暴風雨
This is the first time I come across the work of the Contemporary
Legend Theatre of Taiwan (CLT) and right away, I appreciate what they have
done. The creative fusion of old and new theatrical art has created a new genre
that has merged to best of both worlds seamlessly.
First on the music front, this has made the traditional Peking
Opera type of music more accessible to me, a near-illiterate. Departure from
the classic mode is creatively integrated into the opera under 3 circumstances
(my reckoning only) – for special effect, for comical diversion and for
broadening the emotion spectrum. At the tempestuous opening scene, the
orchestration and chorus are not unlike those in a "western" opera.
The comical sketches in the second act are brought to life with folksy tunes
that might even have a Taiwanese origin. In the closing scene, for enhancement
of a romantic, joyous atmosphere, Miranda even sings a solo "arias"
in waltz.
The staging is delightfully lavish, a far cry from the traditional
simplicity of the Peking Opera) stage (which, ironically, is nearer to the
traditional Shakespearian stage), reflecting the global perspective of
Oscar-winning set and costume designer Tim Yip. Performance is uniformly
first-class, speaking a dramatic language that has no cultural boundaries.
Little wonder that the CLT has been received with overwhelming applauses
globally.
Both Tsui Hark (director) 徐克 and Wu
Hsing-kuo 吳興國 (artistic director/executive director/lead actor) claim
faithfulness in leaving Shakespeare's text intact, a claim that is largely
justified. Best of all is Prospero's epilogue prior to final exeunt. "….
As you from crimes would pardon'd be. Let you indulgence set me free."
Just as Puck's final soliloquy in "A mid-summer night's dream" (to
which both the HKRT and PIP have paid due respect on their respective
renderings), Prospero's also demands to be left intact.
But there is one huge departure. Turning gender-neutral Ariel into
a feminine persona is kind of cute, particularly when it is portrayed by such a
wonderfully charming actor as Chu An-li 朱安麗. Having a romantic consummation between (the re-invented) Ariel
and Caliban, however, is taking it too far.
A recent article in Time Out, Hong Kong reports Tsui and Wu's
compliment to each other. Tsui : "I warned him (Wu) that I was not expert
in Peking Opera, or Shakespeare. I'd do it only to become a student of Wu
Hsing-kuo". Wu : "His (Tsui's) advantage in a project like this is
that, because he doesn't usually direct for the stage, he looks at the material
with keen minds and fresh eyes." And it's Tsui who has the final word:
"With my movies, I'd look back at the DVDs and always find things that I'd
like to change. On stage, every performance is new. We can keep changing things
forever." Bravo!
黐孖戲班
同樣是以劇場生涯為素材，以後臺活動為實景的喜鬧劇，<黐孖戲班>略遜另一部翻譯劇<蝦碌戲班>
(MichaelFrayn 的 “Noises off”，2000年，春天舞臺制作，黃霑和一群一線演員主演)，主要原因是劇本不夠緊湊，錯摸位不夠精妙，要到了差不多尾聲時的戲中戲，才出現了久候的連珠爆笑場面。但畢竟還是香港話劇團水準之作，一班經驗豐富的喜劇能手，以誇張的演繹方式(尤其是型體)，在臺上展開渾身解數，填補了一些劇本乏力的先天不足。
翻譯外語劇本通常有兩個方向，一是原汁原味，二是本地化，如何選擇，則要看劇本性質。此劇採用後者是明智之舉，把水牛鎮Buffalo化成六十年代的元朗，也是一絕。此劇背景也頗有趣。六，七十年代曾在北美洲居住的朋友，如有看電視，大概會記得極受歡迎的Carol Burnett Show. Burnett除了是電視紅星外，也是出色的舞臺劇演員。 “Moon
Over Buffalo”
這劇，是她在闊別百老匯三十年後，1995年的“回歸”作品。劇中情節中關鍵性的導演Frank
Capra 和電影The
Scarlet Pimpernel，也巧妙的化成胡金銓和<龍門客棧>。
野玫瑰之戀
這劇的情節太熟悉了，雖然演技不錯 (尤其是焦媛)，但也難引起深度共鳴，欣賞的重心，是放在聽歌上面，或更貼切的說，是欣賞焦媛的演唱。她唱葛蘭的名曲，有點挑戰性，低音域不是她的強項，但很明顯下過苦功，也算中規中距 (幸好只是葛蘭而不是白光)。到了高的音域，則直是出谷黃鶯，而且不只是聲線美，技巧和感情的配合，都是一流。只聽<風流寡婦>一曲，已足繞樑三日。
但歌也不是焦媛一人全部包辨。女觀眾的寵兒影視藝員男主角高皓正的 一兩 首歌，表現平平。<喝彩>中演
“疑似陳百強”
的陳健豪很可惜地無用武之地，只清唱了幾句。飾美美的陳嘉儀也是小小的陪襯。最能唱的是演雪莉的張國穎，和焦媛合唱了短短的一首歌，已顯功力，一翻場刊，原來是 Hong Kong Singers 和 Soho Collective的成員，難怪
虎豹別野
以黑盒劇場作品來說，這齣戲已算是傳統和大路。開始時看似無厘頭的元素(如“V型反彈”的英語發音)，其實都有合理原由。說故事的手法引人入勝，“聚零為整”，貫徹地用畫(劇)外音和劇中人對話，來介紹各人物。然後如拼圖遊戲，把原整的故事拼出來。
故事的大背景(backdrop)是 胡文虎 先生興建虎豹別墅的經過，主幹則是一個小人物家庭的故事，以兩/三線並行和時空交錯的手法，有趣而不亂，好看。表揚的傳統價值觀，雖然看得不少，但正面的信息，永不過時。
演員方面，除了一群熟悉得如親戚朋友的香港話劇團regular外，還有去年新加盟的黃建東(<萬家之寶>中演方達生和曾霆)，和清新可喜的自由身演員吳鳳嗚(糊塗戲班<爆谷殺人狂>中演戲份也不算少的Farrah)。這劇亦很有懷舊feel，尤其是配上舊歌如<峇里島>和California
dreaming等。
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