“I usually watch plays from Sesame Theater, because they’re lighthearted and humorous. Director Xu Jiashan’s plays have some depth, but they’re a little too solemn. Work and life is already quite busy and tough, I don’t want to make my heart feel even heavier during my entertainment and leisure time. But this time, even I want to go and support Lu Man. If Lu Man is participating in the next play, no matter how heavy the topic is, I will want to go and watch. I really want to see Lu Man’s live performance.”
“This is crazy. Our Man had just become so wildly popular in the film scene, now she is about to go into the field of theater. I wonder if the theater scene is harmonious? They better not be like some other people who have been so petty previously.”
Lu Man did not know whether to laugh or cry. Director Xu Jiashan only proposed an invitation.
Be it the exact role and script, she had not even seen it for herself. Whether she would really act in it or not, she was not sure of it herself too.
The netizens were already discussing it as if it would definitely happen.
Of course, there were also haters who said, “It will be quite nice if your Man didn’t go and pollute other people’s plays.”
Lu Man shook her head. She probably did not care at all about these comments.
She browsed through the comments to get a sense of what was being said. There was nothing really new about the comments, so she stopped looking at them.
Who knew if it was a coincidence or not, but she had just topped the news today when Xu Jiashan personally called her.
When Lu Man saw the unknown number, she thought it was a harassment call at first.
When she answered it, she heard the other party say, “Hello, Lu Man, I am Xu Jiashan.”
“Director Xu, hello,” Lu Man quickly said.
“I asked for your contact number just now and just called so presumptuously.” Xu Jiashan smiled and said, “I was too happy previously, so I forgot about such an important thing as asking for your contact.”
“It’s like this. Didn’t we agree earlier on to let you come and act in my new play?” Xu Jiashan said. “Whenever you’re free, you can come by and we can have a detailed chat on the roles, as well as the contract, how many times you will perform, and all these sorts of things.”
Lu Man did not expect Xu Jiashan to look for her so quickly and said, “Director Xu, I didn’t expect you to look for me so soon. It’s like this, my school doesn’t allow Year Threes and below to go out and accept acting jobs. And I would still have to make a trip to New York next academic semester to continue participating in the competition there. So as for the play, I will have to report it to the school first and wait for the school leaders to agree.”
“Certainly,” Xu Jiashan said understandingly. Also, he felt that as long as Lu Man was the one raising a request, the school leaders of the NFA would not reject it.
“I will ask now and get back to you thereafter,” Lu Man said.
Xu Jiashan had already contacted her personally. She naturally had to react equally positively.
After ending the call, Lu Man called Principal Liu and told him about this.
Principal Liu immediately said, “Go! Of course you have to go. When Director Xu invited you that day, I already thought about it. The best is if you can go participate in it before your competition. In this way, it can serve as a very good learning opportunity to improve your skills.”
“A play has very high demands for stage performance and adaptability in live performance. It’s not like a drama or film, where you can NG and retake it if you forgot a line. For plays, as long as you are up on stage and have started acting, even if you forgot the script, you have to adapt and think on the spot to come up with a line. Even if you are stuck, you have to think of a way not to let the audience notice, to make the performance flow smoothly. To be honest, it’s much harder than filming a drama or film. It’s rare for one to get this opportunity. It would be fine if it was a normal play, but this is directed by Xu Jiashan. It’s such a rare opportunity, so you must definitely participate in it.”
“Professional theater actors with rich experience in theater works participate in his plays. Very capable film or drama actors also do so. An opportunity like this where you can learn from both sides is really quite a rare occurence.”