The musical "Peace of Mind Dongpo" takes Su Dongpo's three-year exile in Hainan as its blueprint, focusing on his arduous journey to complete the "Three Books of Hainan" (Commentary on the Book of Changes, Commentary on the Book of History, and Analects). Through four acts of dramatic conflict—"Exile," "Fighting the Plague," "Encountering Danger," and "Completion of Books"—the musical reveals Dongpo's ideals of "establishing virtue, merit, and words" and his life philosophy that "peace of mind is my hometown." This play is a key to decoding Dongpo's philosophy of life, a long song chanting "Peace of Mind Dongpo," and a grand production bringing a fresh breeze.
Opening Performance of the 3rd China (Hainan) Dongpo Cultural Tourism Conference — China's First AI-Concept National Style Musical "Peace of Mind Dongpo" Officially Released.
The musical "Peace of Mind Dongpo" is based on the history of Su Dongpo's three-year exile in Hainan. It focuses on the difficult process of his completion of the "Three Books of Hainan" (Commentary on the Book of Changes, Commentary on the Book of History, and Analects). Through the four acts of dramatic conflict—"Exile," "Fighting the Plague," "Encountering Danger," and "Completion of Books"—it demonstrates Dongpo's scholar-official ideals of "establishing virtue, merit, and words" and his life philosophy that "peace of mind is my hometown." This play serves as a key to decoding Dongpo's life philosophy, a long song praising "Peace of Mind Dongpo," and a grand drama with a refreshing style.
In terms of theme and conception, the entire play closely adheres to three keywords: "Living Well," "Living Up to Life," and "Only My Peace of Mind." It dramatically showcases Su Dongpo's philosophy of cherishing life and the present moment, finding freedom in distress, and moving forward with laughter and ease in adversity. It also reflects his sense of mission to complete the "Three Books of Hainan" during his life's adversity, and his great benevolence in leaving his lifelong learning to future generations and igniting the cultural spark of Hainan, realizing the ideal of "continuing the lost teachings for past sages." The core theme of the play ultimately boils down to "Peace of Mind," just as the theme song sings: "No thoughts, no filth; no sickness, no guilt; only my peace of mind, no worries looking up or down." When we can live as wonderfully and valuably as Su Dongpo, we can naturally cleanse our thoughts, be healthy in body and mind, sleep peacefully, not be tortured by anxiety, obsession, guilt, or uneasiness, and calmly face the myriad phenomena of the world and taste the hundred flavors of life.
Regarding the plot interpretation, the creative team boldly introduced fashionable Artificial Intelligence (AI) and time-travel elements, creating a Gen-Z programmer character named Xiao Ling. While developing "AI Dongpo," she accidentally travels back in time to the Northern Song Dynasty in Hainan and meets the real Su Dongpo. With a modern perspective, young people's internet language, digital-age thinking, and genuine confusion about contemporary life, she experiences a journey in Hainan with this literary giant of the ages and gains new life insights. The play also interweaves virtual exchanges between her and "AI Dongpo" discussing the meaning of life, emotional dilemmas, and existential values, forming a dual narrative structure running parallel between ancient and modern times. This design not only adds dramatic tension but also endows historical figures with new vitality through the modern medium of AI, prompting people to rethink profound propositions such as "how to live well" and "how to achieve peace of mind" at the intersection of technology and humanities.
Creative Team: The creative team of this play gathers China's top-tier musical creation artists. It is jointly created by famous director Zhao Jingsheng, famous composer Zhang Qu, and famous Hainan director Meng Luguang, famous composer Wang Yanmei, and other artists.
Character Image: The portrayal of Su Dongpo in the play is a breakthrough attempt among recent Dongpo-themed literary and artistic works. Unlike previous stage productions that often portrayed Dongpo as a literary titan and romantic talent, this play, with deep humanistic care and delicate emotional portrayal, displays his interesting and free soul, restoring him as a "old urchin" with warmth, struggles, and beliefs.
Music Creation: The entire play is based on original pop musical music, combined with the Song-style ink wash artistic conception and Hainan regional elements integrated throughout the play. It combines symphonic music, Danzhou folk tunes, electronic music, and other diverse musical languages to create an immersive auditory experience. The play also contains a large number of original ancient-style lyrics and tunes with high traditional literary attainments, incorporating rich national style elements on the basis of modern musical senses.
Stage Presentation: The stage design team uses minimalist and symbolic techniques, taking Dongpo's eternal line "From now on, the small boat vanishes, entrusting the rest of my life to the rivers and seas" as the main visual image, constructing a highly poetic stage space. At the same time, the design team also extracted a large number of unique natural landscapes and cultural elements of Hainan, making each scene not only highlight the stage narrative but also highlight regional characteristics. The entire stage is designed as a tilted curved surface, with flowing light and shadow resembling the vast South China Sea and the river of destiny. Actors walk, fall, dance, and sing on the slope, and their body language forms tension with the stage terrain, symbolizing Dongpo's spiritual posture of ups and downs and going against the current throughout his life. In addition, in the process of stage visual expression, the stage design team referred to a large number of famous paintings of Dongpo by painters of past dynasties, perfectly presenting the virtual stage image of "AI Dongpo" on the stage, forming a shocking scene of dialogue between ancients and moderns, and dialogue between virtuality and reality.
音乐剧《心安东坡》以苏东坡贬谪海南三年的历史为蓝本，聚焦其完成《东坡易传》《书传》《论语说》“海南三书”的艰难历程，通过“遭逐”“抗疫”“遇凶”“成书”四幕戏剧冲突，展现东坡“立德、立功、立言”的士大夫理想与“此心安处是吾乡”的生命哲学。这部剧是一把解码东坡生命哲学的钥匙，亦是一首咏叹心安东坡的长歌，更是一部新风扑面的大戏。
第三届中国（海南）东坡文化旅游大会开幕式演出——中国首部AI概念国风音乐剧 《心安东坡》正式发布。
音乐剧《心安东坡》以苏东坡贬谪海南三年的历史为蓝本，聚焦其完成《东坡易传》《书传》《论语说》“海南三书”的艰难历程，通过“遭逐”“抗疫”“遇凶”“成书”四幕戏剧冲突，展现东坡“立德、立功、立言”的士大夫理想与“此心安处是吾乡”的生命哲学。这部剧是一把解码东坡生命哲学的钥匙，亦是一首咏叹心安东坡的长歌，更是一部新风扑面的大戏。
在主题立意上，全剧紧扣“好好活着”“不负人生”“惟我心安”三个关键词，以戏剧形式展现出了东坡先生珍爱生命、珍惜当下，在困顿中寻得自在，在逆境中吟啸前行、快意潇洒的生命哲学。同时也体现了东坡先生在人生逆旅中锚定完成“海南三书”使命担当，以及为了将毕生学识留予后世、点燃海南的文脉火种，实现“为往圣继绝学”的大德仁心。全剧的核心立意最终归结于“心安”二字，正如剧中主题歌所唱：“无念无垢，无病无疚；惟我心安，俯仰无忧”。当我们能如东坡先生这般，活得精彩且富有价值，自然而然便能涤荡杂念、身心康健、睡梦安稳，不被焦虑执念、愧疚不安等情绪折磨，坦然面对世间百相、品鉴体会人生百味。
主创团队大胆引入当下时尚的人工智能和穿越元素，塑造了一名00后的程序员小灵。她在开发“AI东坡”时意外穿越，来到北宋海南，与真实的东坡相遇，以现代人的视角、年轻人的网络语言、数字时代的思维方式，以及对当代生活的真实困惑，与这位千古文豪共同经历一场海南之旅，并获得新的生命感悟。
剧中还穿插了她与“AI东坡”探讨生命意义、情绪困境与存在价值的虚拟交流，形成古今双线并行的叙事结构。这种设计不仅增添了戏剧张力，更通过AI这一现代媒介，赋予历史人物以新的生命力，促使人们在科技与人文的交汇处，重新思考如何“好好活着”“实现心安”等深刻命题。
主创团队方面：本剧主创团队集结了我国一线音乐剧创作艺术家，由著名导演赵京生，著名作曲张渠和海南省著名导演蒙簏光，著名作曲王艳梅等艺术家联袂创作。
角色形象方面：剧中塑造的苏东坡形象堪称近年来东坡主题文艺作品中的一次突破性尝试，不同于以往舞台上常将东坡表现为文坛巨擘、风流才子，本剧以深沉的人文关怀与细腻的情感刻画，展示他有趣而自由的灵魂，将他还原为一个有温度、有挣扎、有信念的“老顽童”。
音乐创作方面：全剧以流行音乐剧原创音乐为主基调，并配合全剧融合的宋式水墨意境与海南地域元素，结合交响乐、儋州调声、电子乐等多元音乐语言，打造沉浸式听觉体验。剧中还包含大量传统文学造诣很高的古风原创唱词及曲调，在现代音乐剧感官基础上又融入了浓郁国风元素。
舞台呈现方面：舞台设计团队运用极简与象征手法，以东坡“小舟从此逝，江海寄余生”的千古名句为主视觉意象，构建出极具诗意的舞台空间。同时，设计团队还撷取了大量海南独特的自然景观与人文元素，使每个场景既彰显舞台叙事，又突出地域特色，整个舞台被设计为一道倾斜的弧面，光影流动宛如浩渺南海，又似命运之河，演员在斜坡上行走、跌倒、起舞、吟唱，身体语言与舞台地形构成张力，象征东坡一生起伏沉浮、逆流而上的精神姿态。此外，在舞台视觉表达过程中，舞美设计团队参考了大量历代画家关于东坡的名画资料，在舞台上完美呈现了“AI东坡”的虚拟舞台形象，形成了古人与今人对话、虚拟与现实对话的震撼场景。