Chapter 264 Can't Leave Empty-Handed
"How about it? Are you interested?"
After saying this, Arthur Miller looked at Lin Weimin expectantly.
"Interested? Mr. Miller, you mean..."
Lin Weimin looked puzzled. He already had some guesses in his mind, but he still wanted to confirm it.
Arthur Miller had an encouraging look on his face and said, "Farewell My Concubine is a Chinese drama. If we want it to take root in the United States, it will require the joint efforts of you and me. I hope you can go to the United States to work for a period of time."
After listening to Arthur Miller's words, Lin Weimin did not speak, but pondered for a long time before saying: "Mr. Miller, I don't think it is a good idea to move "Farewell My Concubine" to the Broadway stage now!"
"Why?" Arthur Miller asked in surprise and confusion.
From what he has learned from staying in China over the past few months, because of the honeymoon period in the diplomatic relations between the two countries in recent years, the Chinese have an unusually favorable impression of the United States, and they always look longing when talking about the United States.
Lin Weimin should have no reason to refuse since his work could be transported across the ocean to be performed in the United States.
"There are too many Chinese elements and plots in Farewell My Concubine. It is a big project to bring it to the American stage. It is not that easy. It is not easy to solve the problem of actors alone.
How should we present the Peking Opera part? If it is a movie, we can add subtitles, but dramas are all performed on stage. How can we let the American audience feel the charm of Peking Opera? This is a difficult problem!"
Arthur Miller frowned. "I have also thought about the issues you mentioned. My idea is to replace the Peking Opera content with opera. Lin, do you know castrato?"
Lin Weimin nodded, "Of course I know. But with all due respect, Mr. Arthur Miller, I don't think replacing cultural background is a good choice."
"Why not? You've seen the effect of my Death of a Salesman using Chinese back view, it's also pretty good."
“That’s different. The core of Death of a Salesman is the tragedy of a person who has lost his self-worth. Although there are many unique American cultures in this play, they can all be replaced by corresponding elements in Chinese culture. So changing the cultural background does not affect its brilliance.
But Farewell My Concubine is different. It is rooted in Chinese culture and history, especially in history. Without the magnificent historical background of the past few decades, the story of Farewell My Concubine would be nothing but duckweed on the water.
Lin Weimin's words made Arthur Miller fall into deep thought. After a long time, his brows relaxed.
"Lin, I have to admit that what you said makes sense. I am convinced by you."
Even as he said this, his face showed a bit of reluctance, "What a pity! Such a poignant and beautiful story cannot be appreciated by American audiences!"
Lin Weimin smiled and said, "Mr. Miller, you don't need to be anxious. The novel Farewell My Concubine has been published in the United States and is selling well. We can wait a little longer. If this novel can really have a certain influence in the United States, then it will be much easier to bring the original Farewell My Concubine to the American stage!"
Arthur Miller clapped his hands and said excitedly, "Lin, you are right. I almost forgot about this. Yes, it should be like this. I remember you told me before that the novel Farewell My Concubine has been reprinted twice. It has the potential to become a bestseller. When that time comes, it will be much easier to put a drama full of oriental mystery and classical romanticism on stage!"
His thoughts continued along this line, and he said, "It seems that I need to strongly recommend this novel to my friends and audiences when I go back!"
Lin Weimin couldn't help but laugh. It seemed that Arthur Miller really loved this drama deeply.
"Mr. Miller, thank you for your love for Farewell My Concubine!"
Arthur Miller smiled and said, "Lin, you know what? I haven't seen a work that excited me so much in a long time. I still remember the first time I watched Farewell My Concubine, a thought popped up in my mind: You have a work like Farewell My Concubine, why do you want to introduce my work?"
Although he knew that Americans always spoke in an exaggerated manner, Arthur Miller's words still made Lin Weimin very happy.
The only regret is that the two of them kept communicating in English, and the directors and screenwriters from the National Theatre of China couldn’t understand them, which reduced the atmosphere a lot.
Seeing that Arthur Miller, his foreign friend, was so passionate about his work, Lin Weimin felt that he could not let him return to the United States empty-handed.
"Mr. Miller, I wonder if you have seen my other works?"
"Other works?"
Arthur Miller shook his head. How could a foreigner like him understand a novel written in Chinese? He could understand Farewell My Concubine with the help of a translator. He was able to see Farewell My Concubine because he caught the performance.
"You mean the other books you wrote for the People's Art?" asked Arthur Miller.
Arthur Miller had naturally heard of the works that Lin Weimin wrote for the People's Art Theater.
But after the first few days of relaxing time, his main energy was focused on directing "Death of a Salesman" and he had no chance to understand it at all.
"Two of these works are very suitable for the American drama stage."
When Arthur Miller heard what Lin Weimin said, he immediately became interested.
"Lin, could you please tell me about the contents of these two works?"
"certainly."
Lin Weimin first told Arthur Miller the story of "The Intouchables". As he listened to the story, his eyes became brighter and brighter.
After Lin Weimin finished his story, Arthur Miller said excitedly: "Lin, your story is great, and it should be easy to put on the Broadway stage. All we need to do is change China's war against Vietnam to the Vietnam War in the United States."
At this point, he couldn't help but blurt out a curse word, "These crazy Vietnamese people!"
The Vietnam War is a heavy topic for Americans.
Especially for Arthur Miller's generation, the Vietnam War was just over a few years ago, and it was their personal experience, so it was even more difficult to let go.
Lin Weimin couldn't help but complain, what qualifications do you Americans have to call Vietnamese monkeys? It's almost the same for us Chinese to do the same.
"But..." Arthur Miller murmured.
"But what?"
"I'd like to see the entire performance of this play, please?" Arthur Miller suggested.
Lin Weimin thought that this shouldn't be difficult. He just needed to find a day when the actors were free and let them perform once.
Lin Weimin believes that the leaders and actors of the National People's Art Theatre will not miss the opportunity to bring their own drama to the American drama stage.
After all, this is about bringing glory to the country!
The two of them found Shi Yizhi and just mentioned it briefly. Teacher Yu suddenly became so excited that he could hardly control himself.
"Good news! Very good news!"
"We at the National Theatre will definitely do our best to support you!"
"Today, no, it's too late today. Tomorrow, tomorrow night, I will organize people, right in our rehearsal room, to let Mr. Arthur Miller take a good look at this play!"
Lin Weimin responded to Shi Zhidao in Chinese: "Teacher Yu, it's not just The Intouchables, there's also The Horse Catcher."
"The Horse Catcher?" Yi Shizhi's face was full of surprise again, "This movie is also going to be introduced?"
"No, I just want to show it to Mr. Miller first. I think it would be very suitable to modify this play and bring it to the United States."
The wrinkles on Shi Yizhi's face smoothed out a little, "Oh! Okay, okay, I'll arrange it."
Arthur Miller asked, "Lin, what are you talking about?"
Lin Weimin explained, "Just now, I mentioned another play of mine to Dean Yu. It has not been officially performed yet. I think it can be performed on the American stage with a few minor changes."
"The Horse Lassoer" is actually Lin Weimin's modified version of "The Kite Runner". The original author of this novel is an Afghan-American with a white heart. The novel itself is full of the self-righteous values of Americans. Lin Weimin spent a lot of effort when he adapted it into Chinese.
This time, if Arthur Miller really wants to be introduced to Broadway, Lin Weimin can easily come up with a brand new work that is completely in line with the American cultural background and values.
The biggest change may be the Afghan war in the background of the story. This is easy to deal with. The Americans are causing trouble all over the world, so it’s not easy to change.
Arthur Miller pulled Lin Weimin and said, "Lin, tell me in detail!"
Then he glanced at the clock on the wall.
It's already past nine o'clock in the evening, can't you two go somewhere else?
Lin Weimin and Arthur Miller chatted for more than an hour.
"The Kite Runner" itself is a product of American values. Lin Weimin changed it into "The Horse Lassoer". When he told it to Arthur Miller, he was more inclined to the values of the original, so Arthur Miller was easier to introduce.
After listening to it, his interest became even stronger.
The next evening, "The Intouchables", which had been suspended for nearly half a year, was performed at the rehearsal hall of the People's Art Theatre. Arthur Miller's hands were almost red from clapping.
"Lin, you are such an outstanding playwright!" Arthur Miller praised.
"Mr. Miller, you flatter me."
Arthur Miller watched the actors return to the backstage one by one after their curtain calls, and became more and more looking forward to tomorrow's performance of "The Horse Lassoer".
A day later, "The Horse Catcher" was performed again at the People's Art Theatre's rehearsal hall.
Compared to The Intouchables, which had a slightly stiff performance due to being suspended for half a year, The Horse Catcher was performed more smoothly because of the continuous rehearsals.
The curtain call was over, and Arthur Miller's reaction was a little different from yesterday.
"Mr. Miller, what's wrong with you?" Lin Weimin asked Arthur Miller who was in deep thought.
Arthur Miller looked at Lin Weimin and said, "Lin, both plays are good. I am just wondering which one I should take with me."
Only children make choices.
Lin Weimin laughed and said, "Why do you have to worry about it? Does everything have to be bad?"
(End of this chapter)
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