無緣和羅懷臻相識，真正知道他的大名是2003年10月在杭州東坡劇院觀摩寧波甬劇《典妻》那個(gè)晚上。數(shù)年之后，又一次目睹了他的戲藝活動：那是國家財(cái)政首批用于搶救昆曲藝術(shù)的1000萬基金首次啟用，由浙江昆劇團(tuán)承辦的全國昆劇編劇培訓(xùn)班在杭開班，上海藝術(shù)創(chuàng)作中心著名編劇羅懷臻應(yīng)邀前來講課。他西湖論劇，慷慨陳詞，就“戲劇文學(xué)精神的回歸”為話題，在杭州整整論說了兩天……。

其人如戲

羅懷臻原名羅淮贈，出生于江蘇淮陰。四歲那年他被父親正式過繼給了異鄉(xiāng)的伯父，從江蘇淮陰寄居到了河南許昌。

13歲，正逢鑼鼓喧天、萬歲震耳的那個(gè)年代。但他遠(yuǎn)離鬧世，默默地走進(jìn)鄰居家的書齋博覽群書，其中對他影響最深的是雨果的《九三年》、錢彩的《說岳全傳》和曹禺的《雷雨》三本書。

到了70年代，他考入淮陰縣淮劇團(tuán)當(dāng)演員。天賦聰慧，平時(shí)喜歡抄抄寫寫，劇團(tuán)的流動生涯正好讓他施展才華，成為團(tuán)內(nèi)一個(gè)義務(wù)代客寫信的“筆師”。那些老人還記得，他的那支生花妙筆，常使團(tuán)內(nèi)同事的家庭爭吵因他的代寫之信而平息，鄰里糾紛鬧事因他的這封信而冰消雪化，更讓人贊嘆的是經(jīng)他潤色的情書，更是彈無虛發(fā)，動人心弦。

羅懷臻代客寫信寫多了，一不小心便踏進(jìn)了寫劇本的門檻。初生牛犢不怕虎，激情滿懷的他倒也成功了兩三部。后來他上“電大”，再考入“上戲”。畢業(yè)那年他創(chuàng)作的那本《古優(yōu)傳奇》，是他邁向戲劇創(chuàng)作成功的關(guān)鍵一步。此后，又陸續(xù)寫了《真假駙馬》《風(fēng)月秦淮》等。在歷史劇創(chuàng)作的長河中，他似乎永遠(yuǎn)沒有題材枯竭的時(shí)候。從第一部發(fā)表的京劇劇本《古優(yōu)傳奇》到轟動全國劇壇的淮劇《金龍與蜉游》，使他的創(chuàng)作水準(zhǔn)達(dá)到顛峰。一霎時(shí)羅懷臻成了梨園內(nèi)外翹指品談的人物，在當(dāng)時(shí)的上海灘更有“說戲必談羅懷臻”之風(fēng)。

《典妻》幕后

在去年第七屆中國藝術(shù)節(jié)上，寧波甬劇《典妻》榮獲文華大獎。出于好奇，許多人都想了解羅懷臻和《典妻》幕后的故事。

羅懷臻人緣蠻好，人在上海但和寧波常有交往，寧波甬劇團(tuán)里有他的不少知音同道。每當(dāng)他的戲名揚(yáng)南北，甬劇的朋友總想能得到關(guān)照，于是羅懷臻決意為甬劇打造一戲。羅懷臻創(chuàng)作極為嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)，深知劇種與土壤、演員與舞臺的關(guān)系，若離開上述二說，劇本便會失去生機(jī)。后來他從作家柔石小說《為奴隸的母親》得到創(chuàng)作靈感，況且柔石本人也是寧波籍作家，在小說中運(yùn)用了不少寧波的地方語言。以寧波甬劇來表現(xiàn)寧波人過去的一段生活，這是“天人合一”，這是最為恰當(dāng)?shù)囊粋€(gè)題材了，于是他決定以此題材為寧波甬劇團(tuán)寫個(gè)劇本。

2001年5月，寧波市文化局、寧波市甬劇團(tuán)邀請羅懷臻來寧波，雙方議定將柔石的小說《為奴隸的母親》改編為甬劇《典妻》。

8月，羅懷臻赴柔石故鄉(xiāng)寧海采風(fēng)；10月討論通過《典妻》劇本初稿，并商定約請以曹其敬為導(dǎo)演的主創(chuàng)班子進(jìn)入二度創(chuàng)作。為了更原汁原味的體現(xiàn)鄉(xiāng)土氣息，演員們遠(yuǎn)離城市，隱入深山體驗(yàn)生活，力爭較好地在《典妻》中保全甬劇的“戲魂”，這個(gè)“戲魂”是其它任何劇種不可替代的。

2002年9月，甬劇《典妻》在寧海劇院舉行紀(jì)念柔石誕辰100周年演出；11月《典妻》入選上海第四屆上海國際藝術(shù)節(jié)?！兜淦蕖吩谏虾４蠓女惒?，上座爆滿，好評如潮，那贊美的言語絲毫不弱于參加藝術(shù)節(jié)的任何一個(gè)戲劇品種，各家媒體的評價(jià)幾乎眾口一詞：“小劇種，大轉(zhuǎn)型”!上海多少年來原本是寧波甬劇的市場，這一次《典妻》又在上海為寧波打出了一張嶄新的名片。時(shí)隔幾十年，甬劇又一次在上海揚(yáng)眉吐氣了!

《典妻》成了羅懷臻戲劇文學(xué)創(chuàng)作路上豎起的一個(gè)里程碑。2004年7月1日，中國戲曲學(xué)會在寧波為甬劇《典妻》頒發(fā)被譽(yù)為全國戲曲最高專家獎的“中國戲曲學(xué)會獎”。

“永不消失”

正值羅懷臻風(fēng)頭正健之時(shí)，商海大潮奔涌而來。這一股熱風(fēng)也向著羅懷臻的窗口吹來，有人要和他組建一個(gè)影視公司，也有人想高薪聘他去當(dāng)傳媒公司的老總……。那時(shí)的他已屆不惑之年，他會不會在這商潮的誘惑下而迷失自己的目標(biāo)呢?在這十字路口，一個(gè)歷史人物班昭對他迎面走來，他與班昭進(jìn)行了“思想碰撞”，再次激發(fā)了他的創(chuàng)作沖動。羅懷臻從班昭身上看到了一種“文人操守”的品質(zhì)內(nèi)涵，通過《班昭》的創(chuàng)作，看到了中國知識分子的心境，于是他鐵了心，永不放棄他那如夢如癡的追求。昆劇《班昭》首演于2001年，新戲一面世就以其精良的制作 、深邃的意境、華美的服飾、精湛的演技征服了觀眾，榮獲了第14屆中國曹禺戲劇獎劇本獎。

可能是癡迷，更因?yàn)槭菬釔?，這位已至天命之年的當(dāng)代著名劇作家，有句話讓人回味了好幾天：“中國的戲曲，他契合了中國人的審美需要，只要中國人在，戲曲就永遠(yuǎn)不會消失……。”

在這“永不消失”之中，羅懷臻樹起了自己的“豐碑”：近20年中他創(chuàng)作完成的戲曲作品多達(dá)20部，如淮劇《金龍與蜉蝣》《西楚霸王》；京劇《西施歸越》《寶蓮燈》；越劇《真假駙馬》《梅龍鎮(zhèn)》《李清照》；昆劇《班昭》《一片桃花紅》；漢劇《柳如是》；黃梅戲《孔雀東南飛》《長恨歌》；甬劇《典妻》等等。

縱觀中國近年來戲劇文學(xué)創(chuàng)作之路，羅懷臻走得最寬、最遠(yuǎn)、最長、最好，他博采眾家，獨(dú)樹其峰。

A Playwright's Endeavors

By A Pan， Bao Chen

It was not until October 2003 that we first came to know the name of Luo Huaizhen， an eminent playwright with the Shanghai Center of Creative Arts when we watched the Pawned Wife， a Ningbo Opera debuted at Dongpo Opera House in Hangzhou. We first saw him in 2005. The state government has set up a foundation to help the Kunqu Opera come back. The first 10 million was activated in 2005. Luo came to Hangzhou to address the topic of bringing back the spirit of the Chinese dramatic literature at a forum where playwrights from all over the country were supposed to find ways for the renaissance of the Chinese theatrical tradition. Luo's lecture lasted a good two days.

Luo was not born to become a playwright. When the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) broke loose， he was 13 years old. The youngster buried himself in the library of a neighbor. Years later， he recalls that he was impressed by only three books of all the books he read during that time: 93 by Victor Hugo， The Life of General Yue Fei by Qian Cai and Thunderstorm by Cao Yu.

He entered a county opera troupe as an actor in the 1970s. A talented writer， he found his writing service was much needed. He wrote letters for his colleagues to smooth troubled marriages. He wrote letters to solve disputes between neighbors. And he polished love letters for colleagues and these letters worked magically. One thing led to another. He began to write plays. The first two or three were quite a success. Then he enrolled himself into a TV university and then began to receive the four-year professional training at Shanghai Theatrical Academy. A Legend of an Ancient Actor， a play he wrote in the year of his graduation， marked his first step into the professional playwriting. He specialized in historical plays. And he never ran out of ideas. He became the most conspicuous playwright in the circle and people talked about him when they talked about Chinese theater.

The story that the Pawned Wife won the top award at the 7th China Arts Festival in 2004 says a lot about Luo Huaizhen's talent. Many of his friends in the circle of Ningbo Opera had long since urged the playwright to produce a play for Ningbo Opera. Luo read a short story by Rou Shi， about the wife of a poor family who was pawned out to a landlord and later gave birth to a son to the landlord. The writer was from Ningbo and used some Ningbo dialect in his narration. Luo believed that a story written by an author of Ningbo origin was ideal for a Ningbo Opera play.

In May 2001， he went to Ningbo and talked with the Ningbo Culture Bureau and the Ningbo Opera Troup about the adaptation of the story into a play. They clinched an agreement. In August， the playwright did a field study at Rou Shi's hometown in Ninghai County. In October 2001， Luo came up with the script. Then a director organized a work group to flesh it out for the stage performance. Artists stationed themselves in a remote mountainous area and concentrated on keeping the original flavor of the local opera.

The play debuted in Ninghai Opera House in memory of the 100th anniversary of Rou Shi's birth in September 2002. In November the play was staged in November during the Shanghai International Arts Festival. It was a roaring success. Shanghai used to have a large base of fans of Ningbo Opera. The Pawned Wife brought back the reputation of Ningbo Opera after several decades. This play also serves as a landmark in Luo Huaizhen's creative playwriting career. On July 1st 2004， the Chinese Dramatists' Association awarded its highest honor to the play in Ningbo.

When Luo Huaizhen became well known in playwriting， offers for lucrative posts flooded in to him. Someone wanted to partner with him to set up a movie and television company. Someone offered him attractive money to run a media company. In his 40s， Luo considered these alternatives for his future. Then he wrote a historical play about Ban Zhao， a scholar-turned government official who worked as an envoy in China's Western Regions in the Han Dynasty (206 B.C-220 A.D.). In this character， Luo saw something he could learn: a scholar must never betray his moral principle. For him， the moral principle was that he was going to write plays for the country's local operas. He wrote Ban Zhao. The play won the 14th Cao Yu Award for the best script in 2001.

For nearly 20 years， Luo Huaizhen has written more than 20 plays. No other Chinese theater playwright in modern times has written more and better than Luo. Luo is the best theater playwright in China today.

(Translated by David)