Chapter 59 People's Art Theatre Invitation

Starting from the 20th, some print media such as China Youth Daily, Beijing Evening News, and Beijing News have successively published an advertisement.

The new drama "Duds" will be staged at the Capital Theatre at 7pm on December 25th!

As a play performed entirely by students from the Central Academy of Drama, normally speaking, there is nothing particularly attractive about it.

But this time it is different, the playwright and director Liu Zhou is a very popular person.

As one of the most popular young writers in China, many book fans have always been paying close attention to Liu Zhou's information.

Before, everyone knew that Liu Zhou was a student of the Central Academy of Drama. Now Liu Zhou has changed his identity and produced a drama, which has also aroused everyone's interest.

Because Liu Zhou hasn't published a new book in almost half a year since he published "Better Days".

In fact, this period of time is not that long, but Liu Zhou had only written new books in a short time before, which has spoiled the appetites of book fans.

Unexpectedly, he didn't write a novel but instead put on a drama. No wonder he has no time to write a new book.

Most of Liu Zhou's fans are young people, and this group actually rarely watches plays.

However, because of Liu Zhou, some book fans still want to see Liu Zhou's drama works even if they don't like them.

Therefore, the focus of publicity for this drama is on Liu Zhou, which means that Liu Zhou is now the man who single-handedly carries the box office.

Liu Zhou also spared no effort for this publicity. He not only personally contacted the China Youth Daily, with which he had a good relationship, but also placed an advertisement in the Beijing News, a newspaper with which he was not on good terms.

There is no way around it. The sales volume of Beijing News is second to none in the Beijing area.

The Beijing News was quite surprised by Liu Zhou's visit, but still received him warmly and gave him a discount on advertising fees.

But the next day, the Beijing News hung an advertisement for Liu Zhou's drama and also took up space to publish a report that slandered Liu Zhou.

Now Liu Zhou has some understanding of why the Beijing News became so popular in later generations.

They are not targeting anyone intentionally, they are just targeting those with high popularity.

To put it bluntly, everything is for traffic!
People now understand the concept of traffic, but their peers are still insisting on media ethics. If it’s not popular, who will be popular?

One hundred thousand yuan in advertising fees was not worth spending, but relying on Liu Zhou's meager face, the advertisement was still placed in several major newspapers for five days.

The effect of advertising in major newspapers was also obvious. On the first day of the advertisement, many people came to buy tickets.

Although most of the people here are young people, there are also many drama lovers who come to inquire and even buy tickets.

In less than three days, all tickets for the first show except the reserved seats were sold out, and tickets for the second and even third shows have already started selling.

After receiving this news from the Capital Theatre, Liu Zhou finally felt relieved.

It seems that my money was not wasted.

Time slowly came to Christmas Day, December 25th.

Today's Christmas is just a simple Western festival, not as grand as it became in later generations.

Liu Zhou brought the crew to the Capital Theatre in the afternoon.

Although they had already rehearsed here yesterday morning, Liu Zhou still wanted them to familiarize themselves with the venue.

It was six o'clock, Qin Hao and the others went to put on makeup, and the entrance began to check tickets.

Before the drama began, quite a few audience members had already arrived, including some reporters invited by Liu Zhou, whose tickets were given by Liu Zhou.

Then the important people finally started to arrive.

The first to arrive were Liu Zhou's homeroom teacher, Mr. Huang, and Mr. Chang Li. What shocked Liu Zhou was that they came with President Xu.

No wonder Lao Huang had so seriously reminded himself to act well before.

Liu Zhou immediately stepped forward and said hello:

"President Xu, you are here too."

"Xiao Liu, don't you welcome me over?"

"Of course not. Your presence here is the greatest affirmation to me."

Who is Xu Xiaozhong?

He is a student of Mr. Cao Yu, a leading figure in the Chinese drama industry. He is also a highly respected figure in the industry. Not to mention that he has served as the president of the Central Academy of Drama for more than ten years. It is no exaggeration to say that he has many students all over the world.

"Xiao Liu, I've heard of your name a long time ago. Don't feel pressured. Just act well."

"Don't worry, President Xu, we will definitely be more motivated with your presence."

"Haha, okay, go greet the others first, we'll go sit over there first."

Soon after, Pu Cunxin and Song Dandan from Beijing People's Art Theatre came in with Hu Jun, He Bing, Xu Fan and several other students who graduated from the Central Academy of Drama.

Finally, two of Teacher Chang Li’s favorite students, Chen Baoguo and Guo Tao, also arrived.

Although Chen Baoguo had not yet starred in the two TV series "The Mansion Gate" and "The Emperor of Han Wu" that established his status, he is still quite popular now.

Guo Tao may be less famous now, as he is currently performing in a drama with Meng Jinghui, but he is still well-known in the industry.

Liu Zhou naturally went over and greeted them warmly one by one. Maybe they didn't come for his sake, but since they came, they were there to support him.

Although Liu Zhou is only a junior student at the Central Academy of Drama, he is still a popular young writer, so these people are also enthusiastic about Liu Zhou.

Looking at the scene, we can see that although the media reporters took photos of these heavyweight audiences, the name that the ordinary audience shouted the most was Liu Zhou's. Liu Zhou certainly would not ignore the enthusiasm of the fans and personally went over to express his gratitude.

After greeting the fans, audience and guests, Liu Zhou also found a seat and sat down.

Soon after, the lights dimmed and the drama began.

The performance was not even halfway through but the audience was already laughing from time to time, and when the performance reached the exciting parts, they burst into laughter.

Many book fans who came to watch the play because of Liu Zhou never thought that the play could be so funny.

In their existing impression, dramas are more literary and elegant but also boring.

It's cheaper to go to a movie than to go to a play.

But I didn't expect that a drama could be performed so funny. I thought that Liu Zhou is really talented and can shine in any field.

Compared to these ordinary audiences, the bigwigs in the industry might not have such a low sense of humor and they were watching seriously the whole time. However, He Bing and a few younger people like Hu Jun would laugh out loud from time to time.

For the performance at the Capital Theatre, Liu Zhou polished the lines, costumes and props.

For example, during the previous school performance, the donkey was just a simple prop.

After all, due to the limitations of the stage, it is impossible for you to lead a real donkey on stage. You can only make a simple concrete prop so that everyone can understand it.

For example, real fire cannot appear on the stage, so you can use red satin instead, and blow air from underneath, which is also very vivid.

This time, Liu Zhou asked the prop team to make a moving donkey. Of course, it was still a prop, but there was a person inside it.

This 'donkey' is just a puppet costume, but the movements, maybe because of Dang Hao's excellent acting skills, coupled with the makeup, make it unexpectedly look very cute.

It's the word that people use later on, silly and cute, it melted the hearts of many audiences and reporters, and there was constant laughter.

It took Liu Zhou several attempts to let Dang Hao play this role.

He had previously gone to film "That Mountain, That Man, That Dog" with Liu Ye, but he was a supporting role, so he came back first.

At that time, the role in "Duds Get Water" had already been decided, so after he came back he could only help with the announcement. This time, in addition to the announcement, he was also cordially invited to play Lü Deshui.

Now it seems that this was indeed a very correct choice.

As the plot unfolds, characters begin to appear one by one, and the audience goes from laughing at the beginning to silence.

Even some of the more sentimental young fans couldn't help but shed tears, especially when Zhang Yiman committed suicide after being driven crazy.

After watching the second half, some of them are still young and may not be able to fully understand what it expresses, but they just feel very depressed.

However, the reporters and drama lovers in the front row noticed something that surprised them very much.

I never thought that students from the Central Academy of Drama could produce such an outstanding drama.

Especially Liu Zhou, who wrote and directed the play and is also a popular writer. Everyone has to admire his outstanding talent.

As the curtain on the stage slowly fell, the play officially ended.

There was immediate warm applause from the audience, and even the guests in the front row did not hesitate to applaud.

The actors also returned to the stage to thank the audience.

After watching this drama, not to mention Hu Jun and He Bing, even Chen Baoguo had a new respect for Liu Zhou.

After the actors left the show, Chen Baoguo specifically chatted with Liu Zhou and they exchanged contact information. This was completely different from the enthusiasm he showed when they first met, and it was obvious that he recognized Liu Zhou as a person.

Pu Cunxin and Song Dandan also came over and said with a smile:

"Liu Zhou, you should know me too. Are you interested in coming to Beijing People's Art Theatre after graduation?"

"Who wouldn't want to work at such a good institution as Beijing People's Art Theatre? It's the place that students at the Central Academy of Drama aspire to go to the most. But I haven't graduated yet, so it's too early to talk about this."

"It's not too early. You can think about it carefully. You can also come to Beijing People's Art Theater to have a look when you have time."

"No problem. When I graduate, I will definitely make Beijing People's Art Theatre my first choice. I'm just afraid that I won't be able to get in."

"No, just based on this play, we can allow you to enter the People's Art Theatre without taking an exam."

Liu Zhou was indeed a little flattered. He didn't expect Pu Cunxin to value him so much.

But Liu Zhouzhi is not here. The Beijing People's Art Theatre is not like the National Theatre. You just have to pay some money to put your name there, and then make movies and TV series as you like.

So people like Zhang Ziyi, Liu Ye and others are all enrolled in the National Theatre and then go out to film.

Of course, this presupposes that you can be admitted to the National Theatre of China. As the drama unit second only to the Beijing People’s Art Theatre, the examination is also very strict.

But it’s different with the Beijing People’s Art Theatre. Although you can go out to film, you still have performance assignments every year. If you don’t come often, you will be fired.

The Beijing People's Art Theatre was even stricter before. Once you entered the Beijing People's Art Theatre, you were not allowed to go out to film within seven years.

"Thank you, Mr. Pu, for your appreciation. I will consider it carefully."

Pu Cunxin patted Liu Zhou on the shoulder and left with Song Dandan.

Finally, it was Dean Xu and his group. Although he didn't say a lot of compliments, a single "not bad" before he left made Liu Zhou very happy.

Liu Zhou sent President Xu and his teacher to the theater entrance, and then went back to reunite with the crew.

(End of this chapter)