延续的舞台

◇ 文 |本刊记者 胡 婷 图|游 宇

10 月9 日，下午1 点半，川剧《忠孝图》在沙坪坝区文化馆巴渝书场，准时鸣锣上演。

戏台下，能容纳200 余名观众的大厅座无虚席。

后台，爷爷奶奶级的演员们正在为下一幕戏忙碌：“彩女”拿着胭脂奁，熟练地用刷子给脸上打红；“家将”们在紧张地换装、翻找道具；一位“娘娘”已经穿戴整齐，双手预习着即将上演的动作……

“年龄普遍在70 岁以上。”演出团团长黄春芳告诉我们，所有的演员都是重庆川剧戏友协会的。

2003 年，8 位退休川剧演员舍不得离开舞台，成立了重庆川剧戏友协会在各地演出。2007 年，沙坪坝区文化馆提供免费演出场所，每周三他们都在这里演出，至今已累计演了包括大幕、折子戏、连台戏等在内的700 余场。

演出前，奶奶们在后台检查妆容

上：演出现场

下：每周三，捧场的戏迷座无虚席

演出固定了，队伍也不断壮大，不少退休职业演员、戏曲爱好者加入到了这个团队。“目前，我们会员已经有两百多人了，同时也收获了一大票铁杆戏迷。”黄春芳说。不过由于演出人员不固定，有时同一场戏一个演员要分饰两个角色。

今年83 岁的李玉珍是团里年纪最大的演员，当天就演了两个角色，“除了妃子，还要演一个家将”。李玉珍曾是江北川剧团的演员，她的戏从下午两点开始，一直演到下午三点半才结束。整个下午，她都在舞台、化妆间、试衣室里忙进忙出。演出结束后，李玉珍妆面全是汗，衣服也湿透了。她赶紧换下厚厚的戏服，再贴身垫上几层纸巾，之后才开始拆卸头饰卸妆，并用纸巾在一个装有香油的碟子里蘸着香油卸妆。“我们从小就用香油卸妆，效果非常好。”

舞台背后

演出的日子总是忙碌，但李玉珍乐在其中，也不觉得累，“在舞台上唱戏让我觉得一直年轻。”

虽然李玉珍说自己身体很好，但毕竟年纪大了，女儿张菊萍不放心，便随着母亲加入了协会，有时还会扮演一些小角色。

“我要一直唱，直到唱不动那天。”李玉珍拖着装满演戏行头的行李箱，乐呵呵地向我们告别，挽着女儿，消失在人群。

A Perpetual Stage

◇ Article | Reporter Hu Ting Figures | You Yu

At 1:30 p.m. on October 9, Sichuan opera Loyalty and Filial Piety was performed on time in the Bayu Bookstore of Shapingba District Cultural Center.

Under the stage, the hall, which can accommodate more than 200 spectators, was full.

In the backstage, the elder actors were busy for the next scene: "maid of honor" was blushing her cheeks skillfully with a rouge box; "domestic servants" were changing costumes nervously and looking for props; An "imperial concubine" were dressed up, hands practicing the upcoming performance gestures …

"They are generally over 70 years old." Huang Chunfang, head of the troupe, told us that all the actors and actresses are from the Chongqing Sichuan Opera Amateur Performer Association.

In 2003, eight retired Sichuan Opera performers were reluctant to leave the stage and established the Chongqing Sichuan Opera Amateur Performer Association to perform around the country. In 2007, Shapingba District Cultural Center provided free performing venues, where they performed on Wednesdays. So far, they have performed more than 700 performances, including whole story operas, opera highlights, and serialized theatrical perform-ance.

The performance is fixed, and the team is also growing. Therefore, many retired professional actors and opera lovers have joined the team. "At present, we have more than 200 members and a huge number of fans." Huang Chunfang said. However, since the performers are not fixed, sometimes an actor in the same scene has to play two roles.

Li Yuzhen, 83, is the oldest actor in the troupe and she played two roles on that day, "apart from the imperial concubine, she also plays a domestic servent." Li Yuzhen was an actress in the Jiangbei Sichuan Opera Troupe. Her play began at 2 p.m. and ended at 3: 30 p.m. All afternoon she busied herself in and out of the stage, the dressing room and the fitting room. After the performance, Li Yuzhen's makeup was all in sweat and her clothes were soaked. She quickly took off the thick costume and put a few layers of paper towels on her body before she began to remove her headgear and dip the paper towels into a dish filled with balsam oil to remove her makeup. "We used balsam oil to remove makeup when we were young and it worked very well."

Performance days are always busy, but Li Yuzhen enjoys them and never feels tired. "Singing on the stage always makes me feel young."

Although Li Yuzhen said that she is in good health, but after all, she is an elder person, so her daughter Zhang Juping is a little worried, and thus she joins the association with her mother. Sometimes she also plays a small role.

"I'll sing until I can't." Li Yuzhen dragged the suitcase full of costumes, cheerfully bid us farewell, held her daughter, and disappeared in the crowd.