Beijing-flavored comedy ‘Yinding Bridge’ – A tale of silver ingots at the bridgehead, discussing right and wrong within a complex situation, spanning across time and space to encounter old Beijing today. Full of twists and turns, interweaving sorrow and joy to narrate the past and present. Praise and criticism, often finding characters from the play in the audience.
Director: Lin Zhaohua Lin Zhaohua, a renowned Chinese drama director, has served as a member of the Beijing People’s Art Theatre’s Art Committee and Vice President, as well as the Executive Director of the Chinese Dramatists Association. He graduated from the Performance Department of the Central Academy of Drama and began his directing career in the late 1970s after initially entering Beijing People’s Art Theatre as an actor, directing over eighty stage works to date. Lin Zhaohua’s works such as ‘Absolute Signal’, ‘Station’, and ‘Wild Man’ from the early to mid-1980s sparked an experimental drama trend in China, breaking through traditional Chinese realism in terms of drama literature, theatrical form, and ideological content, officially opening the door for Chinese contemporary drama to enter the modernist phase. Directorial works include: Drama (Domestic) ‘Absolute Signal’, ‘Red and White Joys’, ‘Wild Man’, ‘The Reincarnation of Doggy’, ‘Birdman’, ‘Ruan Lingyu’, ‘Chess Player’, ‘Antique’, ‘Endless Love and Moonlight’, ‘New Stories’, ‘Toilet’, ‘The Orphan of Zhao’, ‘White Deer Plain’, ‘Birdman’, ‘One Bird Six Lives’, ‘Yinding Bridge’, etc. Drama (International) ‘Sergeant Shrek in World War II’, ‘Hamlet’, ‘Emperor Romulus’, ‘Faust’, ‘Three Sisters Waiting for Godot’, ‘Richard III’, ‘The Cherry Orchard’, ‘The Master Builder’, ‘General Coriolanus’, etc. Words from the Playwright: I am a native Beijinger, born too late to experience the time when our family’s residence had its own gate. Since I can remember, it’s been about hutongs, siheyuan, locust flowers, and fermented bean curd with fried dough sticks. Both our parents’ generation and ours have watched ‘Teahouse’, and we all have a strong Beijing complex. By a stroke of luck, I got to know Yu Wu, who runs a restaurant by Shichahai, and I’ve been eating at his place for three years, turning from a customer into a good friend. The original intention of creating ‘Yinding Bridge’ was simple: Yu Wu’s restaurant closed, and my friends and I can no longer enjoy such authentic Beijing home-cooked dishes. If this story isn’t written down, these everyday trivialities will soon be submerged in the long river of time. I am grateful for Teacher Lin Zhaohua’s affirmation and help to a newcomer. Under his careful guidance, the script’s subplots have been reduced, and the main line has gradually become clear. ‘Yinding Bridge’ is a contemporary Beijinger’s attempt to record and reflect on Beijing culture. ‘Playwright Profile: Cui Shiyun, playwright and director, winner of the International Drama Academy Award for Outstanding Play, representative works: the play ‘Yinding Bridge’, the musical ‘Procrastination’.Director’s works include: musical drama ‘GHETTO’, etc.
Plot introduction: Beside Yinding Bridge in Beijing, Yu Wu, an ordinary little person who runs a restaurant diligently, is involved in an absurd scam in order to protect his ancestral property. In this ridiculous puzzle, everyone is playing the role they think they should play, but due to the drive of interests, they eventually return to their original selves. It seems that nothing has changed, and it seems that everything will pass. Standing on Yinding Bridge, watching the ripples spread and then return to calm, watching the cooking smoke rise and then disappear without a trace, watching the fickleness of the world and the various states of all living beings rise and fall. Characters: Yu Wu – The owner and chef of ‘Yu Family’s Meat and Vegetable Restaurant’ beside Yinding Bridge. Everyone calls him Fifth Brother. Fifth Sister-in-law – Yu Wu’s wife. A Beijing elder sister-in-law. She is shrewd and warm-hearted. Dayun – The lead singer of a band. Runs a small record store by Yinding Bridge. A rock youth. Zhao Dawei – A real estate agent. Once an old neighbor of Yinding Bridge. Made a fortune by speculating in old Beijing hutong properties.Mr. Qing – Yu Wu’s old classmate and childhood friend. Also an old neighbor of Yinding Bridge. An antique dealer.
Meng Tian – The only daughter of the Meng family, an old neighbor of Yu Wu. A freelance writer.
Fang Yuan – A small leader in a government agency. A frequent visitor to Yu’s restaurant.
Lao Pan – The owner of a small grocery store by Yinding Bridge. A drunkard.
Bingbing – Zhao Dawei’s new girlfriend. Highlights of the play:
– A masterpiece of realism by director Lin Zhaohua, showing the various states of modern Beijing.
– ‘Stage god’ Ni Dahong and ‘queen of drama’ Shi Ke perform on the same stage, giving audiences a great treat.
– Is it a nested scheme within a scheme or a ridiculous farce?
– Rich in Beijing traditional culture. Yinding Bridge’s Meat and Vegetable Restaurant reopens with an upgrade.
Highlights of the play:
Plot: Tight plot, smooth connection. Rich old Beijing charm. In this ridiculous puzzle, watch the fickleness of the world and the various states of all living beings rise and fall.
Characters: Telling the story of ‘little people’. Vividly depicting ‘human heart’ and ‘desire’. Very close to current life.
Cast: Directed by Lin Zhaohua. Works by great directors are always excellent. Veteran actors Ni Dahong and Shi Ke reunite. Young and powerful drama actors gather. Hao Yun joins strongly. Double guarantee of word-of-mouth and box office.
Popularity: More than 200 performances across the country. Box office is booming. Feedback is enthusiastic. Audience is extensive.
Upgrade: Reasonable adjustment of script content. Newly made stage design and costumes. New faces in the cast.
Awards won:
– In 2015, the drama ‘Yinding Bridge’ won the top ten box office of newly created grand theater dramas in China.
– In 2015, Ni Dahong of ‘Yinding Bridge’ was selected as the best actor by ‘The Beijing News’.
– In 2017, actress Shi Ke won the Best Leading Role award at the 7th International Drama ‘Academy Award’ for her performance in ‘Yinding Bridge’. – In 2017, the play ‘Yinding Bridge’ was awarded the Outstanding Play award at the 7th International Drama ‘Academy Award’. – Actor Ni Dahong plays Yu Wu, a mainland Chinese actor who graduated from the Central Academy of Drama. He is the recipient of the 17th Chinese Drama Plum Blossom Award, the 9th Wenhua Award, nominated for Best Leading Actor at the 47th Taiwan Golden Horse Awards, Best Leading Actor at the 25th Shanghai TV Festival Magnolia Awards, and the 14th Chinese Film Performance Art Society Golden Phoenix Award, among others. He is honored as a ‘Glorious Artist’ by the National Theatre of China and enjoys a special government allowance from the State Council. His theatrical works include ‘Yinding Bridge’, ‘Requiem’, ‘Balcony’, ‘Faust’, ‘Hamlet’, ‘Emperor Romulus’, ‘A Doll’s House’, ‘Heroic Age’, ‘Zhao’s Orphan’, ‘Life and Death’, and ‘Bedbug’. His film works include ‘I Love You!’, ‘Cliff Walker’, ‘1921’, ‘Curse of the Golden Flower’, ‘The Flowers of War’, ‘A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop’, ‘The Long Road to Xia’, ‘To Live’, ‘Border Storm’, and ‘Loach’. His TV series works include ‘Rush’, ‘Eighty-Ninety’, ‘All Is Well’, ‘Glory and Dream’, ‘Qiao’s Courtyard’, ‘Faraway Goal’, ‘The Rise of Phoenixes’, ‘Under the Sun’, ‘Nirvana in Fire’, ‘The New Three Kingdoms’, and ‘Beiping’s No War’. – Actress Shi Ke plays Wu Sao, a mainland Chinese actress who graduated from the Performance Department of the Central Academy of Drama. She has received the Best Actress award at the Romanian Film Festival, the Best Actress award at the 1st Chinese Drama Ceremony, the Best Leading Role award at the 7th International Drama Academy Award, and the Outstanding Actor award at the 7th China TV Good Actor Award, among others. In 1988, she made her debut in the role of Meiyu, the female lead in the dramatic film ‘The Killer’s Romance’. She also starred in the film ‘Rock Youth’ in the same year and is known as one of the ‘Five Golden Flowers’ of the Central Academy of Drama. Her theatrical works include ‘Yinding Bridge’, ‘Sunrise’, ‘Dream of the Dream’, ‘Desire Under the Elms’, ‘Thunderstorm – After’, ‘Happy Letter Collection’, ‘Sword Casting’, and ‘Women, Women’. Her film works include ‘Wind and Waves’, ‘The Woman Who Smuggled’, ‘Aunt’s Postmodern Life’, ‘Her UFO in the Eyes’, ‘Special Operating Room’, ‘The Killer’s Romance’, and ‘Suspension Love’. Her TV series works include ‘Dragon City’, ‘Jiangzhao Dawn’, ‘Shangyang Fu’, ‘Ask the Sky’, ‘Dear Mayang Street’, ‘The Most Beautiful Rebels’, ‘Return’, ‘Addiction’, ‘Iron Chrysanthemum’, ‘Red Woman’, ‘Bloody Sunset’, ‘Brave Heart’, and ‘Young Doctors’. – Hao Yun plays Dayun, an original singer with the most stage band charm. He seems to have no boundaries in any form of stage performance. He has performed at the concert hall of the Central Conservatory of Music and the Perth Concert Hall in Scotland. He has also broken the popularity records on the stages of major rock music festivals, always bringing the atmosphere to a boiling point.
His lyrics are humorous, nostalgic and simple. His music is naughty on the surface but pure at heart. He is Hao Yun. Representative works include ‘To Live’, ‘Go to Dali’, ‘Married’, ‘Suddenly Think of the Word Ideal’ and so on.
Xu Wenguang plays Qing Yuejin/Mr. Qing. He is a national first-class actor, chairman of the film and television company of the National Theatre of China, and director of the actor center. Vice president of the Actors Committee of the China Radio and Television Organization Federation. Member of the Chinese Dramatists Association, Television Artists Association, Chinese Film Artists Association, Drama Research Association and Recitation Research Association. Won the Best Supporting Actor Award at the third ‘Wenrong Award’ for his role as Mu Jian in ‘The Legend of Miyue’, won the eighth ‘National Virtuous and Artistic TV Artist’ award granted by the China Television Artists Association, and the title of ‘Honored Artist’ of the National Theatre of China. Drama works: ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, ‘Spicy and Fragrant’, ‘People Are Different from Each Other’, ‘Ma Jun’s Martyrdom’, ‘Spring Begins’, ‘Yinding Bridge’, ‘Temple of Beijing Fa Yuan’, ‘Northern Lights’ and so on. TV drama works: ‘The Legend of Miyue’, ‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms’, ‘A Legend of Chu and Han’, ‘In the Name of the People’, ‘Inspection Tour Team’ and so on. Ma Zhuojun plays Meng Tian. Graduated from the acting major of the Central Academy of Drama. Drama works: ‘William and I’, ‘Three Sisters·Waiting for Godot’, ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, ‘The Cherry Orchard’, ‘Evolution’, ‘Once There Was a Temple’, ‘Landmine Warfare 2.0’, ‘Frankenstein’, ‘Yinding Bridge’, ‘Approaching’ and so on. Director works: ‘Classic of Mountains and Seas’, ‘Zhong Kui’ and so on. Film and television works: ‘Breaking Out in the West’, ‘Decisive Battle in the Ocean’, ‘Decisive Battle on the Jiangqiao’ and so on. Variety show works: ‘The Second Season of Comedy Big Fight’. Cui Yongping plays Zhao Dawei. He is a drama actor, director and orator. Champion of the first season of ‘Super Speaker’ on Anhui Satellite TV. Drama works: ‘Senior Ward’, ‘Three Sisters·Waiting for Godot’, ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, ‘Yinding Bridge’, ‘An Enemy of the People’, ‘Ghosts 2.0’, ‘Six Lives of a Bird’, ‘Amazing Tales of One Branch of Flowers’, ‘Going Home’, ‘Assassin’, ‘Persuader’, ‘Tone of Beijing’, ‘North of Haidian’ and so on. Best-selling book: ‘Improvised Expressiveness’. Cai Yingnan plays Qing Yuejin/Mr. Qing. Graduated from the acting major of Communication University of China. Drama works: ‘Yinding Bridge’, ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, ‘Six Lives of a Bird’, ‘An Enemy of the People’, ‘Assassin’, ‘Persuader’, ‘Ivanov’, ‘Going Home’, ‘Teahouse’, ‘Senior Ward’, ‘Three Sisters Lost and Unable to Return’, ‘North of Haidian’, ‘Amazing Tales of One Branch of Flowers’, ‘The Rise and Fall of Mahagonny City’, ‘Crazy Graduation’, ‘Don’t Despair and Don’t Be Reckless’ and so on. Film and television works: ‘Summer Breeze Blows’, ‘The Founding of a Republic’, ‘Flowers Bloom in Villages’, ‘Blade Youth’ and so on.Xuan Chuan plays the role of Pan Ye, a graduate of the Performance Department at Shenyang Art and Media College. His theatrical works include ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, ‘One Bird Six Lives’, ‘An Enemy of the People’, ‘The Magic Land of Yat’, ‘Yinding Bridge’, ‘Heaven Turns Left and Right’, ‘Steel Brother Overcomes Difficulties’, and ‘The Golden Cicada Shells’, among others. His film and television works include ‘Oak Tiger’, ‘Ends of the Earth Women’s Hearts’, and ‘Mailbox No. 11’, among others. Kuang Guanrong plays the role of Director Fang, a graduate of the Performance Department at the Central Academy of Drama. His theatrical works include ‘Yinding Bridge’, ‘A Play of Dreams’, ‘Hello, Madman’, ‘Donkey Water’, ‘Golden Dragon’, ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’, ‘The Corridor Pavilion Murder Case’, ‘Advanced Wards’, and ‘An Actor’s Self-Cultivation’, among others. His film works include ‘Half a Comedy’, ‘Painted Skin II’, ‘Tai Chi Hero’, ‘The Loyal Yang Family’, and ‘American Dreams in China’, among others. His television works include ‘Big Cat Chasing Love’, ‘Forty-Nine Day Sacrifice’, ‘The Strong Style’, and ‘Mind Reading’, among others. Zhang Jiawen plays the role of Bingbing, a graduate of the Performance Department at the Central Academy of Drama. His theatrical works include ‘Fifteen Days in Two Capitals’ 2021 edition, ‘Advanced Wards’, ‘Dad’s Marathon’, ‘Two Ants on the Road’, ‘The Most Perfect Marriage’, ‘Jiang Xiaodong and Liu Xiaowen’, and ‘Outside Chaoyang Gate’, among others. His festival works include ‘Lost Song’, ‘Water Life’, and ‘Thunder God’, participating in the Avignon Theater Festival in France and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in the UK. Gao Jianwei plays the role of a restaurant diner, a young director, and actor. He was nominated for Best Newcomer at the 3rd Chinese Drama Awards for his performance in ‘Dad’s Marathon’. His performance works include ‘Yinding Bridge’, ‘Donkey Water’, ‘The Master and Margarita’, ‘Dad’s Marathon’, ‘The World in a Flash’, ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, and ‘The True Story of Ah Q’, among others. His directing works include ‘Game Boy’, ‘Sofa’, and ‘Chiron Life Lab’, among others. The performance is open from December 24th to 27th, Tuesday to Friday. Performance times and duration are subject to the venue.
