Former title: Chekhov and Hitchcock's "onstage" interview with Zhang Hui, director of the drama "2:22"

China News Network, Beijing, April 30 (Reporter Gao Kai) A single scene, four main actors, a clock approaching the "ultimate moment", an intensive dialogue with rich meanings - the Chinese version of the play "2:22" recently ended its first round performance at Beijing Poly Theater. At the same time, the audience felt the Hitchcock style suspense thriller and the Chekhov style cold analysis of life on this stage, with a long taste.

The original drama "2:22" premiered in the Noel Coward Theatre in August 2021, and soon became the dark horse in the drama works in the West End of London. It won many professional awards. It gained a large number of audiences with its description of family life, speculation of the emotional relationship of the characters and discussion of the nature of human nature under the background of suspense and horror. At present, the play has been produced in the United States, South Korea, Australia, Singapore and other countries.

2:22, the first Chinese version of the play, was directed by Zhang Hui, a young Chinese drama director.

Danny Robbins, the screenwriter of 2:22, has a very profound knowledge and comedy performance background, which also makes his script writing very solid and the plot is ingenious. He buried rich and meticulous multidisciplinary knowledge in the story of 2:22. At the same time, his characters are very lifelike, and his lines are sharp and humorous. The reverse collision between daily scenes and supernatural phenomena has also become a highlight of the play.

For this second creation, Zhang Hui said in an interview that the maturity and solidity of the original script had become the best foundation for the stage presentation. "(The original script) most moved me because of its objective understanding of the world. It did not deliberately beautify or narrow anyone in order to express an ultimate goal." In Zhang Hui's opinion, although the play has elements of suspense and horror, But the characters and life in the play are not simplified or one-sided.

In the process of adapting the Chinese version, Zhang Hui and her team chose to respect the original work as much as possible, and strive to ensure the continuity of the story and the unity of the characters, so that the Chinese audience can better understand and accept.

Zhang Hui admitted that the stage presentation of 2:22 has many "differences". For example, the stage is always a single scene and there are a lot of dialogues, "The A4 page of the whole script is more than 90 pages. The story takes place in one night, and the characters are talking incessantly. In the first half, there is no obvious so-called plot advance. This requires that every line should find its very precise situation, and actors should present it with the most authentic and vivid performance, otherwise it will become boring, or even unintelligible".

"We have spent a lot of energy to explore the deep logic and meaning of each dialogue, find ways to present what is hidden behind the dialogue in a real, fresh and accurate way, which may be a difficult point in the creation, but it is also a very interesting part of the work." Zhang Hui said.

In 2:22, a large number of dialogues between you and me contain the creator's extremely rich multidimensional thinking. Desire, ego, gender relations, changes in social civilization, the source of human fear, etc., make the stage of the original single scene not only not appear monotonous, but also seem to have unlimited extension.

While the amount of information is quite large, many lines of 2:22 also involve a lot of psychological, historical and cultural content, including British style humor and ridicule. Talking about how to overcome relevant "obstacles", Zhang Hui said that, on the one hand, this is a very current play. Although the play is about the life of a middle-class couple in London, in fact, due to the extensive communication of global cultural information and frequent information exchange on the Internet, people are not unfamiliar with each other's lives in many situations, "It is very easy for us to regard 'London's people' as' us around us', so our creation this time respects the original works very much".

At the same time, Zhang Hui said that the translation of the script was very good, which accurately restored the dialogue situation of the characters in the script in real life. "In the process of re creation, I and the actors further explore what the specified situation of the character is at this moment, why he/she suddenly said such a sentence, and in this process, there will also be some fine adjustments based on the original translation. The ultimate goal is to hope that the audience can immediately feel what is happening at the moment when they hear the lines, rather than just hearing the words. "

The solid script and excellent translation provide a good basis for the production of the Chinese version, and the delicacy of the director and the skill of the actors have also brought many bonuses. In terms of dance beauty vision, the main creative team also has many ingenious designs, hoping to present the original British living room drama to the audience.

In Zhang Hui's opinion, for the Chinese version of 2:22, the relevant knowledge reserves and cultural differences will not cause the real loss of information between the stage and the audience.

As for the special temperament of 2:22, Zhang Hui concluded that "people who like Chekhov may like to watch it, and people who like both Chekhov and Hitchcock may prefer to watch it".