我案頭放著厚厚兩卷由中國(guó)戲劇出版社出版的《尤文貴劇作選》：第一卷出版于1996年12月，第二卷出版于2007年7月。兩卷收入劇本23個(gè)，約100萬(wàn)字。作者以其精妙嫻熟的戲曲藝術(shù)技巧，為昆劇、徽劇、甌劇、越劇、木偶劇等不同劇種，寫(xiě)出了歷史劇、傳奇劇、現(xiàn)代劇的多個(gè)劇本，其中既有正劇、悲劇，也有喜劇。

戲劇創(chuàng)作是一項(xiàng)綜合藝術(shù)，尤文貴從事多劇種、多功能的戲曲創(chuàng)作實(shí)踐能取得如此碩果，實(shí)在難能可貴。他對(duì)人說(shuō)過(guò)， 此生追求的是想做一個(gè)承前啟后的中國(guó)戲曲作家，為中華古老的戲劇藝術(shù)留下幾粒種子。

我和尤文貴相識(shí)20多年了，1983年他的昆劇劇本《浮沉記》在浙江省首屆戲劇節(jié)獲獎(jiǎng)，那年他54歲。當(dāng)時(shí)得知，這是他錯(cuò)劃“右派”22年改正后的重新亮相。此后我們長(zhǎng)期不通訊息，直到去年省文化廳授予17位老劇作家榮譽(yù)獎(jiǎng)狀，才得悉尤文貴名列其中，這時(shí)他已77歲。這次我與他在杭州他的女兒家會(huì)面，通過(guò)深談，對(duì)他的人生軌跡有了進(jìn)一步了解，我覺(jué)得這位兩鬢飛霜、風(fēng)度儒雅、談吐頗有見(jiàn)地的劇作家一生過(guò)得既艱辛也有價(jià)值，他是我輩同時(shí)代人中的佼佼者。他同我們?cè)S多胸懷壯志的朋友們一樣，年輕時(shí)不幸喪失了自己的青春歲月，但是年逾50的他集中精力搞戲曲創(chuàng)作，終于把丟失的時(shí)間“追”了回來(lái)。他在創(chuàng)作中厚積薄發(fā)，廢寢忘食，一個(gè)個(gè)劇本在他筆下誕生，一個(gè)個(gè)劇目又被先后搬上舞臺(tái)，接著，有的劇目獲得金獎(jiǎng)，有的還出國(guó)門(mén)走向世界。

早在1997年《劇作選》一卷出版后，在杭州舉行的尤文貴劇作學(xué)術(shù)研討會(huì)上，他的劇作就得到了很高評(píng)價(jià)，大家認(rèn)為一個(gè)歷經(jīng)幾十年人生風(fēng)雨的劇作家，以自己的才華讓舞臺(tái)上的人物表現(xiàn)得如此鮮靈生動(dòng)、淋漓盡致，真不容易!“承才人之氣，濃南戲之墨，揚(yáng)時(shí)代之魂，育世紀(jì)之材?！薄@是省文化廳授予他的獎(jiǎng)狀中所題贈(zèng)的贊語(yǔ)?！安湃恕闭撸鞘枪糯皠∽骷摇敝Q謂，尤文貴是溫州平陽(yáng)的“東甌才人”，他的戲劇人生是超凡脫俗、廣闊多姿的。尤文貴的戲曲創(chuàng)作，以其戲路寬廣、雅俗共賞、藝術(shù)個(gè)性鮮明為戲劇評(píng)論界所稱道。他的兩卷選本23個(gè)劇本，是對(duì)傳統(tǒng)戲曲的繼承與創(chuàng)新，是一個(gè)值得探討的“尤文貴現(xiàn)象”。

50年代中，25歲的尤文貴以現(xiàn)代戲《風(fēng)雨夜》參加浙江省首屆戲曲會(huì)演，啼聲初試便摘取了劇本獎(jiǎng)，這說(shuō)明他具有很大的潛質(zhì)。他從小就喜歡跟隨母親看戲，加之他的四叔又是帶“戲班子”的，童年的耳濡目染，讓他情不自禁地愛(ài)上了戲曲。所以當(dāng)他流逝了黃金歲月之后仍不消沉喪志，在年逾“知天命”之后一旦重新執(zhí)筆，靈感仍然勢(shì)如潮涌，僅上世紀(jì)的1980—1988年間，就創(chuàng)作和改編了16個(gè)劇本，其中包括著名的《楊貴妃后傳》《浮沉記》《仇大姑娘》《蝴蝶夢(mèng)》《憨癡傳奇》等等。特別值得提及的是《楊貴妃后傳》，楊貴妃死于馬嵬坡歷史早有記載，但楊貴妃究竟是否死于馬嵬坡仍是一個(gè)迷團(tuán)，世上流傳著各種說(shuō)法。尤文貴借取此一題材作了大膽想象，虛構(gòu)了楊貴妃并未被絞死而流浪東瀛，他將戲劇情節(jié)由此展開(kāi)描寫(xiě)了唐明皇與楊貴妃的感情世界。這個(gè)劇本文字優(yōu)美，格調(diào)高雅，演出后觀眾反響強(qiáng)烈；他在80年代初創(chuàng)作的《仇大姑娘》，取材于《聊齋·仇大娘》，寫(xiě)了墮落賭徒在姐姐仇大姑娘教育下終于浪子回頭，富有現(xiàn)實(shí)教育意義，演出效果極佳。這出戲的路子完全不同于《楊貴妃后傳》，如果說(shuō)《楊貴妃后傳》的語(yǔ)言是詩(shī)意的，風(fēng)格是典雅的，那么《仇大姑娘》中的人物用的是民間口語(yǔ)，它通俗、潑辣而又朗朗上口；《蝴蝶夢(mèng)》的藝術(shù)形象則充滿哲理和思辨性。他在上世紀(jì)90年代后期創(chuàng)作的一卷收入了《七彩夢(mèng)》《金雞報(bào)曉》等現(xiàn)代越劇以及描寫(xiě)茶圣陸羽的《茶緣》和根據(jù)同名南戲改編的《殺狗記》、十集戲曲電視劇《楊乃武平冤記》等，這些不同時(shí)代背景戲曲題材劇本的創(chuàng)作，顯示了獨(dú)特的藝術(shù)風(fēng)格，十分難能可貴，這是他在藝術(shù)實(shí)踐中勇敢探索的結(jié)果!

我和尤文貴見(jiàn)面時(shí)，他對(duì)我談得最多的倒不是自己的劇作而是他的學(xué)生，他說(shuō)：“目前戲曲藝術(shù)青黃不接，人才斷層，我得為此作出努力才是。我可以自慰的是，如今我?guī)Я巳齻€(gè)學(xué)生，一個(gè)鄭朝陽(yáng)，一個(gè)施小琴，他們都已寫(xiě)出了很優(yōu)秀的作品，現(xiàn)在一個(gè)是溫州市文聯(lián)主席，一個(gè)是藝術(shù)研究所所長(zhǎng)，他們的優(yōu)秀劇本演出后獲得國(guó)際的和國(guó)家的金獎(jiǎng)；還有一個(gè)湯琴如今也嶄露了頭角，很有希望?！?/p>

Late-blooming Playwright Writes 23 Plays

By Zhang Baihuai

I have known You Wengui for more than two decades. His Kunqu play named Vicissitudes won a major prize at the province’s first festival of operas in 1983. He was 54 years old that year. Twenty two years had elapsed after he was wrongfully dismissed as the rightist. We did not keep in contact with each other. It was not until 2006 that I learned he was one of the seventeen playwrights honored for lifelong accomplishments in theater by Zhejiang Administration of Culture. He was 77 years old in 2006. I visited him at his daughter’s home and we had a long conversation. He looked graceful with his gray hair. He talked in an elegant way. The insightful playwright has had a life of vicissitudes.

Like many of us contemporaries， You Wengui suffered in his youth in the chaotic years and his playwriting career did not take off until he was in his fifties. In a burst of youthful creativity， the playwright in his fifties turned out excellent plays one after another in quick succession. They were staged at home and abroad and some won prizes. China Theater Press has published his twenty-three plays into two volumes. The first collection was published in December 1996 and the second in July 2007. The twenty-three historical and modern plays include tragedies and comedies and other plays. They have been staged in various operatic genres.

In celebration of You’s first collection， a seminar was held in Hangzhou in 1996. At the gathering， experts spoke highly of his playwriting achievements. They agreed that it was really amazing that You Wengui in his fifties produced so many successful plays after a dramatic life of upheavals over decades. Today， experts agree that his twenty-three plays are a phenomenon of inheritance and innovation.

He could have created more and better when he was younger， for his first play won him a major provincial playwright prize in the mid 1950s when he was 25. The talent came from his family. As a child， he followed his mother to watch local opera performances. His fourth uncle was a manager of a troupe. He is a natural for playwriting. Within eight years from 1980 to 1988， he wrote and adapted sixteen plays.

In our conversation， the modest playwright did not talk very much about himself. He spent much time talking proudly about his three promising disciples. Zheng Chaoyang is president of Wenzhou Federation of Literary and Art Circles. Shi Xiaoqin is director of the Art Research Institute. They both have produced excellent plays and won national and international prizes. Tang Qinru is beginning to cut a brilliant figure as a rising playwright.

(Translated by David)