纵观古今戏曲舞台,在浩如烟海的剧目中,古代题材的剧目始终长期占据主导地位。仅看建国以来的戏曲创作,虽然在某一特定历史阶段也曾集中出现过较多现代题材作品,但就作品的数量和质量而言,古代题材创作远远多于和优于现代戏。尤其新时期以来多部优秀新编历史剧的出现,使许多戏曲作家在“困惑”“危机”中看到曙光。客观地说,在新的历史文化背景下,古代题材创作仍然保持稳步发展的势头。为什么剧作家那样热衷于古代题材的创作?现代题材剧目为什么相对较少?作为艺术创作现象这个问题已经引起作者和观众的思考。对此我想从以下三个方面浅析其因。 Throughout the stage of ancient and modern drama, in a vast repertoire, the theatrical repertoire has always dominated. Only the drama creation since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, although there has been a large number of modern theme works appearing in a particular historical stage, the quantity and quality of the works are far more ancient and better than the modern ones. In particular, the emergence of many excellent new historical plays since the new period has caused many opera writers to see the dawn in “confusion” and “crisis.” Objectively speaking, in the new historical and cultural background, ancient themes still maintain the momentum of steady development. Why playwrights are keen on the creation of ancient themes? Why is there relatively few modern plays? As a phenomenon of artistic creation, this issue has caused the author and audience to think. In this regard, I would like to analyze its causes from the following three aspects.