《梅兰芳与布莱希特·梅裳之镜》戏曲篇 Original

Work by Yan Weixu, Yang Qingqing Studio, Shanghai Theatre Academy.Mr. Mei Lanfang was a pioneer who introduced Chinese opera to the world. He influenced numerous Western theatre masters and embodied the value of Eastern aesthetics in global cross-cultural dialogue.
Inspired by the costume patterns of the Mei School of Chinese opera, this work carries forward the classic cross-cultural dialogue between Eastern and Western theatres, and conducts intertextual creation of diverse cultures with opera costume patterns as the core essence.
Centered on the stage costumes from Mei Lanfang’s classic repertoires, the work establishes a system integrating cultural datasets with digital intelligent exhibitions, forming a closed loop from static academic research to dynamic artistic interpretation.
The digital intelligent performance MEI LANFANG AND BERTOLT BRECHT·MEI'S ECHOES integrates traditional opera costumes with modern suits via digital and intelligent technologies. It creates an artistic form featuring the integration of physical installations and digital content, builds a narrative artistic conception of "garments as curtains, shadows as dramas", and explores the internal connections between tradition and modernity, the East and the West.
Combining digital imagery with live performance interaction, the work pays tribute to Mei Lanfang’s artistic spirit of upholding tradition while pursuing innovation, and explores the contemporary path of integrating "Future Theatre Studies" with technology.
Mei Lanfang, Bertolt Brecht and Konstantin Stanislavski are collectively known as the three major theatrical systems of the world. Taking the historical ideological encounter between Mei Lanfang and Brecht as the narrative thread, the work presents in-depth reflections on cross-cultural aesthetics. Incorporated into the design is Joy Ascending Plum Branches, a painting by President Xiong Fuxi, which commemorates the historical bond of Mei Lanfang’s charity performance in support of Shanghai Theatre Academy.
Blending opera and drama performance as well as dynamic video imagery, the work constructs a cross-time dialogue between classic characters. It integrates the pattern aesthetics of the Mei School with Western theatrical aesthetics, practices the creative transformation of traditional culture, and empowers the innovation and rejuvenation of opera art in the digital era.