《十五貫》的文化傳承故事

馬黎

浙江昆劇團，被新華社譽為“新中國昆劇第一團”。它載入新中國文化史，是因為改編、排演了《十五貫》，并在北京成功上演，由此改變了昆劇的命運。

1956年發(fā)生的三件事，對浙江昆劇團以及六百年昆劇來講，是命運的轉折。

1956年4月1日，浙江省文化局批準，“國風昆蘇劇團”從“民營公助”轉為國營單位，并改名為“浙江昆蘇劇團”。

4月10日，瀕臨倒閉的劇團為了“救活”自己，改編、排演《十五貫》，并在北京首演。之后，毛澤東主席和周恩來總理各看了兩場。

5月18日，《人民日報》發(fā)表了那篇著名社論《從“一出戲救活了一個劇種”談起》。

就算你不是戲迷，沒在現場看過，但一定聽過它的名字，就像越劇有《紅樓夢》，黃梅戲有《天仙配》，豫劇有《朝陽溝》，《十五貫》便是昆劇的代表作。

還有周恩來總理那句經典的話：“你們浙江做了一件好事，一出戲救活了一個劇種?！?/p>

歷經浙昆六代人，長演不衰

從“國風蘇灘社”到“國風昆蘇劇團”，再到“浙江昆蘇劇團”，直到現在的“浙江昆劇團”，我們從一個名字的變化上，就能看到一個劇團對昆劇的包容與堅守。昆劇傳字輩藝術家，取“傳”字，便是希望把昆劇代代相傳?！皼r鐘”周傳瑛的兒子周世瑞，“婁阿鼠”王傳淞的兒子王世瑤，還有劉異龍、計鎮(zhèn)華，他們又把《十五貫》傳給了下一代。

這部戲歷經浙昆六代人——傳、世、盛、秀、萬、代，從未間斷。今天作為浙昆最小一代的“代字輩”是“00后”，依然和前輩——1956年進京演出的原版人馬同臺演出，傳承這部劇。

而我們在時任浙江省文化局局長、主持《十五貫》劇本改編的黃源的兒子黃明明家里，又看到了另一種“傳”。

從1956年首演開始，各種《十五貫》的戲單，一一“穿”上塑料套，沒有一點灰塵。還有從1955年開始，黃源主持整理的《十五貫》初稿、整理本、第一版、電影分鏡頭等油印劇本，各個劇種，各種語言的《十五貫》劇本、連環(huán)畫，厚厚的60多份群眾意見的原稿，以及記錄的周恩來總理關于《十五貫》的講話……分門別類，裝在兩個“檔案盒”中，干干凈凈。

“這些資料，是我父親讓我保存下來的，我們現在都還保存著，一直保存著。”黃明明說。

選昆劇晉京，為什么是它

新中國成立以前，昆劇凋零，臺上唱的比臺下看戲的人多，也沒有一個正規(guī)的昆劇團。你從浙昆的前身“國風昆蘇劇團”的名字里，就能看出“混搭”——蘇，是蘇灘，昆，是昆劇。這名字，是時任文化部藝術局局長的田漢取的。

雖然有些“亂”，但藝術家的專業(yè)和對昆劇的堅守，讓田漢很感動。他寫信給時任浙江省省長沙文漢，邀請劇團到北京演出。

1956年，在浙昆《十五貫》晉京前，北京、上海、江蘇、湖南等地，都已經沒有昆劇演出團體了，當時的文化界、戲劇界，不少人以為昆劇不合時宜，淘汰是必然的。因為一出《十五貫》，流落各處的昆劇人被召回，開始培育新一代;學術界對于昆劇的研究，才開始重新恢復生機。

為什么是《十五貫》？

其實，最初準備晉京的劇目是《長生殿》。

1955年11月，上海市電影局局長張駿祥陪印度電影代表團來杭州。外賓走后，11月21日，黃源陪他去看“國風”的演出，在東坡劇院，很巧，演的正是《十五貫》。當時的場子很破，機車聲震耳欲聾，舞臺不時晃動，臺上唱什么也聽不清。但散場時，張駿祥舒了一口氣說：“這出戲真激動人心??！”

原先的《十五貫》，并不算一出好戲。雙線展開，劇情冗長，全本26折要演12個小時，至少得兩三個晚上。這需要改。

怎么改戲，是個大問題。

黃源和作家鄭伯永、浙江省越劇團編導陳靜一起討論改編思路。之后，成立了劇本整理小組，去掉本子原有的神化和迷信，增加了對人物形象的塑造。

“判斬一場，況鐘聽見犯人喊冤后，由問話中發(fā)現時間、地點不符，才開始懷疑犯人冤枉，而不是像從前由鬼神啟發(fā)而懷疑的。”京劇表演藝術家梅蘭芳對這一點改編十分贊同。

汪曾祺也說，整理傳統(tǒng)戲最成功的一部是昆劇《十五貫》，“它所達到的水平，比《將相和》《楊門女將》更高一些，因為它寫了況鐘這樣一個人物，寫得那樣具體，那樣豐富，不帶一點概念化和主題先行的痕跡?！?/p>

沒有排練廳，他們借了上海蔡同德制藥廠杭州制藥工廠的廠房，就在現在的華僑飯店附近，廠里停工時，他們就排練。當時還是石板地，黃源每天也從早泡到晚，邊排邊改，回到家，身上還有一股濃濃的藥味。

從劇本脫稿到排練完成，包括作曲和舞美工作，只花了20天時間。

1956年1月1日，首場審查演出要開始了。地方，就在杭州的勝利劇院。邀請的觀眾，是全省搞戲改的干部，以及各劇種的主要演員。能不能通過審查，黃源心里還是有點七上八下，于是，他動了一點腦筋。他特地安排了下午先按老本演，晚上演新本子。

為了讓大家看得懂，他還在臺前設置了一個字幕條，把唱詞和念白，用幻燈片一張張打出來——這就是我們現在看戲時常見的字幕條，如今發(fā)展成了臺兩邊各一條。當年，《十五貫》是首創(chuàng)。

新老一對比，效果一下子出來了。這出戲在勝利劇院一連演了23場。有意思的是，省文化局還專門設了一個電話，聽聽大家的意見。要知道，當時有電話的人家很少，但那段時間，卻接到了200多個熱線電話。

第一站選哪里呢？黃源和劇團商量，去上海。

大上海最早盛行的劇種就是昆劇，抗戰(zhàn)前還曾是“昆劇傳習所”弟子組織的昆班“仙霓社”的基地，周傳瑛、王傳淞正是從那里走出來的。要想紅，就必須先過了這個“碼頭”。

2月，剛好是春節(jié)期間，在永安公司7樓頂端的永安劇場演出，場場火爆，一連演了25場。

戲開演前，觀眾手里都發(fā)到了一張劇團特制的朱印意見表，如果散場后寫完，就收回;如果來不及，就帶回去寫。

黃明明有個厚厚的文件夾，第一頁寫著“各地觀眾對《十五貫》的意見”，里面滿滿當當夾著60多張“劇評”，有的意見表寫不下，就寫在400字方格紙上。

黃源請了老戰(zhàn)友、上海市委宣傳部長石西民看戲，巧的是，中宣部部長陸定一也在上海，就一起來了。

散戲后，陸定一對周傳瑛說：北京再會，我在北京等你們。

從水土不服，到滿城盡說《十五貫》

曾在第一版里跑龍?zhí)椎纳蚴廊A還記得，劇團進京時，衣箱上的“浙江昆蘇劇團”的字樣，是他們在硬紙板上剪出宋體空心字貼到每一個墨綠的衣箱側面，再用白漆刷上去做出來的。

《十五貫》并不是一炮而紅。很多人已經幾十年沒看過昆劇了，對這久已衰落的劇種很陌生。

4月8日，《十五貫》來到北京前門外的廣和樓劇場，先在內部做了一場試演。

田漢和梅蘭芳都來了，驚艷不已。散場后，田漢特地來到后臺，給演員們打氣：“別看這個場子又舊又簡陋，你們知道嗎，這個廣和樓以前叫查樓，兩百多年前，洪昇就在這里演他的《長生殿》。你們這次到北京來也在這里演，既演《十五貫》又演《長生殿》，昆曲就從這里重新興起，那不是很有意義么？”

“南昆已陷泯滅的邊緣，這出戲把這個劇種救活了。”他回家后，連夜寫了劇評《看昆蘇劇團的“十五貫”》，刊登在《光明日報》上。

真的被他說對了。

那天散場后，梅蘭芳也沒走。他仔細聽了兩個觀眾的對話：

一個說：“我向來不懂昆腔，這一次是本著好奇心來的。誰知道一看是這么好的戲，看三個半鐘頭一點也不膩?！绷硪粋€說：“我過去聽不懂昆腔，哼哼唧唧唱一會兒就算完了一出，也不知是怎么回事，可是今天出乎意料之外，我居然都聽懂了?！?/p>

“想到不同的劇種對于不同地區(qū)的觀眾，當然有習慣不習慣的差別，但是突出的好戲是人人都愛看的?！被丶液?，梅蘭芳一連寫了兩篇劇評，投稿給北京的報紙。后來，他每場都要買幾十張票送給親友，成了鐵粉。

但是，4月10日公演的《十五貫》，還是因為水土不服，1000張票只賣出了40張。

“要有信心，不要因為最初的冷場就輕易換戲?！秉S源這樣叮囑帶隊去北京的省文化局副局長陳守川。

“有一天，劇團領導要求我們理好發(fā)、洗好澡，穿得干凈一點，說是要進中南海，有一場重要演出。到了中南海懷仁堂，才知道毛主席來看我們的戲，大家都很激動。謝幕時，毛主席高興地站起來雙手舉過頭頂熱烈鼓掌?！?/p>

周世瑞，周傳瑛的大兒子，當年他跑龍?zhí)祝凇妒遑灐防镅菅靡鄣刃〗巧?，這個情景，至今歷歷在目。

5月17日，周恩來總理在中南海紫光閣專門召開了一整天《十五貫》座談會，當年記錄員的速記稿，也被黃源珍藏著。

那篇著名的社論，由人民日報文藝部袁鷹（）起草，夏衍修改，胡喬木審核，周恩來簽發(fā)。

之后便是滿城盡說《十五貫》。

我們來看一組數據：從4月10日到5月27日，《十五貫》在北京共演出46場，觀眾達到7萬多人次;之后的全國巡演，共演了98場，14萬人觀看。之后又拍成電影，全國500多個劇團演出《十五貫》……

黃明明說，60年來，這出戲有兩次高潮，一次是1956年，另一次就是1977年至1978年的重演。

1978年后，浙昆恢復演出《十五貫》。

2016年5月，《十五貫》再次展現在京城的舞臺上——星光熠熠，名家薈萃，名角爭輝。這次，早在一個月前戲票就賣完了。

2017年10月，浙昆攜看家戲《十五貫》，匯集“世、盛、秀、萬、代”五代浙昆傳承人，并邀請上海昆劇團著名昆劇表演藝術家計鎮(zhèn)華共同助陣演出，作為當年中國上海國際藝術節(jié)參演劇目，在上海天蟾逸夫舞臺隆重上演。

……

63年來，《十五貫》一共演出了1500多場，如今還在繼續(xù)。

Some people say three things happened in 1956 that marked the beginning of a great rejuvenation of Kunqu Opera.

The three epoch-making things happened in the following order： on April 1， 1956， the Guofeng Kunsu Troupe was restructured from a private show business to a state troupe that received total government support. After the restructuring， the troupe was known as Zhejiang Kunsu Troupe. On April 10th， 1956， the troupe made its first public performance of ?in Beijing. On May 18， 1956， Peoples Daily published an editorial that famously discussed the phenomenal comeback of an opera genre started by a single play.

It was in Zhejiang that the Kunqu Opera survived and made this comeback possible. What happened to Kunqu Opera in 1956 must be traced back to what happened in 1955.

In 1955， Huang Yuan， a prominent translator， playwright， and revolutionary and high-ranking government official based in Shanghai， came to Hangzhou and headed the provinces cultural department. He loved traditional operas. In the early 1950 and in Shanghai， he brought ， a Yueju Opera play， into national spotlight and later made a film adaptation. His official position in Zhejiang put him into close contact with Kunqu artists of the Guofeng Troupe.

With a history of hundreds of years， the Kunqu Opera was on the brink of extinction in the early 1950s due to the wars and political chaos in the first half of the 20th century. In the early 1950s the country did not have a single Kunqu Opera troupe. Guofeng Kunsu Troupe was composed of artists who played both Kunqu Opera and Sutan Opera， which was a regional opera genre based in Suzhou. “Kunsu” in the name of the troupe referred to the two opera genres.

In the early 1950s， Guofeng was the only troupe in the country that was able to perform some Kunqu Opera plays. Some in the cultural authorities wished to bring Kunqu back， even though many people in the cultural circles and in theater business thought it was time to let Kunqu Opera die， believing the opera genre wasnt suitable for the new era.

The seed of the great rejuvenation was planted in 1955 when Tian Han （1898-1968） invited the troupe to perform a Kunqu Opera play in Beijing. Tian Han was a high-profile playwright in the 1930s and 1940s. He was also the lyric writer of ?in 1935， which was adopted as Chinas national anthem in 1949. He issued the invitation in the capacity of the director of the Art Bureau of the Ministry of Culture.

The troupe at first considered ， one of the best known Kunqu Opera classics， thinking the romance between an emperor and his lady would be appropriate to stage in Beijing. Then the troupe changed its mind.

The change started with Huang Yuan and Zhang Junxiang， then chief of the cinema bureau of Shanghai. In November 1955 Zhang accompanied a delegation of Indian filmmakers to visit Hangzhou. After the official affairs were over， Huang Yuan took Zhang to watch ?performed by the Guofeng Troupe at Dongpo Theater on November 21. Though the acoustic system didnt work very well and the street noise intruded， Zhang was thrilled by the performance and said the show was exciting. The play Zhang watched that night was an old adaptation of the original play which would take 12 hours to conclude. Such a full-length opera drama usually took two or three evenings to play out.

Seeing new possibilities in ?and eyeing the opportunity in Beijing， Huang Yuan met the writer Zheng Bonian and the scriptwriter Chen Jing who worked for Zhejiang Yueju Opera. The trio had a discussion and worked out a guideline for producing a new version. The playwrights set to work. In early December they produced a script that could be performed in one evening. The new adaptation was designed to reach out to the audience of the New China.

All the music composition and stage design as well as rehearsals were completed in 20 days. On January 1， 1956， the play premiered at Shengli Theater in downtown Hangzhou. Among the first audience were government officials from cultural departments at different levels and lead theater artists of various troupes from all over the province. They were all experts. In order to make the new play better acceptable， Huang Yuan made an arrangement. The audience watched the old adaptation in the afternoon and then the new edition in the evening， giving them an opportunity to compare the two adaptations. In order to enable the audience to understand the new play without difficulty， Huang set up a simultaneous slide projection to show the audience what artists on stage were saying and singing. Such a slide projection was unprecedented in the history of Chinese theater.

The debut was a sensational success. Theater experts， artists and critics all agreed that the new adaptation had many brilliant touches. The troupe staged a total of 23 performances at Shengli Theater. Zhejiang Provincial Governor Sha Hanwen approved the idea that it was time the troupe should stage the play to audiences beyond Hangzhou.

Huang Yuan held a discussion with the troupe and picked Shanghai for the first stop. The decision was understandable： Kunqu Opera had enjoyed its best time in Shanghai for a long while. Zhou Chuanying and Wang Chuansong， two leading Kunqu Opera artists of the Guofeng Troupe， used to be members of a Kunqu opera troupe in Shanghai.

The new play was a resounding success in Shanghai， too， where the troupe staged 25 performances in February. One among the audience members was Lu Dingyi， then Publicity Minister of the central government. After watching the play， Lu had a talk with Zhou Chuanying and said “see you in Beijing”.

The troupes debut in Beijing was not an instant success， but more and more people came to watch it and felt touched. The word spread and the play began to attract theatergoers in Beijing. Then Chairman Mao heard of the play. Things began to change dramatically after he watched the performance in early May. In fact， Chairman Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai each watched the show twice.

The play became a huge success in Chinas capital. From April 10th to May 27， the troupe staged 46 performances in Beijing and more than 70，000 people came to the theater. On the following national tour， the troupe gave 98 performances and more than 140，000 people watched it. After the play was adapted to film and screened nationwide， the play was further adapted and performed by over 500 troupes across the country.

The success of ?marked the beginning of a great renaissance of Kunqu Opera. Kunqu Opera troupes reappeared in cities such as Shanghai and Beijing. In 2001 the UNESCO named this great cultural art as a “Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity”. All this began in 1956 with three epoch-making events.