difficult it is for publications from China to be published in the United States at this time.
He asked curiously, "How are the sales?"
Lin Weimin told the truth, "We sold more than 100,000 copies before, and we just printed 200,000 more copies recently."
Arthur Miller's face was shocked. "So many were sold? And I haven't even seen it?"
Mr. Wan laughed heartily and said, "Old friend, it seems that you have been a little distracted lately!"
Arthur Miller understood that Mr. Wan was joking and said humorously, "This only proves that I am too busy at work."
In fact, it is normal that Arthur Miller has not read the American version of "Farewell My Concubine". Excluding the 200,000 copies reprinted later, the sales volume of "Farewell My Concubine" in the United States before was only tens of thousands of copies.
If measured by Chinese standards, this is certainly a lot, after all, it is exported overseas and has no reputation at all.
But for Americans, it would be difficult to pay attention to the book if they did not frequently visit bookstores, not to mention that it is a novel from China, with sales of only hundreds of thousands of copies in nearly a year, and it did not even make it to the bestseller list.
Arthur Miller sighed and said, "If you had known this, you should have called me so that I could write a recommendation for Lin."
After that, he shook his head and said, "No, this is unnecessary. Facts have proven that the excellence of this work transcends culture and language."
Arthur Miller looked at Lin Weimin and said, "Lin, you are truly an unparalleled playwright!"
Miller always praises people directly. Lin Weimin said a few humble words and reminded them, "Mr. Miller, teacher, let's go backstage and greet the actors first."
Mr. Wan patted his head and said, "Oh, you were so busy showing off your student that you forgot about the real business."
Arthur Miller laughed out loud, "I knew you had another purpose in inviting me to watch a play today!"
A few people went backstage chatting and laughing. The actors had known that Arthur Miller would come to see the performance today.
They worked very hard on the stage, and now Arthur Miller came backstage to express his condolences, and everyone was very excited.
Arthur Miller became famous in 1947 with the play All My Sons. Later, Death of a Salesman, which he wrote in six weeks, won three major awards including the Pulitzer Prize, making him a top playwright in the American theater world.
After all these years, Arthur Miller's output of drama creation is not high, but the quality is always stable. He is known as one of the three great American dramatists of the 20th century, along with Eugene O'Neill and Tennessee Williams. His status in the American drama world is comparable to Mr. Wan's status in China.
Arthur Miller paid close attention to Yang Lixin, who played the role of Cheng Dieyi, backstage and praised him for his wonderful performance.
"Yang, you should go to Broadway!" Arthur Miller patted Yang Lixin on the shoulder and said.
When Yang Lixin heard the words translated by Lin Weimin next to him, he was flattered.
Mr. Wan pretended to be unhappy and said, "Arthur, are you trying to poach my people right in front of me?"
Everyone present burst into laughter.
The excitement backstage lasted for a long time, until Arthur Miller became less interested in talking, and then Mr. Wan and several leaders of the People's Art Theatre suggested ending today's schedule.
After sending Arthur Miller back to the Yanjing Hotel, Lin Weimin breathed a sigh of relief.
In the car, Mr. Wan sat in the back seat and said, "Weimin, thank you for your hard work these days."
Lin Weimin sat in the passenger seat and turned his head and said, "Teacher, I have learned a lot from accompanying Mr. Arthur Miller these days."
Mr. Wan nodded and said, "Mr. Miller's ability in the field of drama creation is unquestionable. He will stay in the People's Art Theater for the next period of time. This time, the People's Art Theater has introduced his plays on a large scale, and he will also direct the play "Death of a Salesman" himself. If you have time, you must come and watch more and learn from him."
Mr. Wan's current status in the domestic theater industry is no less than that of Arthur Miller, but the more so, the more he cannot rest on his laurels. The same is true of his request to Lin Weimin.
Lin Weimin said seriously: "I understand. I will come when I have time."
After talking to Lin Weimin, Mr. Wan's face was full of fatigue. It was already past 12 o'clock in the evening, which was too late for a man in his seventies.
The car stopped at the gate of Muxidi. Lin Weimin turned around and found that Mr. Wan had fallen asleep.
The third update, a little late, sorry.
(End of this chapter)
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