浙江昆剧团，被新华社誉为“新中国昆剧第一团”。它载入新中国文化史，是因为改编、排演了《十五贯》，并在北京成功上演，由此改变了昆剧的命运。

　　1956年发生的三件事，对浙江昆剧团以及六百年昆剧来讲，是命运的转折。

　　1956年4月1日，浙江省文化局批准，“国风昆苏剧团”从“民营公助”转为国营单位，并改名为“浙江昆苏剧团”。

　　4月10日，濒临倒闭的剧团为了“救活”自己，改编、排演《十五贯》，并在北京首演。之后，毛泽东主席和周恩来总理各看了两场。

　　5月18日，《人民日报》发表了那篇著名社论《从“一出戏救活了一个剧种”谈起》。

　　就算你不是戏迷，没在现场看过，但一定听过它的名字，就像越剧有《红楼梦》，黄梅戏有《天仙配》，豫剧有《朝阳沟》，《十五贯》便是昆剧的代表作。

　　还有周恩来总理那句经典的话：“你们浙江做了一件好事，一出戏救活了一个剧种。”

历经浙昆六代人，长演不衰

　　从“国风苏滩社”到“国风昆苏剧团”，再到“浙江昆苏剧团”，直到现在的“浙江昆剧团”，我们从一个名字的变化上，就能看到一个剧团对昆剧的包容与坚守。昆剧传字辈艺术家，取“传”字，便是希望把昆剧代代相传。“况钟”周传瑛的儿子周世瑞，“娄阿鼠”王传淞的儿子王世瑶，还有刘异龙、计镇华，他们又把《十五贯》传给了下一代。

　　这部戏历经浙昆六代人——传、世、盛、秀、万、代，从未间断。今天作为浙昆最小一代的“代字辈”是“00后”，依然和前辈——1956年进京演出的原版人马同台演出，传承这部剧。

　　而我们在时任浙江省文化局局长、主持《十五贯》剧本改编的黄源的儿子黄明明家里，又看到了另一种“传”。

　　从1956年首演开始，各种《十五贯》的戏单，一一“穿”上塑料套，没有一点灰尘。还有从1955年开始，黄源主持整理的《十五贯》初稿、整理本、第一版、电影分镜头等油印剧本，各个剧种，各种语言的《十五贯》剧本、连环画，厚厚的60多份群众意见的原稿，以及记录的周恩来总理关于《十五贯》的讲话……分门别类，装在两个“档案盒”中，干干净净。

　　“这些资料，是我父亲让我保存下来的，我们现在都还保存着，一直保存着。”黄明明说。

选昆剧晋京，为什么是它

　　新中国成立以前，昆剧凋零，台上唱的比台下看戏的人多，也没有一个正规的昆剧团。你从浙昆的前身“国风昆苏剧团”的名字里，就能看出“混搭”——苏，是苏滩，昆，是昆剧。这名字，是时任文化部艺术局局长的田汉取的。

　　虽然有些“乱”，但艺术家的专业和对昆剧的坚守，让田汉很感动。他写信给时任浙江省省长沙文汉，邀请剧团到北京演出。

　　1956年，在浙昆《十五贯》晋京前，北京、上海、江苏、湖南等地，都已经没有昆剧演出团体了，当时的文化界、戏剧界，不少人以为昆剧不合时宜，淘汰是必然的。因为一出《十五贯》，流落各处的昆剧人被召回，开始培育新一代；学术界对于昆剧的研究，才开始重新恢复生机。

　　为什么是《十五贯》？

　　其实，最初准备晋京的剧目是《长生殿》。

　　1955年11月，上海市电影局局长张骏祥陪印度电影代表团来杭州。外宾走后，11月21日，黄源陪他去看“国风”的演出，在东坡剧院，很巧，演的正是《十五贯》。当时的场子很破，机车声震耳欲聋，舞台不时晃动，台上唱什么也听不清。但散场时，张骏祥舒了一口气说：“这出戏真激动人心啊！”

　　原先的《十五贯》，并不算一出好戏。双线展开，剧情冗长，全本26折要演12个小时，至少得两三个晚上。这需要改。

　　怎么改戏，是个大问题。

　　黄源和作家郑伯永、浙江省越剧团编导陈静一起讨论改编思路。之后，成立了剧本整理小组，去掉本子原有的神化和迷信，增加了对人物形象的塑造。

　　“判斩一场，况钟听见犯人喊冤后，由问话中发现时间、地点不符，才开始怀疑犯人冤枉，而不是像从前由鬼神启发而怀疑的。”京剧表演艺术家梅兰芳对这一点改编十分赞同。

　　汪曾祺也说，整理传统戏最成功的一部是昆剧《十五贯》，“它所达到的水平，比《将相和》《杨门女将》更高一些，因为它写了况钟这样一个人物，写得那样具体，那样丰富，不带一点概念化和主题先行的痕迹。”

　　没有排练厅，他们借了上海蔡同德制药厂杭州制药工厂的厂房，就在现在的华侨饭店附近，厂里停工时，他们就排练。当时还是石板地，黄源每天也从早泡到晚，边排边改，回到家，身上还有一股浓浓的药味。

　　从剧本脱稿到排练完成，包括作曲和舞美工作，只花了20天时间。

　　1956年1月1日，首场审查演出要开始了。地方，就在杭州的胜利剧院。邀请的观众，是全省搞戏改的干部，以及各剧种的主要演员。能不能通过审查，黄源心里还是有点七上八下，于是，他动了一点脑筋。他特地安排了下午先按老本演，晚上演新本子。

　　为了让大家看得懂，他还在台前设置了一个字幕条，把唱词和念白，用幻灯片一张张打出来——这就是我们现在看戏时常见的字幕条，如今发展成了台两边各一条。当年，《十五贯》是首创。

　　新老一对比，效果一下子出来了。这出戏在胜利剧院一连演了23场。有意思的是，省文化局还专门设了一个电话，听听大家的意见。要知道，当时有电话的人家很少，但那段时间，却接到了200多个热线电话。

　　第一站选哪里呢？黄源和剧团商量，去上海。

　　大上海最早盛行的剧种就是昆剧，抗战前还曾是“昆剧传习所”弟子组织的昆班“仙霓社”的基地，周传瑛、王传淞正是从那里走出来的。要想红，就必须先过了这个“码头”。

　　2月，刚好是春节期间，在永安公司7楼顶端的永安剧场演出，场场火爆，一连演了25场。

　　戏开演前，观众手里都发到了一张剧团特制的朱印意见表，如果散场后写完，就收回；如果来不及，就带回去写。

　　黄明明有个厚厚的文件夹，第一页写着“各地观众对《十五贯》的意见”，里面满满当当夹着60多张“剧评”，有的意见表写不下，就写在400字方格纸上。

　　黄源请了老战友、上海市委宣传部长石西民看戏，巧的是，中宣部部长陆定一也在上海，就一起来了。

　　散戏后，陆定一对周传瑛说：北京再会，我在北京等你们。

　　从水土不服，到满城尽说《十五贯》

　　曾在第一版里跑龙套的沈世华还记得，剧团进京时，衣箱上的“浙江昆苏剧团”的字样，是他们在硬纸板上剪出宋体空心字贴到每一个墨绿的衣箱侧面，再用白漆刷上去做出来的。

　　《十五贯》并不是一炮而红。很多人已经几十年没看过昆剧了，对这久已衰落的剧种很陌生。

　　4月8日，《十五贯》来到北京前门外的广和楼剧场，先在内部做了一场试演。

　　田汉和梅兰芳都来了，惊艳不已。散场后，田汉特地来到后台，给演员们打气：“别看这个场子又旧又简陋，你们知道吗，这个广和楼以前叫查楼，两百多年前，洪昇就在这里演他的《长生殿》。你们这次到北京来也在这里演，既演《十五贯》又演《长生殿》，昆曲就从这里重新兴起，那不是很有意义么？”

　　“南昆已陷泯灭的边缘，这出戏把这个剧种救活了。”他回家后，连夜写了剧评《看昆苏剧团的“十五贯”》，刊登在《光明日报》上。

　　真的被他说对了。

　　那天散场后，梅兰芳也没走。他仔细听了两个观众的对话：

　　一个说：“我向来不懂昆腔，这一次是本着好奇心来的。谁知道一看是这么好的戏，看三个半钟头一点也不腻。”另一个说：“我过去听不懂昆腔，哼哼唧唧唱一会儿就算完了一出，也不知是怎么回事，可是今天出乎意料之外，我居然都听懂了。”

　　“想到不同的剧种对于不同地区的观众，当然有习惯不习惯的差别，但是突出的好戏是人人都爱看的。”回家后，梅兰芳一连写了两篇剧评，投稿给北京的报纸。后来，他每场都要买几十张票送给亲友，成了铁粉。

　　但是，4月10日公演的《十五贯》，还是因为水土不服，1000张票只卖出了40张。

　　“要有信心，不要因为最初的冷场就轻易换戏。”黄源这样叮嘱带队去北京的省文化局副局长陈守川。

　　“有一天，剧团领导要求我们理好发、洗好澡，穿得干净一点，说是要进中南海，有一场重要演出。到了中南海怀仁堂，才知道毛主席来看我们的戏，大家都很激动。谢幕时，毛主席高兴地站起来双手举过头顶热烈鼓掌。”

　　周世瑞，周传瑛的大儿子，当年他跑龙套，在《十五贯》里演衙役等小角色，这个情景，至今历历在目。

　　5月17日，周恩来总理在中南海紫光阁专门召开了一整天《十五贯》座谈会，当年记录员的速记稿，也被黄源珍藏着。

　　那篇著名的社论，由人民日报文艺部袁鹰起草，夏衍修改，胡乔木审核，周恩来签发。

　　之后便是满城尽说《十五贯》。

　　我们来看一组数据：从4月10日到5月27日，《十五贯》在北京共演出46场，观众达到7万多人次；之后的全国巡演，共演了98场，14万人观看。之后又拍成电影，全国500多个剧团演出《十五贯》……

　　黄明明说，60年来，这出戏有两次高潮，一次是1956年，另一次就是1977年至1978年的重演。

　　1978年后，浙昆恢复演出《十五贯》。

　　2016年5月，《十五贯》再次展现在京城的舞台上——星光熠熠，名家荟萃，名角争辉。这次，早在一个月前戏票就卖完了。

　　2017年10月，浙昆携看家戏《十五贯》，汇集“世、盛、秀、万、代”五代浙昆传承人，并邀请上海昆剧团著名昆剧表演艺术家计镇华共同助阵演出，作为当年中国上海国际艺术节参演剧目，在上海天蟾逸夫舞台隆重上演。

　　……

　　63年来，《十五贯》一共演出了1500多场，如今还在继续。

　　（部分图片由视觉中国提供）

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, People’s 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 province’s 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 wasn’t 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 China’s 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 didn’t 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 troupe’s 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 China’s 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.