戲劇製作《針鋒對決 》
資料類型：製作背景
作者：梁志民
題名：導演的話：針鋒對決
出處：《針鋒對決》節目冊
出版單位：果陀劇場
日期：2008/8
頁碼：10-11
語言：英文
摘要：作者談到本劇劇情、視覺設計理念以及將劇本譯為中文時的考量。劇名「針鋒對決」靈感源自棋弈遊戲「奧賽羅」，象徵兩位主角之間、兩位演員之間以及每人心中的善邪對決。
I still remember well when I was a sophomore in college, when I first read this script, my first impression was : “What is so great about it?” it was so obvious as to who was the villain and who was the good guy. The villain Iago even declared at the beginning of the play: “I, Iago, with a mask of pretense…” All the yet-to-happen events flowed from this monologue. A tragedy “naturally” happened under his scheme as planned.
Yet, the more I read, the more stunning it seemed. Was this tragedy unavoidable? There were numerous moments when tragedy could have been averted, yet the weakness of humanity, figured in Iago’s carefully planned-out actions, soon led to everyone’s demise and destruction. Just like a delicately embroidered silk handkerchief, once it caught a spark of flame, would be totally destroyed in no time at all.
‘But jealous souls will not be answered so.
They are not ever jealous for the cause,
But jealous for they’re jealous.
It is a monster Begot upon itself, born on itself.’
How insightful and observant one must be in order to write needle-sharp sentences like these? Among Shakespeare’s four greatest tragedies, Othello has the least number of characters and the simplest plot, but it is the most structured and the deepest. There is no hero in this play. Every ordinary person has both dark and light within him, both Iago and Othello, both evil and righteousness.
When I was conceiving the visual effect of this production, I kept thinking of Giorgio De Chirico’s (Italy, 1888-1978) works. I like this surrealist very much. In his works, there are often strange chiaroscuro, illogical perspective and lonely shadows. De Chirico liked to say: “The real valuable thing is the world we see when we close our eyes.” De Chirico once said: “Art is to present ‘the unimaginable and mysterious thoughts and forms.’” I told the design team this concept of art and they soon came up with a direction. When you watch this play, you will see a tangram on the stage moving and recombining to form the backdrops for different scenes --- indoor, castle, and seaport… Sometimes, the movements of these pieces suggest the “mysterious thoughts” of the characters, not only providing the backdrop for the scenes, but also presenting the visualization of the thoughts.
The most difficult part of Shakespeare’s plays is his elegant verse. When we read it out loud, we can feel its cadence. Once translated into Chinese, not only the audience needs to understand the meanings but also to feel the motives and emotions of these words. We had read both Sheng-Hao Zhu’s and Ping Fang’s translations of Othello. We went over each and every sentence and tried to understand the original meaning and the inner motive. Yu-Hui Wang, the two leading actors Shih-Chieh King and Li-Chun Lee, and I spent a month studying the script, trying to make it both understandable and Shakespearean. If we have succeeded in this effort, we can finally say we have honored Shakespeare.
There is a board game named Othello also. The inventor of this game apparently got his idea from this play. Two players, each begins with the black or the white pieces. On an 8 by 8 board, if the black pieces frame the white ones, the white pieces are turned into black pieces, and vice versa. At the end, the side which occupies the most squares wins. The fun thing about this game is that sometimes it seems that one side has an upper hand but with one wrong move, the situation can be completely reversed all of a sudden. I have long loved to play this game. The Chinese title of our play “Duel” came from this game. Not only does it imply the duel between the characters in this play, but also the duel between the good and the evil in our hearts.
Of course, it is also going to be a magnificent duel between these two well-respected performing artists. For both of them, this will be a great challenge in acting and a chance to grow beyond their present realms.
P.S.: Othello Game http://hewgill.com/othello/
Yet, the more I read, the more stunning it seemed. Was this tragedy unavoidable? There were numerous moments when tragedy could have been averted, yet the weakness of humanity, figured in Iago’s carefully planned-out actions, soon led to everyone’s demise and destruction. Just like a delicately embroidered silk handkerchief, once it caught a spark of flame, would be totally destroyed in no time at all.
‘But jealous souls will not be answered so.
They are not ever jealous for the cause,
But jealous for they’re jealous.
It is a monster Begot upon itself, born on itself.’
How insightful and observant one must be in order to write needle-sharp sentences like these? Among Shakespeare’s four greatest tragedies, Othello has the least number of characters and the simplest plot, but it is the most structured and the deepest. There is no hero in this play. Every ordinary person has both dark and light within him, both Iago and Othello, both evil and righteousness.
When I was conceiving the visual effect of this production, I kept thinking of Giorgio De Chirico’s (Italy, 1888-1978) works. I like this surrealist very much. In his works, there are often strange chiaroscuro, illogical perspective and lonely shadows. De Chirico liked to say: “The real valuable thing is the world we see when we close our eyes.” De Chirico once said: “Art is to present ‘the unimaginable and mysterious thoughts and forms.’” I told the design team this concept of art and they soon came up with a direction. When you watch this play, you will see a tangram on the stage moving and recombining to form the backdrops for different scenes --- indoor, castle, and seaport… Sometimes, the movements of these pieces suggest the “mysterious thoughts” of the characters, not only providing the backdrop for the scenes, but also presenting the visualization of the thoughts.
The most difficult part of Shakespeare’s plays is his elegant verse. When we read it out loud, we can feel its cadence. Once translated into Chinese, not only the audience needs to understand the meanings but also to feel the motives and emotions of these words. We had read both Sheng-Hao Zhu’s and Ping Fang’s translations of Othello. We went over each and every sentence and tried to understand the original meaning and the inner motive. Yu-Hui Wang, the two leading actors Shih-Chieh King and Li-Chun Lee, and I spent a month studying the script, trying to make it both understandable and Shakespearean. If we have succeeded in this effort, we can finally say we have honored Shakespeare.
There is a board game named Othello also. The inventor of this game apparently got his idea from this play. Two players, each begins with the black or the white pieces. On an 8 by 8 board, if the black pieces frame the white ones, the white pieces are turned into black pieces, and vice versa. At the end, the side which occupies the most squares wins. The fun thing about this game is that sometimes it seems that one side has an upper hand but with one wrong move, the situation can be completely reversed all of a sudden. I have long loved to play this game. The Chinese title of our play “Duel” came from this game. Not only does it imply the duel between the characters in this play, but also the duel between the good and the evil in our hearts.
Of course, it is also going to be a magnificent duel between these two well-respected performing artists. For both of them, this will be a great challenge in acting and a chance to grow beyond their present realms.
P.S.: Othello Game http://hewgill.com/othello/
