唯獨舞台﹕快樂王子音樂劇

 

看這個劇的主要原因是我超超超超超喜歡讀Oscar Wilde，而這本The Happy Prince and Other Tales由細到大更是中文英文翻睇再翻睇，所以見有這個劇目，便買飛進場。

我喜歡這齣劇的音樂，演員進出螢幕布為舞台帶來新的維度，感覺十分新鮮，而我最喜歡的就是台上一班小演員投入而真摯的演出。然而，劇團對快樂王子的interpretation卻不時令我摸不著頭腦。我嘗試以燕子為引子，說明音樂劇和原著故事的分別。讓我們先來看看王爾德筆下的燕子和蘆葦的關係。

     One night there flew over the city a little Swallow. His friends had gone away to Egypt six weeks before, but he had stayed behind, for he was in love with the most beautiful Reed. He had met her early in the spring as he was flying down the river after a big yellow moth, and had been so attracted by her slender waist that he had stopped to talk to her.

     'Shall I love you said the Swallow', who liked to come to the point at once, and the Reed made him a low bow. So he flew round and round her, touching the water with his wings, and making silver ripples. This was his courtship, and it lasted all through the summer.

     'It is a ridiculous attachment,' twittered the other Swallows, 'she has no money, and far too many relations;' and indeed the river was quite full of Reeds. Then, when the autumn came, they all flew away.

     After they had gone he felt lonely, and began to tire of his lady-love. 'She has no conversation,' he said, 'and I am afraid that she is a coquette, for she is always flirting with the wind.' And certainly, whenever the wind blew, the Reed made the most graceful curtsies. I admit that she is domestic,' he continued, 'but I love travelling, and my wife, consequently, should love travelling also.'

     'Will you come away with me?' he said finally to her; but the Reed shook her head, she was so attached to her home.

     'You have been trifling with me,' he cried, 'I am off to the Pyramids. Good-bye!' and he flew away.

蘆葦像個風情萬千的女子，時而接受燕子的傾慕，時而與風調情。燕子多情但瀟灑，他看見婀娜多姿的蘆葦便深深地愛上，殷切地圍在她身邊團團轉，不管其他人怎樣說，﹝更不管蘆葦其實有沒有愛上他﹞。但當他厭倦單戀蘆葦，受夠被她玩弄，便瀟灑地離去。而且，燕子本身喜歡飛翔，並不如劇中那隻燕子般扭拄擰擰。所以當我看見音樂劇中像傻仔一樣的蘆葦、死纏爛打的燕子，心裏就有點「點解會變成咁ga﹗﹗﹗」的感覺。

'What, is he not solid gold?' said the Swallow to himself. He was too polite to make any personal remarks out loud.

故事中，燕子像一個紳士一樣，溫文儒雅、不卑不亢。然而，音樂劇中的燕子嘈吵多言，經常跳跳紮，表情有點太豐富。故事中當燕子說到不喜歡小孩時，牠是這樣說的

'I don't think I like boys,' answered the Swallow. 'Last summer, when I was staying on the river, there were two rude boys, the miller's sons, who were always throwing stones at me. They never hit me, of course; we swallows fly far too well for that, and besides, I come of a family famous for its agility; but still, it was a mark of disrespect.'

我身手矯健，他們自然打不中我，但這對我非常不尊重。語氣驕傲而平靜。反觀音樂劇中，燕子帶點生鬼有趣而囂張地說﹕「你估我係企鵝呀？」完全體現不到燕子應有的氣質。

當快樂王子要求燕子把他的藍寶石眼睛拿下來送給窮人時，燕子低泣拒絕。

     'Dear Prince,' said the Swallow,'I cannot do that;' and he began to weep.

     'Swallow, Swallow, little Swallow,' said the Prince, 'do as I command you.'

     So the Swallow plucked out the Prince's eye, and flew away to the student's garret.

weep這個字，帶領我們想像一隻小燕子一邊說「親愛的王子，我不能這樣做」，一邊用牠的羽翼輕輕拭去眼窩的淚。場面寧靜，亦見出燕子堅強的性格和修為。牠絕對不是一隻會不顧儀態大哭大鬧的燕子。﹝正如快樂王子也不是一個會哭得這麼淒厲的王子。﹞

我不知道，可能劇團認為把童話搬上舞台需要額外注入很多能量來捉住觀眾的注意力，所以有這種演繹，但這很破壞王爾德本來所營造的美感。同時，劇團亦取走了一些王爾德本來寫進去的重要元素。例如每次快樂王子請求燕子幫忙或請求牠再留低多陪他一晚，他都會這樣稱呼牠﹕「燕子，燕子，小小的燕子」。這種如音樂旋律的重覆，我認為不能夠隨便刪減，刪減了就會令對白失去它們原有的詩意。


可能有人會覺得，哎呀成場係度「親愛的王子」「小小的燕子」，今時今日的觀眾受唔住咁肉麻ga la。唔，可能真是咁樣，有些人喜歡搞笑輕鬆的方式演繹，我則比較喜歡對原著有堅持和尊重的演出。

Oedipus the King by Hong Kong Theatre Works

 

So I went to see this Oedipus the King by Hong Kong Theatre Works today

I've never seen their production before

nor have I ever heard of them

The venue was North District Town Hall Auditorium, which is very far from me

but thanks to MTR it only takes like 1.5 hr to travel across Hong Kong

I went there with two friends, as I mentioned in the previous entry

We took the theatre course together in year 2

and the teacher actually played us some videos of companies performing this in class

Greek tragedies were played by actors with masks on

so seeing live masked actors is actually one of the things I most looked forward to

and of course, it is always intriguing to see how classical plays are moded and played on a Hong Kong stage

Before the play started I saw a lot of junior secondary school students there

It surprised me very much because I didnt expect such young students would be interested in it

We were guessing maybe their school had encouraged/required them to come

anyway it is always good for children/teenagers to have a chance to appreciate classics

The play started with the actors walking out with their masks in hands solemnly

forming a circle, facing inside, then putting on the masks together

and when it ended, they took off their masks in the same way

i wonder if it's a kind of ritual originated from ancient Greece (i know, i should've paid more attention in class)

Back in those days when tragedies were played in huge theatres that could contain an audience greater than ten thousands, it's necessary to put on masks to exaagerate the face of the actors

it seemed to me like when the actors put their masks on, they are no longer themselves, but the characters

when they put it down, they come back to themselves again 

I didnt have a chance to ask the people from HKTW why they only had half-masks instead of the full ones

but i guess it's partly due to the small size of the current audience

besides, unlike the traditional ones these masks are irregular in shape and have different colous

they remind me of Sichuan masks :P

The whole play was performed by altogether 5 actors

while it has like 9 or 10 characters

to be honest, I thought there were more - I mean, I didn't notice some characters were actually the same people

of course it's partly because the actors have put on masks

but they even have different ways to speak, walk, gesture, and all those

Since I didnt keep the booklet, I still cant tell who's who, so

and about the tragedy itself

some people say it's about Oedipus facing his fate bravely

like when at the end he realises that he's the guilty guy he himself is looking for

he doesnt escape, but accepts the fate and punishes himself

i dun think it's about that

i think it's about how one's personality determines his fate

it's solely because Oedipus's determination/stubbornness to find out the truth

that it ultimately leads to his own sorrowful end

if he doesnt insist that much, like, he gives up the finding at some point of the thing,

listens to the prophet, doesnt send for the shepherd, or returns to Corinth to succeed his kingship

then he'd not have to reveal the horrible facts himself

and would not have to blind himself and leave the city

one thing i dun understand is

if jocasta is Oedipus' wife, how come she doesnt notice the old wounds on his feet before the shepherd from Corinth talked about this?

Generally I like this show very much, especially the performing part

If they put on some other Greek tragedies or even Shakespeare or some other classical works,

I'd definitely be glad to go see it