Punch lines and happy endings
Updated: 2011-11-29 10:45
By Chen Nan (China Daily)
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Chen Peisi has remained devoted to making original comedies for the past 10 years. Zou Hong / China Daily |
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Chen Peisi (second from left) directs and acts in Ridiculous Dinner, based on the French play Le Diner de Cons (The Dinner Game). Provided to China Daily |
Veteran comedian Chen Peisi introduces the upcoming Beijing Comedy Festival. Chen Nan takes notes.
Comedy comes easily to Chen Peisi. Since he got his first big break performing the skit, Eating Noodles, on 1984's CCTV Spring Festival Gala, he has developed into a star turn.
When the 57-year-old walks into a theater rehearsal room on a recent afternoon in Beijing, he greets everyone with his narrow, smiling eyes.
Dressed in a pair of black-and-white cloth shoes, gray cotton pants and shirt, he looks like an old-fashioned waiter. When he scratches his newly shaved head, everyone laughs.
"Thanks for your time, my dear customers. I am happy to see all of you today," he says. "I would rather call this press conference a sales promotion. The eight programs are like eight dishes, which I am going to recommend to you. They are healthy, delicious and most importantly, will make you laugh and keep you young."
He enthusiastically talks up the Beijing Comedy Festival, which will be held from Dec 28 to early January 2012. He founded the popular festival in 2009.
For the second comedy festival, Chen, who is artistic director, says he is confident about its success.
"I know how to make Chinese audiences laugh, and I can tell when they are going to laugh," he says, his small eyes sparkling.
"All you need to do is to come, sit down and laugh. Don't forget to bring some tissues because you are going to laugh until you cry."
For the 2009 festival, Chen presented seven original plays. This year, he intends to debut more original shows from China, in addition to shows from the United States and France that have been adapted for local audiences.
He will also introduce Liyuan Opera, an 800-year-old art form, which he describes as "the ancestor of contemporary comedy".
Chen watched the play, Dong Sheng and Li Shi, during a trip to Fujian province in late 2009. The romantic comedy was performed by the Liyuan Opera Experimental Troupe of Fujian, founded in 1953.
"When I first saw it, I was shocked. The drumbeats match the characters' moves. The actors' performances are so vivid. Most of the scenes have no conversation, but the rich body language reflects the roles' inner worlds. Even the wrinkles on the face of the actor speak of his thoughts," Chen says.
"Watching Liyuan Opera made me feel like I had found the root of our comedies."
Wang Renjie, the scriptwriter of Dong Sheng and Li Shi, says the original music and stage idioms of Liyuan Opera have been retained, while there are also modern comic elements.
Since the play is performed in Fujian's local dialect, there will be subtitles. To further ensure audiences understand the story, Chen will also give a voice-over.
Chen's long-term friend, Bai Yu, who has starred in many popular comic TV dramas, will perform his latest one-man show, Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus.
Bai will switch roles (both male and female) in the nearly two-hour show, based on John Gray's best-selling book of the same title.
"It's a challenge," says Bai, who previously starred in Chen's comic drama, Ridiculous Dinner, which will also be performed during the comedy festival.
Bai, who adapts, directs and acts in the play, says though the book was written by an American author, his performance will have Chinese angles.
"For example, Chinese men tend to be protective and reserved. Chinese women are soft and sentimental. These differences will produce dramatic comic effects," Bai says.
"I have observed the differences between men and women for months now, from hand gestures to the way food is ordered."
Introducing original Chinese comedies and new comedians has been one of Chen's goals since he started the festival.
Breakup Master, the latest work from renowned comedy scriptwriter Yu Baimei, will be part of the comedy festival.
The romantic comedy has been staged more than 160 times since December 2010. It revolves around the troubled love stories of several young men and women. Hot topics tackled in the show include the new marriage law and high housing prices.
Chen says the plays he has chosen for the comedy festival, though they all come from different cultural backgrounds, have one thing in common: happy endings.
"For example, though the Breakup Master teaches people how to break up, the lovers stay together in the end," Chen says.
Comedy not only provokes laughter,but also should make you think, Chen says.
"Chinese audiences have lots of choices when it comes to shows that make you laugh," he says. "People need to laugh in this high-pressure social environment. Lots of small drama companies are popping up, and you can watch comedy performances nearly every day."
Chen, however, points out that only good comedies with sincere thoughts can make people laugh from their hearts. Plain jokes and rigid plots are not the true spirit of comedy, he says.