Chapter 403 Why Write This Way
It was past ten o'clock in the evening, and an hour had passed since the performance at the Capital Theatre ended. Normally, the audience would have left by now, but the entrance of the Capital Theatre was surrounded by layers of audience members.
These people are waiting here with only one purpose.
Meet "Jiajing" and "Hai Rui".
Lin Weimin was driving with Mr. Wan and his wife, and was a little surprised when passing by the gate.
"Today's audience is so enthusiastic!" Lin Weimin exclaimed.
Mr. Wan glanced out the window and said, "There weren't so many people when Farewell My Concubine was being performed, right?"
“It’s been so many years since Farewell My Concubine was released!”
"Farewell My Concubine" has been performed at the Capital Theatre since 1982 and has been widely popular, becoming one of the most popular plays of the People's Art Theatre in the past decade or so. It was performed for four consecutive years and finally stopped this year.
No matter how popular a play is, there are only so many audiences, and it is impossible to show the same play to the audience forever.
The fact that the National Theatre of China has been performing Farewell My Concubine for four consecutive years at the Capital Theatre and has also been touring from time to time is enough to prove the quality and influence of the drama.
"Farewell My Concubine" has stopped performing, and the People's Art Theatre has added another classic work to its library. In another two years, it will be performed from time to time, and its charm will remain the same.
Not long after Lin Weimin’s Crown passed by, the performers and staff of the People’s Art Theatre also went off work.
The audience at the door are not waiting for anyone, they are all waiting for the "star"!
Tonight, Zhu Xu and Ren Baoxian are the “stars”!
Zhu Xu and Ren Baoxian were riding their bicycles and were treated almost like superstars.
The enthusiastic audience shouted the names of the two and surrounded them. They were riding bicycles, but unfortunately they couldn't move at all.
I could only push the cart, moving forward step by step, and dealing with the enthusiastic audience from time to time.
As a result, other cast and crew members who had just finished their work were also stuck behind.
Everyone followed behind, not in a hurry, and watched the audience's reactions with interest.
For the behind-the-scenes staff of the National Theatre of China, they have seen such scenes too many times.
What’s special about today is that the audience is a little too enthusiastic.
Feng Yuanzheng and Mu Sen were walking at the end. He looked at Zhu Xu and Ren Baoxian who were surrounded in the crowd with envy.
"That's what a horn is!"
Mu Sen encouraged: "You will definitely be as popular as them in the future!"
Feng Yuanzheng smiled and said, "Then you have to write a good script for me!"
"no problem!"
The two young men chatted and laughed as they moved along the line. After waiting for a long time, Zhu Xu and Ren Baoxian in front finally broke away from the crowd of spectators.
Order was finally restored at the gate. Just as Mu Sen was about to walk out of the gate, he heard a heart-wrenching voice coming from the audience.
"Muson! Awesome!"
The noise not only startled Mu Sen, but also the audience.
After the initial confusion, everyone immediately realized who the male voice was calling. It was the screenwriter of "The Ming Dynasty 1566: Jiajing and Hai Rui". It was written on the poster at the door!
Is the screenwriter of this drama awesome?
Awesome!
The audience had just finished watching the play, and no one had a better say than them.
After that heart-wrenching male voice, other audience members also shouted: "Musen! Awesome!"
For a moment, there was an overwhelming cheer!
Mu Sen was happy, but also a little amused.
At night, there was only street lighting at the entrance of the theater, and the light was dim, but even so, Mu Sen could still hear who the owner of the initial voice was.
My college classmate for five years, Zhang Jianjun!
Zhang Jianjun is here today to support his old classmates.
Of course, more importantly, he wanted to test the differences between the Yanshida version of "Jiajing and Hai Rui" and the People's Art Theatre version of "Jiajing and Hai Rui".
What's the difference? Why should we give the script to the art theater when we performed well?
It turns out that there is a world of difference.
The National Theatre of China is so awesome!
Zhang Jianjun has been a loyal audience of the People's Art Theatre since the premiere of Farewell My Concubine. This year, Farewell My Concubine was discontinued, and Zhang Jianjun was sad for a long time, not knowing when he would be able to see the performance of Farewell My Concubine again.
But after watching the drama tonight, Zhang Jianjun felt that it would be okay to wait for "Farewell My Concubine". Even if "Farewell My Concubine" is gone, isn't there still "Jiajing and Hai Rui"?
Dieyi is beautiful, but he is a man after all.
In comparison, the old man Hai Rui is more attractive.
The premiere of "The Ming Dynasty 1566: Jiajing and Hai Rui" was undoubtedly very successful. Not to mention the reaction of the audience at the Capital Theatre that night, the reaction of the Yenching media the next day alone said it all.
rave reviews!
More than four newspapers reported on the premiere of "Jiajing and Hai Rui" last night, and the reviews were almost unanimous.
The next morning, Musson read the reports from his theater colleagues.
He recently graduated from Yanshi University and has become a formal employee of the People's Art Theatre.
"Based on Lin Weimin's long historical novel The Ming Dynasty in 1566, the play The Ming Dynasty in 1566: Jiajing and Hai Rui, written by the young screenwriter Mu Sen of the People's Art Theatre, premiered at the Capital Theatre yesterday evening..."
Mu Sen was excited when he saw his name printed in lead type in the newspaper. This feeling was different from when he saw his signature on the poster at the Capital Theatre yesterday.
At this moment, he truly realized the meaning of Teacher Lin's refusal to sign his name.
Just at this moment Lin Zhaohua came over and patted Mu Sen on the shoulder.
"Xiao Mu! You're going to be famous!"
really!
As the influence and reputation of the performance of "The Ming Dynasty 1566: Jiajing and Hai Rui" gradually grew, Mu Sen's name quickly became famous in the theater and cultural circles of Yanjing.
Even newspapers began to approach the hospital and request to interview him.
After hesitating, Mu Sen chose to refuse.
"Why?" Yi Shizhi was puzzled.
Because Teacher Lin rarely accepts media interviews.
He certainly couldn't say this to Yi Shizhi. He estimated that if he dared to say it, the dean would scold him in the face.
Do you dare to compete with Teacher Lin?
“The success of the work Jiajing and Hai Rui is built on the shoulders of giants. My personal contribution is not much.”
Mu Sen's modesty made Shi Yizhi nod his head in satisfaction. "Xiao Mu, your mentality is correct. But you can't underestimate yourself. Your contribution to this drama is also great."
The more Yi Shizhi said this, the more Mu Sen didn't want to be interviewed.
Teacher Lin didn’t accept the interview, so why should I accept it?
Yi Shizhi nodded and said, "It's a good thing that you have such awareness. Let's forget about it this time. When you have completed your work independently in the future, we will accept the interview again!"
The performance of "The Ming Dynasty 1566: Jiajing and Hai Rui" once again caused a sensation in the drama circle and among the audience in Yenching.
Although Lin Weimin was not listed as the screenwriter, no one would underestimate his role.
Anyone who has read the original novel knows that the success of the drama "Jiajing and Hai Rui" is closely related to the good foundation of the novel.
But these heated discussions and attention have little to do with Lin Weimin.
After spending several days, the Chinese version of "Burning" was finally completed.
Just at this time, Lin Weimin received an international call from the United States.
The caller was Joeson Williams.
Half a month ago, Lin Weimin's English version of "Burning" was mailed from the Dakota Apartment in New York, and Qiao Sen received the manuscript a few days later.
Over the past week, not only him, but also senior editors at Random House have read the manuscript of "Burning" more than once.
The opinions are unanimous. If this novel is published, it may not be a best-seller, but it is very ideological and has a high chance of winning an award.
Lin Weimin's previous novels were imported and therefore had little chance of winning any American literary awards.
The appearance of "Burning" gave Qiao Sen and Random House an opportunity.
The operating logic of publishing houses is actually similar. Apart from making money itself, the most important thing is the influence that can be created and generated.
Obviously, it would be very beneficial for Random House if it could promote a Chinese writer who has a strong influence in the United States.
As long as the novel "Burning" can win one or two major awards in the mainstream American literary world, Lin Weimin will immediately get rid of the phenomenon of "his work is popular but he is not" in the United States.
By that time, Random House will surely make a fortune thanks to its many years of cooperation with Lin Weimin.
"Yes, Lin, the editors are unanimous in not being optimistic about the prospects of this novel."
"But I believe in you. You have the ability and talent to become a world-class writer."
"Under my strong opposition, the company decided to publish the novel Burning."
"It's just that the royalties need to be negotiated, I think..."
Lin Weimin interrupted Qiao Sen.
The two have been dealing with each other for several years. Qiao Sen is a cunning guy who never tells the truth. He will take advantage of any loophole he sees, and Lin Weimin knows this very well.
So Qiao Sen was not given the opportunity to bargain. "No need to discuss royalties. If you are willing to publish it, then publish it. If you are not willing to publish it, forget it."
This is called defeating ten skills with one force!
On the other end of the phone, Qiao Sen was depressed for a long time, and finally said helplessly: "Lin, you are really not a good negotiator."
“But I’m a good partner.”
The two ended the call.
Qiao Sen plans to come to China next month, not only to sign the publishing agreement for "Burning", but also to renew the publishing contract for "Farewell My Concubine".
The publishing contract signed by Random House and Lin Weimin was for five years, and now four years have passed.
After four years of sales, the sales curve of "Farewell My Concubine" has been extremely stable, and Random House is reluctant to give up this stable cash flow.
It is a good opportunity to take advantage of the signing of the publishing contract for "Burning" to resolve the renewal issue at the same time. It is a little ahead of schedule, but it will save us from unnecessary trouble.
——
"How do you think of the manuscript?" Lin Weimin asked while drinking tea.
Lin Weimin had given the manuscript of "Burning" to Xie Mingqing a few days ago. As soon as he got to work today, Xie Mingqing went to Lin Weimin's office with the manuscript.
The story of "Burning" is based on the original novel "Barn Burning" by Haruki Murakami, including the Korean movie "Burning" adapted from the novel.
Lin Weimin felt that the name "Burning Barn" lacked some meaning, and instead found the name "Burning" inexplicably catchy.
The story is not complicated, with three protagonists, two men and one woman.
To put it simply, the rich second generation stole the local dog's materialistic girlfriend, treated the local dog's girlfriend, whom he cherished like a treasure, as a plaything, and even killed her. The local dog sent the rich second generation to hell.
The story couldn't be simpler, but it is actually more beneficial for someone like Lin Weimin who has ulterior motives to smuggle his own agenda.
In Lin Weimin's version of "Burning", the basic personalities of the three protagonists have not changed: the rich second generation, the unsophisticated man, and the gold-digger; only the background has changed slightly.
All three are Chinese. When the movement just started in the 1960s, the rich second generation and the gold diggers went to their relatives abroad to seek refuge.
Many years later, after the country's reform and opening up, Tugou went abroad to study with his own efforts.
Over the years, the families of the rich second generation have become wealthy because of their wealthy relatives, while the families of the gold-digger girls have been suffering.
Tu Gou met the gold digger again in college. Because of their previous relationship and Tu Gou's potential in studies, the gold digger started dating Tu Gou.
But the good times didn't last long. The local dog got in touch with the rich second generation through his Chinese friends. The gold-digger found a better target and fell in love with him, thinking that the rich second generation would treat her like a treasure just like the local dog.
It turned out that the rich second generation was just playing with her. The gold digger kept pestering her and even discovered the secret of the rich second generation's love for fireball. She was killed by the rich second generation.
The local dog who discovered the truth couldn't accept the reality and killed the rich second generation.
Throughout the novel, Lin Weimin's criticism of capitalism and the United States, including those intellectuals who yearn for the Western capitalist world, is naked and undisguised.
Facing Lin Weimin's question, Xie Mingqing frowned, "Why do you have to write like this?"
(End of this chapter)
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