《牡丹亭》相約“回家”

朱旭明

四月的浙江遂昌，姹紫嫣紅。

4月8日至10日，來自海內(nèi)外的八方賓朋，歡聚山城遂昌，一同見證了氣勢恢宏、美輪美奐的2012中國遂昌湯顯祖文化節(jié)。

滿城盡唱《牡丹亭》

“原來姹紫嫣紅開遍，似這般都付于斷井頹垣，良辰美景奈何天，賞心樂事誰家院”，這優(yōu)美而熟悉的唱詞又一次縈繞在遂昌，這是各劇種《牡丹亭》“回家”藝術(shù)展演的一個場景。

遂昌是《牡丹亭》原創(chuàng)地。明朝萬歷二十一（1593）年，偉大的戲劇家、文學(xué)家湯顯祖在遂昌任縣令。萬歷二十六（1598）年棄官歸里。他在遂昌五年任內(nèi)興教勸農(nóng)、除惡緝盜、滅虎除害，湯顯祖五年善政，把遂昌治理得如同東晉陶淵明筆下的世外桃源。同時，他借俸著書，在此創(chuàng)作了不朽名著《牡丹亭》。

《牡丹亭》上承西廂，下啟紅樓，在中國乃至世界戲劇史上具有崇高的地位。它自問世起，備受人們歡迎，明代沈德符曾說“《牡丹亭夢》一出，家傳戶誦，幾令《西廂》減價”。湯顯祖自己最鐘情《牡丹亭》：“一生四夢,得意處唯在牡丹。”四百余年來，《牡丹亭》歷演不衰，影響極為深遠，在劇本、聲腔、演出風(fēng)格上就顯示出多種選擇、多種面貌，呈現(xiàn)演出的多樣性；演出戲班有宮廷戲班、家庭戲班、專業(yè)戲班、民間草臺班等；演種劇種豐富多彩，如贛劇、秦劇、豫劇、昆劇、采茶戲、歌舞劇、越劇、婺劇等。

在4月8日至10日的中國遂昌湯顯祖文化節(jié)上，原創(chuàng)地遂昌縣舉辦了各劇種《牡丹亭》“回家”藝術(shù)展演活動。浙江昆劇團、江蘇省蘇州昆劇院、江西省贛劇院、江西省撫州市采茶歌舞劇院、麗水學(xué)院文學(xué)院話劇團、遂昌縣越劇促進會、遂昌縣婺劇促進會傾情加盟，帶來了昆曲、贛劇、采茶戲、話劇、越劇和婺劇版《牡丹亭》，它們輪番上場，精彩亮相，傾情獻演，可謂滿城盡唱《牡丹亭》。

藝術(shù)家精湛演出異彩紛呈，特別是蘇州昆劇院的青春版，青年演員陸雪剛、劉煜扮演的柳夢梅、杜麗娘，在游園邂逅時表現(xiàn)纏綿的情愛，婉約柔美，絲絲入扣，動人心旌；經(jīng)過重新策劃、排演的赴英國演出版《牡丹亭》，構(gòu)思新穎，取舍有度，演藝精湛，他們傾情演繹的《牡丹亭》將演出推向高潮，讓觀眾品嘗了一道風(fēng)格迥異、表現(xiàn)多樣的文化大餐。

請《牡丹亭》集體“回家”，這是今年遂昌縣人民紀(jì)念他們的“老縣長”湯顯祖的獨特方式。與往年不同的是，在今年活動的主要嘉賓中，出現(xiàn)了幾張外國面孔，他們來自莎士比亞的故鄉(xiāng)——英國小鎮(zhèn)斯特拉夫德。兩國文化使者促成了東西方兩位戲劇大師跨越時空的相會。4月19日，遂昌縣聯(lián)合浙江昆劇團組團，赴英國演出四場《牡丹亭》。這也是全本昆曲《牡丹亭》首次在莎士比亞故鄉(xiāng)演出。

千秋遺愛滿平昌

4月8日，遂昌平昌廣場，鼓樂喧天，人頭攢動。恢宏大氣、場面震撼的文化節(jié)藝術(shù)巡展活動，精彩紛呈，亮點不斷。

巡游彩車方陣中，是各劇種《牡丹亭》人物造型亮相，反映了各劇種《牡丹亭》“回家”和歡送《牡丹亭》赴英演出的喜悅心情，各劇種的柳夢梅、杜麗娘，在花車上擺出舞臺上的不同造型，展現(xiàn)了《牡丹亭》不同版本的不同風(fēng)情。然后出現(xiàn)的臺閣方陣，反映遂昌人民懷念湯公之情，分興教辦學(xué)、勸農(nóng)耕種、滅虎除害、縱囚觀燈等。石練臺閣這種民俗表現(xiàn)形式，是遂昌石練鎮(zhèn)獨特的民間藝術(shù)，至今已有上百年歷史。這一幕場景生動有趣、驚險刺激，令觀眾嘆為觀止，個個驚奇不已。

緊隨出現(xiàn)的是遂昌昆曲十番隊。遂昌昆曲十番是在湯顯祖任遂昌知縣時得以傳播的民間藝術(shù)，至今已有400多年歷史，它以笙、簫、九云鑼、梅管、提琴、鼓板、雙清等演奏，因其演奏的曲目主要都是昆曲曲牌故稱昆曲，遂昌十番2008年被列入國家級非物資文化遺產(chǎn)保護名錄。

接著簇?fù)碇鴾@祖和莎士比亞兩位世界文化巨人的彩車隊駛?cè)肫讲龔V場中心區(qū)。世界文壇綻放著兩朵奇葩——《牡丹亭》與《羅密歐和朱麗葉》；湯顯祖與莎士比亞是輝耀于同一時期文化夜空的兩顆巨星，堪稱世界文學(xué)的兩座巍巍高峰。這次文化節(jié)上開通了湯顯祖與莎士比亞文化交流網(wǎng)，讓兩位世界大師“執(zhí)手暢敘”。

隨后展示的是《情系礦山》，表達了湯顯祖與苦難礦工深深情緣。明代礦使為征礦稅，不管礦工死活，湯顯祖不與礦使同流合污，竭力抗?fàn)帲瑢以鈾?quán)臣排斥，最后棄官回鄉(xiāng)。

最后展示的是城東蓮香隊、王村口馬燈隊、云峰旱船隊、三仁獅子隊、大柘車龍隊，他們爭奇斗艷，熱鬧非凡……

優(yōu)美的旋律，曼妙的舞姿，盛開的牡丹花，驚險的臺閣，多樣的民俗風(fēng)情，讓人目不暇接，流連忘返。

插花賞酒行勸農(nóng)

此次文化節(jié)上，獨具民俗特色的傳統(tǒng)活動“班春勸農(nóng)”，再現(xiàn)了400年前湯顯祖執(zhí)政時期大興農(nóng)事的場面，讓各方賓朋大飽眼福，直呼過癮。

4月9日上午，石練鎮(zhèn)淤溪村，旗幡獵獵。村邊的水車“吱吱”地轉(zhuǎn)動，千年古樟上綴滿寓意吉祥的茶燈；小涼亭中，身著古裝的村民們正演奏著昆曲十番；不遠處的空地上，小演員們打扮成各類神話傳說中的人物，正表演著臺閣……眼前儼然是一幅清麗的明代山鄉(xiāng)圖。

在這樣一個“紅杏深花，菖蒲淺芽”的晴好天氣，遂昌知縣“湯顯祖”正在主持“班春”儀式，他率領(lǐng)眾衙役備酒置花，帶了春鞭，下鄉(xiāng)勸農(nóng)。正如他詩中所說“家家官里給春鞭，要爾鞭牛學(xué)種田。盛與花枝各留賞，迎頭喜勝在新年”。在表演中，宣讀祭春文，春牛出欄，插花賞酒，贈春鞭，打春鞭，舞草龍……在這些活動中，“酒神”、“花神”向觀眾分春餅等食物,將“班春勸農(nóng)”推向高潮，歡聲笑語響成一片……隨后，春茶舞、謝茶舞、春鞭舞、春牛舞依次上演，這些由石練鎮(zhèn)農(nóng)民自己表演的舞蹈，將農(nóng)事活動與音樂節(jié)奏很好地結(jié)合起來，展現(xiàn)了村民快樂勞作的場景。

湯顯祖還將自己“班春勸農(nóng)”的場景寫進了《牡丹亭》的第八出《勸農(nóng)》，描寫了南安太守杜寶下鄉(xiāng)勸農(nóng)，呈現(xiàn)出“官里醉流霞，風(fēng)前笑插花”的熱鬧場景。近年來，遂昌縣對這一民俗活動進行挖掘和傳承，并已成功申報為國家級非物質(zhì)文化遺產(chǎn)。

千秋遺愛滿平昌。幾百年過去了，遂昌人民依然惦記著400年前曾經(jīng)任過父母官的湯顯祖：一次次上演他的名著《牡丹亭》；朗誦著他在這片土地上寫就的美好詩篇；人們尊稱他為湯公；遂昌人愛喝的酒叫湯公玉茗酒；城市的路命名為牡丹亭路、君子路；這里盛產(chǎn)的名茶是湯公所題的龍谷茶……□

Suichang Holds Tang Xianzu Festival in April

By Zhu Xuming

The 2012 China Suichang Tang Xianzu Festival was held in Su-ichang, a rural county in southern Zhejiang Province from April 8 through 10. Tang Xianzu (1550-1616) served as county magistrate in Suichang from 1593 to 1598. During his stay in the county, he wrote “The Peony Pavilion”, widely recognized as the most cel-ebrated play of Kunqu Opera, which is a UNESCO world intangible heritage. In the history of Chinese literature, “The Peony Pavilion” is an all-time masterpiece. After it was published, it was read eve-rywhere and troupes across the country vied each other in staging their versions of the play. Tangs masterpiece has enjoyed popular-ity over the last 400 years. It has evolved into plays of various re-gional operas and it has been staged by royal troupes and grassroots family troupes.

The three-day festival in Suichang this year attracted six troupes to stage their versions of “The Peony Pavilion.” They were Zhe-jiang Kunqu Opera Troupe, Suzhou Kunqu Opera Troupe, Jiangxi Ganju Opera Troupe, Wuzhou Caicha Opera Troupe, and the Mod-ern Drama Troupe of Liberal Arts School of Lishui Academy. Two Yueju Opera amateur groups in Suichang County participated in the shows. The troupe from Suzhou staged a youth version specially choreographed for British audiences. The audience in Suichang was lucky enough to watch the preview.

On the morning of April 8, a parade was at held at Pingchang Square in Suichang. Floats displayed the hero and heroine of “The Peony Pavilion” from participating troupes. After the floats were costumed figures standing high on sedans; they highlighted what Tang Xianzu did during his service as county magistrate in Su-ichang. After the sedan team came a music band playing ten Kunqu Opera pieces. The performance is said to have started during Tangs tenure in Suichang. The music piece is now a national intangible heritage under the state protection as of 2008. After the music band came two floats, one honoring Shakespeare and the other honoring Tang Xianzu. After the two floats were a group of floats that showed how Tang Xianzu tried to reduce heavy taxes on local mining in-dustry. Bringing up the rear of the parade were performing teams of local villages. They showed lions and dragons, lanterns and boats.

For Suichang, Tang Xianzu is more than a playwright. The 43-year-old Tang came to Suichang in 1593. According to the records of that time, landlocked Suichang was sparsely populated and the governments annual revenue was negligible. The area was so remote and wild that tigers sometimes menaced mountain vil-lages. Thieves and bandits were a common sight. After his arrival at the county, the first thing Tang did was to visit the Confucius Temple in the county and local scholars and influential personages. He restored education, cracked down on bandits and thieves, hunted tigers, and brought de facto local rulers under control. He also conducted taxation reform, levying fair taxes and forcing wealthy families to pay up the previous taxes they should have paid. During the five years he served as county magistrate, he promoted agricul-ture diligently. Many historians attribute to Tang the local peoples passion for singing and dancing and other folk festivities. The ten Kunqu Opera musical pieces popular in Suichang can be traced back to Tang Xianzu.

It is said that Tang Xianzu held a springtime festival to mark the beginning of farming season. He and other officials went to farm-lands and performed rituals, gave away gifts, and entertained farm-ers in a bid to promote agriculture and pray for harvest. At Tang Xianzu Festival this year, Tangs ritual, as restored and newly cho-reographed, was staged at Yuxi Village, Shilian Town on the morn-ing of April 9. The village was decorated with banners fluttering in a breeze; a waterwheel turned, making creaky noises in a stream; a giant camphor tree was adorned with many lanterns; village musi-cians played ten Kunqu Opera pieces at a pavilion; children dressed in costumes stood on sedans carried by adults and paraded. Then villagers staged dances and rituals to reproduce artistically how they work farmlands. Guests and local people flocked to Yuxi to watch the springtime festival at the village. They applauded the shows.

The annual Tang Xianzu Festival is now a part of the countys cultural development strategy. His influence can be seen in Su-ichang: two streets are named after the playwright; a local tea is named by him and marketed with a brand name in his handwriting; a local wine is named after him; his poems are widely read and cited; and “The Peony Pavilion” is frequently performed. □