The Stage
戏台
China, 2025, colour, 2.35:1, 116 mins.
Director: Chen Peisi 陈佩斯.
Rating: 6/10.
Entertaining period farce set in an opera theatre in Beijing sports a seasoned ensemble and mostly moves along smoothly.
STORY
Beijing, early Republic, Warlord Era, winter. After a battle between the army of UK-aligned warlord Huang (Lv Xin) and German-aligned warlord Hong (Jiang Wu), the latter wins and occupies the city. The popular Wuqing opera troupe, under manager Hou Xiting (Chen Peisi), arrives and sets up in Dexiang Theatre, which is managed by Wu Degui (Yang Haoyu). When Feng Xiaotong (Yu Shaoqun), a star performer of dan (female) roles, arrives, he wants to meet his old classmate, Wuqing troupe’s own star performer, Jin Xiaotian (Yin Zheng). But Jin Xiaotian has overdosed on opium, so Hou Xiting makes the excuse that he’s still asleep. He makes the same excuse to two others who want to meet him – Wu Degui, who needs Jin Xiaotian’s name to sell out the house, and underworld king Eighth Master Liu (Yin Zhusheng), who’s a big opera fan. Hou Xiting tells Liu that Jin Xiaotian will be performing Farewell My Concubine 霸王别姬. Though he knows nothing about opera, warlord Hong has heard from Siyue (Xu Zhuo’er), his no. 6 concubine, that Jin Xiaotian is in town, so orders Xu Mingli (Chen Dayu), the city’s obsequious Education Bureau director, to get him and his retinue tickets for that evening, even though all three performances, starting at 20:00, are sold out. Xu Mingli checks out the theatre’s security and orders the necessary tickets to be found. Then Hong, wearing civilian clothes, arrives incognito at the theatre. Siyue also secretly slips inside the building, hoping to meet Jin Xiaotian who used to be her lover. She finds his room but, in his opium-induced state, he mistakes her for another lover, Cuiping, who stole all his money. Siyue offers him all her savings to go away with her. Meanwhile, Da Sang’er (Huang Bo), an employee of Dayu Zhai bunshop, has just delivered some steamed buns for Feng Xiaotong. A big opera fan who can also sing, he is having a look around the costume department when Hong comes by. Da Sang’er doesn’t recognise Hong in his civilian clothes and doesn’t treat him with any special respect; the two, both the same region, start chatting and Da Sang’er gives him a crash course in Peking Opera. Meanwhile, the public start a fuss outside in the street when word spreads that all tickets for the evening shows are invalid as Hong has taken over the theatre. Eighth Master Liu also arrives angry; but then Hong turns up and shoots him dead. Elsewhere in the building Feng Xiaotong, in full dan makeup, catches Siyue in bed with the opium-stoned Jin Xiaotian, but Siyue manages to get him to leave. Panic then spreads as Wu Degui finds out that Jin Xiaotian is in no condition to perform. Hong then comes by and tells Hou Xiting he wants to see Da Sang’er perform, thinking that the steamed-bun deliveryman is a big opera star who once performed for the emperor.
REVIEW
Veteran Mainland comedian Chen Peisi 陈佩斯, 71, writes, directs and stars in The Stage 戏台, an entertaining period farce with a strong name cast set around a Beijing theatre in early Republican China. Though it’s adapted from a play that Chen himself directed and starred in a decade ago, it doesn’t feel either boxed in or over-talky, despite a limited number of settings and plenty of repartee. Backed up by strong playing from popular comic Huang Bo 黄渤 as an opera-mad bunshop employee and Jiang Wu 姜武 as an egocentric warlord, Chen manages a smooth ensemble that’s set in the world of Peking Opera but doesn’t require any special knowledge of the subject. Box office this summer was a nice RMB411 million.
The original play, which was and remains very successful, was by Beijing-born scholar/writer Yu Yue 毓钺, now in his late 60s, and also starred Yang Lixin 杨立新 as the bunshop employee (see poster, left). Chen is the only original cast member to reprise his role in the film – that of a visiting opera troupe’s manager who has to deal with backstage shennanigans by his stars, an egocentric warlord who’s just taken over the city, an underworld boss who doesn’t like being told no, and a bun deliveryman who’s also a huge opera buff. It’s actually Chen’s second film-directing credit: he earlier co-directed, with Ding Xuan 丁暄, the 1992 contemporary comedy 爷儿俩开歌厅 (literally, “Father and Son Open a Cabaret Restaurant”), one of a series of functional crowdpleasers in which he played the son and his real-life father, actor Chen Qiang 陈强 (1918-2012), played the dad.
Chen Peisi’s career extends across film, TV and theatre, so, although The Stage is set a century ago, it’s an environment which he understands well. Set during the chaotic Warlord Era that followed the end of Imperial China, the plot follows the arrival of a famous opera troupe just after Beijing has been taken over by another warlord, the German-aligned Hong, following the defeat of a UK-aligned one. Though the country is in chaos, life at street level kind of carries on as usual, with the locals excited by the arrival of the troupe and two big stars, Jin Xiaotian and Feng Xiaotong, the latter a specialist in dan (female) roles. Unfortunately Jin Xiaotian is out-of-his-head on opium, so troupe manager Hou Xiting (Chen) has to resort to some inventive lying when everyone – including the ruthless warlord, the local underworld boss, a past lover and even the theatre’s manger – wants to meet him. Amid all the backstage chaos, a humble deliverer of steamed buns – who also happens to be a huge opera fan – ends up having to take Jin Xiaotian’s place in the opera Farewell My Concubine 霸王别姬, in front of a house bought out by the short-tempered warlord.
Though the period exteriors are standard backlot Beijing, complete with fake snow, the sets by art director Liu Qing 柳青 for the various parts of the opera theatre have an atmospheric feel, full of small detail and lit with much more nuance. (Main d.p. is Zhao Xiaoding 赵小丁, a regular collaborator with director Zhang Yimou 张艺谋.) Costumes and styling are also on the nose, all supervised by Xu Jianshu 许建树 [Lawrence Xu], and apart from the warlord’s o.t.t. make-up (bushy eyebrows, moustache, beard and hair) have just a slightly exaggerated quality that matches the theatrical acting.
Chen himself is fine as the harrassed troupe manager, never hogging the spotlight from the rest of the cast: Huang, very good as the dense but opera-loving bun deliveryman, Jiang ditto as the warlord who also has a less egocentric side, Yu Shaoqun 余少群 (Forever Enthralled 梅兰芳, 2008) fine as the mincing dan star, and Xu Zhuo’er 徐卓儿, 25, in her film debut, commanding in the sole female role of the warlord’s concubine. Some of the best scenes are between Huang and Jiang, whose characters meet by chance when the warlord arrives incognito in street clothes and the bunman doesn’t recognise him.
The pacing takes on a bit of water around the hour mark as the dialogue becomes too explanatory; but things pick up again around the 70-minute point as the opera performance starts. A trim of around 10 minutes would benefit the film as a whole. To reflect the period setting, the film’s Chinese title is shown on the print and on posters in traditional, not simplified, characters: 戱臺.
CREDITS
Presented by Beijing Huanxi Media Group (CN), Huanxi Media Group (CN), Shanghai Taopiaopiao Movie & TV Culture (CN), Changchun Film Studio Group (CN), Beijing Huanxi Media (CN), Hongdao Film (Wuxi) (CN), Huanxi Media Group (Tianjin) (CN), Shanghai Hanna Pictures (CN), Beijing Dadao Culture & Programme Production (CN), Shanghai Maoyan Pictures (CN), One Plus One (Shanghai) Media (CN). Produced by Shanghai Hanna Pictures (CN), Qingdao Hanna Film & TV Production (CN).
Script: Chen Peisi. Play: Yu Yue. Photography: Zhao Xiaoding, Chen Xiuhong. Editing: He Yiping. Music: Dong Yingda. Art direction: Liu Qing. Costumes: Gao Yusheng. Styling: Xu Jianxu [Lawrence Xu]. Sound: Li Danfeng. Action: Fu Xiaojie. Special effects: Zhang Tao. Visual effects: Zhang Yu. Opera advice: Song Yan. Artistic advice: Guo He. Executive direction: Fan Chuan, Chen Dayu.
Cast: Chen Peisi (Hou Xiting, troupe manager), Huang Bo (Da Sang’er), Jiang Wu (Hong, warlord), Yin Zheng (Jin Xiaotian, troupe superstar), Yang Haoyu (Wu Degui, theatre manager), Yu Shaoqun (Feng Xiaotong, dan performer), Chen Dayu (Xu Mingli, Education Bureau director), Xu Zhuo’er (Siyue, Hong’s no. 6 concubine), Yin Zhusheng (Eighth Master Liu, underworld king), Xu Zhisheng (Lan, warlord), Song Yan (Dong, counsellor), Lv Xin (Huang, warlord), Zhang Wei (Deyun, musician), Feng Xiaobo (Fuhai), Dong Dou (captain of the guard).
Release: China, 25 Jul 2025.