Recently, the musical "Looking for Li Ergou" written to pay tribute to the Chinese People's Volunteer Army's War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea was premiered at the Poly Theater. Contemporary young people and volunteer soldiers met on the banks of the Yalu River in the 1950s. The heroic story of defending the country met tear-jerking music, which resonated strongly with the audience.

　　Stage performance

　　The group portrait of volunteer soldiers is cute and respectable

　　"Looking for Li Ergou" is co-produced by China Oriental Performing Arts Group and Beijing Dopamine Culture Media Co., Ltd., with Fan Chong as the chief director, lyricist and screenwriter. The play is based on real historical materials from the 116th Division of the 39th Army of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army. It uses the "Long Live Peace" medal as a clue. It tells the story of a contemporary young man Chang Weiguo returning to the bank of the Yalu River in 1950 with his grandfather's memoir. In the play, Chang Weiguo was looking for his grandfather's comrade-in-arms Li Ergou, while he became a member of the Volunteer Army, witnessing the wisdom of the Volunteer Army soldiers to defeat the strong with the weak and the courage to not fear life and death. Chang Weiguo, who was once confused, also had a spiritual dialogue across time and space with Li Ergou, who had a firm belief.

　　The curtain opened, and the heavy rock music brought the audience to the Yalu River. Volunteer soldiers from all over the motherland, speaking with accents from all over the world, walked onto the battlefield with their ideals of defending their country. "Looking for Li Ergou" depicts the battle of Yunshan, the crossing of the Linjin River, and the Haraguri blocking battle, but does not show the battlefield directly, but focuses on the trenches, showing the respect and loveliness of the volunteer soldiers.

　　In the play, each soldier in the second squad of the fourth company has different personality traits. The big machine gunner is a "wife is strict", the iron cow is always stupid, a young soldier often talks about the goats at home, and the squad leader is very majestic... When they sit around and write letters from home, the lyrical melody and down-to-earth lyrics make the audience cry; when they sing the clips of "Arilang" and "My Motherland", the theme of yearning for peace and defending the country is about to emerge.

　　Finding Li Ergou in the memoir is the main storyline of the drama, but when the group portraits of volunteer soldiers are presented on the stage, the audience has already understood, "Everyone is a hero Li Ergou." After Li Ergou appeared, Chang Weiguo, who hoped that Li Ergou would save his life, had a fierce quarrel with him. In the premiere, actor Kim Sung-kwon vividly interpreted Li Ergou's youthful spirit and determination. Jiang Dunhao, who appeared on the stage of musical for the first time, also performed Chang Weiguo's transformation from a reckless boy to a resolute warrior. In the end, Li Ergou walked onto the battlefield with a determination to die, and once again hit the audience's tears.

　　The producer of the drama Li Yaxin revealed that the reason why "Looking for Li Ergou" chose the form of "intergenerational dialogue" is to hope that the two generations of young people will truly realize their confrontation. "Only when today's confusion collides with yesterday's beliefs, the audience will touch the weight of history." At the same time, the drama also designed the turntable installation as the core of the stage, and the huge turntable that sometimes turns forward and sometimes reverses, like the gear of time, bringing the audience into that passionate era. The hanging steel cables on the stage are based on the real texture of the Yalu River Bridge. As the plot progresses, they gradually turn into a spiritual monument, telling the sacrifices of the predecessors and the memory of future generations.

　　Behind the scenes creation

　　What the heart is connected to, not “propositional composition”

　　The creation of patriotism-themed works has always been difficult, but for Fan Chong, the director, screenwriter and lyricist and songwriter of "Looking for Li Ergou", this musical is not a "propositional composition", but a creation thriller deep in his heart.

　　The same as the cultural memory of a generation, the smoke of "Shangganling" and "Heroic Children" on the screen also left a deep impression on Fan Chong's childhood memories. Many years later, when Fan Chong could skillfully use musical narrative, he finally found an outlet for artistic expression for the war theme he had been brewing for many years.

　　As early as 2020, Fan Chong wrote a proposition in his notebook, "If I had experienced that war personally", which also became the source of inspiration for "Looking for Li Ergou". After five years of preparation, he finally transformed his core questions from that year into the first musical in China on the theme of resisting U.S. aggression and aiding Korea. In the play, Fan Chong turned his attention to the 116th Division of the 39th Army in the Western Front battlefield. Not only was the battle on the Western Front rarely presented in full in popular film and television works, but he was also moved by the legendary experience of the 116th Division of the 39th Army. "As the first ace team to enter North Korea, from defeating the US Ace Cavalry Division in the first battle in Yunshan in 1950 to the Battle of Linjinjiang, they fought all five battles, becoming the most concise microcosm of the spirit of the volunteers." Fan Chong explained.

　　The spiritual power bursting out under the huge gap between the enemy and the enemy made the creative team led by Fan Chong decide to focus the narrative on these "cutest people". When Chang Weiguo traveled through time and space, fighting side by side with his young grandfather, the audience saw his excitement and trembling when he first touched the gun, and his trembling when he first faced death. The soldiers sat around to write letters from home, welcomed the New Year in artillery fire, and talked about weapons made by "Made in All Nations". These tiny daily life forms the most moving narrative incision of the play.

　　In Fan Chong's view, "If I had experienced that war" completed intergenerational dialogue. "In the theater of peacetime, young people touched the warmth of history through empathy, and the older generation also saw the inheritance of faith in the tears of young people." Reporter Han Xuan

[Editor in charge: Susan]