The play
The actor threw a paper airplane into the distance after the play was over.
The play
The actor of young Jiang Chunfang and the actress of his mother stand on the stage.
The play
Sun Yourui, the actor of middle-aged Jiang Chunfang, stands on the stage.
Group photo
The cast and crew photoed together after the play was over.
The history drama Looking for Jiang Chunfang, performed by Finalmente drama troupe from Shanghai International Studies University (SISU), was staged on December 1 on SISU’s SongJiang campus for the third time.
The show lasted for an hour and a half and attracted hundreds of teachers, students, alumni watched that day.
The drama in the form of a play within a play tells the story of a group of SISU students in a drama rehearsal tracing the life of SISU’s founder Jiang Chunfang and SISU’s history.
The drama’s director Li Ran said the phrase “looking for” used in the drama’s name lies not only in the plot but also in SISUers’ keeping memorial for Jiang’s spirit.
Jiang has worked as a Russian translator and editor, as well as a drama translator. In 1949, Jiang was appointed president and party secretary of Shanghai Russian Language School (predecessor of SISU) attached to East China People's Revolutionary University. In 1978, Jiang presided over the compilation of Encyclopedia of China, known as the father of the Encyclopedia of China.
“Jiang’s love for country and his concern for students as the headmaster are very moving,” Sun Yourui, who plays middle-aged Jiang, said. “According to the lines of the play, he used his personal relationships to get almost everything equipped for the campus ranging from classrooms, dormitories offices to chairs and desks.
We all know we are SISUers, and we all know our Headmaster Jiang, but we don't really understand his spirit and the founding process of this school, Sun said. In the process of acting, we can have a deeper understanding of what Jiang has done, and we have also inspired the SISU spirit in our mind, which is inherited from President Jiang.
Director Li said, I made the play with Zhai Bowen, an alumna majoring in radio and television. This is the third time the play has been performed on campus. It has been redesigned and arranged according to the characteristics of the actors. This edition may be more compact and fluid than the previous one.
The drama troupe spent more than 50 days rehearsing the play, including up to five continuous days of rehearsals for different sections and the whole of play. As many as 13 actors from various departments took part in this drama. Additionally, there are dozens of other actors and actresses working behind the scenes.
