攝影|陳藝堂

 《#》創作社CS監製作品4號

創作社劇團 (編劇魏于嘉、導演 李銘宸)

首演日期|2016/04/01

首演地點|台北水源劇場

 

入圍理由

破碎的場景,懸置的對話,以及越來越模糊的時間與空間,作品的語彙形式徘徊在寫實與寓言之間。本作品隱喻當前的環境、災難以及年輕人 所面臨的工作貧窮等問題,但卻不以再現的方式企圖討論社會現實,語言在劇場當中另闢政治戰場,雖不反應現實,卻不斷動搖現實。(主筆/林于竝)

 

關於《#》創作社CS監製作品4號

劇本原名《現世寓言》,是2014年台灣文學奬劇本金典獎作品。李銘宸從社群媒體上觀察到『#』是代表標籤、索引的符號;跟在『#』之後的文字則多半跟正文關聯性不大卻是因正文而生、呼應正文的衍生文本;視覺上,則像寓意深層而多樣的井,故將劇名從《現世寓言》更改為《#》。 一則則寓言故事場景,以許多非人物件或動物為主要角色:動物園裡的黃色小鴨、貓熊、滿足速食產業需求的人造雞、為求生存進入食品工廠工作的北極熊,以及末日僅存的最後一個人類等,以戲謔口吻對應現實社會裡的人性與生活狀態。劇本剖視食安問題、地球暖化等天災人禍末世情景,以高密度、對白獨白交雜的語言反映角色人物的焦躁不安,是對現世最誠實而赤裸的寓言。

 

關於人物

本屆入圍的創作社劇團「CS監製」第4號作品《#》,是「CS監製」媒合的第四組青年編導組合,也是導演李銘宸與編劇魏于嘉的首度合作。編導兩人雖是首次合作,但對彼此的作品並不陌生。魏于嘉激賞李銘宸的執導風格,幾乎沒有錯過他的每部作品;李銘宸則對魏于嘉的劇本創作印象深刻,尤其對於腦中難以言喻的景象,魏于嘉都能以具高度表現的語言能力書寫出來。此劇原名《現世寓言》,以寓言故事體裁,呈現既荒謬又真實、虛實交錯的現世風景,導演李銘宸從社群媒體時常運用的標籤符號得到靈感,將它改名為《#》。

魏于嘉就讀臺灣大學戲劇系研究所時,有感於媒體壟斷、多元成家、低薪資高工時等社運議題引起大眾激辯討論,期間碰巧讀到英國知名劇作家卡瑞•邱琪爾(Caryl Churchill)的劇本「A Mouthful of Birds」,內容集結數十個場景長短交錯,卡瑞•邱琪爾的劇本沒有絕對的因果關係或連貫場景,但核心主軸卻很清晰;魏于嘉於是嘗試這種劇本寫法,寫下《現世寓言》的草稿,以當時的社會氛圍為主題,藉以想瞭解社會大眾的爭執點。面對社會爭論,魏于嘉直攻核心,在追查重要資料時,卻發現上網搜尋很容易被無關訊息干擾,太多旁枝末節,反而讓議題相關的法條或資訊難以搜尋,有時資訊浮出,卻又瞬間消失在網路的茫茫大海之中。她選擇寓言體裁的敘事,但刻意模糊或淡化寓言常有的道德教訓,呈現她所感受到的社會氛圍;她說,「我不分立場,看了幾乎所有頻道的各種新聞,強烈感到大家的表達慾,突然群起憤慨然後彷彿又沒事。但我並非要批判,我也是戲中那個叫大家『收垃圾』,但自己看到垃圾又怕弄髒手的角色」。

在此次合作之前,導演李銘宸習慣以集體發展產出文本,較少從文字出發,確定劇本才導戲;他說,「看劇本第一印象很像看某種日漫或臉書GIF圖的時空感,各種怪奇事件不斷發生—海嘯、龜仙人降臨、動物跑來跑去等等,諸如此類的事件,在腦中想像場景很過癮,但真的落實在台上,怎麼想都覺得很俗、很無聊或轉折很硬」。李銘宸認為,在排練創作時試圖將劇本實際呈現時,努力尋找工作所謂「一以貫之的劇場邏輯」,一再地發現,劇本最有趣的地方或許在於「激發觀眾『想像』的剎那間」。李銘宸試著定出介於觀眾和舞台、想像和真實的位置所在,並以集體編創的開放性看待文本及其排練;他說:「每個劇本最棒的狀態不一樣,有些適合拿來讀,在腦中想像,有些適合搬演」。原劇本如同短篇寓言的故事集,每個片段篇幅比重相近,李銘宸特地將尾段長篇獨白改到開場,將近四十分鐘的獨白營造出貫徹全戲的荒蕪氣氛,也造就此戲獨特的時間運作系統,讓演出能量更飽滿。魏于嘉也對導演改動劇本的企圖相當支持,對她來說,劇場是「氛圍論,是某種強大想像力的手工藝;最特別的是現場肉搏感,絕不是把文字唸出來就了事」。

撮合本次兩位年輕編導合作的創作社行政總監李慧娜,當初受導演周慧玲及劇作家紀蔚然同聲推薦魏于嘉的劇本,讚許這是天才之作;李慧娜發現劇本裡隱含的日常暴力和高密度語言,很適合以李銘宸的導演風格處理,雙方的合作一拍即合。創作社「CS監製」的初衷,是媒合彼此未曾合作過的年輕世代編劇及導演,試圖激盪出新的創作火花,雖然演出的反應極好,但過程其實並不容易。李銘宸深思熟慮,有些細節甚至演出在即仍在更動,有時不免牽一髮動全局。當創作者工作節奏無法與既定的製作時程同步,對團隊或創作者都是壓力,「銘宸的創作才華需要有能夠相信他、瞭解他的製作團隊的支持,因此我也曾建議他要能建立有默契的固定合作夥伴,協助他持續創作和製作好作品。」李慧娜說,「創作社始終對年輕藝術家有信心,也會繼續做為一個讓藝術家能合作的平台,努力推出好作品。」

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創作社劇團

成立於1997年5月,由一群台灣資深劇場編導、戲劇學者、藝術行政及媒體工作者所組成。有鑑於現代劇場與社會文化脈動息息相關,創作社強調劇場原創精神,致力原創劇本,探索新的劇場美學風格,嘗試不同的創作組合方式。有別於台灣其他戲劇團體,創作社的核心成員包含多位編導創作人才,也因此,劇團作品更精彩體現台灣現代劇場的多元美學創意。迄今製作演出了31部作品,創作者包含劇團核心成員紀蔚然、周慧玲、魏瑛娟、黎煥雄,及客席導演符宏征、王嘉明、劉守曜、傅裕惠、呂柏伸、徐堰鈴等資深劇場創作者與影視導演曹瑞原,以及青壯世代編導楊景翔、馮勃棣、詹傑、吳瑾蓉、李銘宸、魏于嘉、朱宜、陳恆輝、王子川的作品,屢獲觀眾、藝術界、學界和媒體的高度肯定,並曾多次獲得台灣重要戲劇獎項。

 編劇 魏于嘉

台灣大學戲劇學研究所碩士(主修劇本創作)。劇本《現世寓言》獲台灣文學獎創作類劇本金典獎(2014年,2016年劇名更改為《#》演出,創作社製作),《媽媽/歌星》獲臺北文學獎舞台劇劇本優等獎(2015年);劇場作品《水管人》(2015年,編劇,末路小花製作)。 

導演 李銘宸

新北永和人。國立臺北藝術大學戲劇學系畢業,主修導演。劇場創作,演出,平面美術。於2009年起以風格涉(社)名創作與發表演出,作品關注場域空間質地及材質與人的關係,取材現下景況與社會氛圍,多以集體即興創作之方式,積極嘗試各類領域與創作途徑,持續探索實驗一種期望超越先有疆域,更為有機的劇場表現可能。近期作品:台南人劇團321小戲節-耳邊風工作站《悲劇的靜止》、阮劇團劇本農場讀劇演出《再約》、創作社第25號作品《四情旅店》之〈客房服務〉、創作社CS監製作品4號《#》、黑眼睛跨劇團-對幹戲劇節《誰殺了大象》、臺北藝穗節榮耀邀演《擺爛》、新點子劇展《戀曲2010》等。

 

作品相關評論

沙地上的一張臉《#》─表演藝術評論台 2016/4/4

硬派?軟派?蘋果派?《#》─表演藝術評論台 2016/4/1

令人驚喜的兩齣「創作社」作品:《》與《Holy Crab!異鄉記》─ARTALKS 2016/05/31

 

製作團隊

監製|李慧娜

製作人|藍浩之

導演|李銘宸

編劇|魏于嘉

演員|安原良、 何瑞康、 陳以恩、 陳俊澔、 李慕恩 胡書綿、 蕭東意、 賴澔哲、 曾智偉、 潘韋勳、 張長順

服裝設計|李育昇

舞台設計|陳嘉微

燈光設計|陳冠霖

攝影|陳藝堂 

平面設計|劉悅德

宣傳片導演|陳冠宇

行政經理|張令嫻

執行製作|吳佳紜

專案宣傳統籌|尚安璿

舞台監督|余品潔

舞台技術指導|蘇俊學

燈光技術指導|王瓈萱

音響技術指導|張秩暉

舞台技術執行|洪誌隆、 林佳蓉、 徐鈺荃、 許安祁

燈光技術執行|陳定男、徐子涵、林晉毅

音響技術執行│陳宇謙

導演助理/音樂音效執行|李思萱

導演助理/小道具執行|張家豫

服裝設計助理|謝東霖 吳定盛

梳化│Teddy Cheng

服裝管理│吳定盛

佈景製作│優旺特藝術有限公司

舞台輸出│風揚國際有限公司

 

 

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Creative Society (Playwright WEI Yu-Chia, Director LEE Ming-Chen)

 

Comments from Nomination Committee

With a fragmented set and suspended conversations, as time and space are getting more and more undefined, the vocabulary and form of the work linger between the realistic and the allegorical. This work is a metaphor for the present environment, disaster, and problems that young people are facing today, such as issues of employment and poverty. However, it does not intend to discuss social reality by representing it. Its language creates another battlefield of politics in the theatre, not reflecting the reality yet continuously rattling it. (Commentator: LIN Yu-Pin)

About the Artwork

The play’s original script, Modern Fable, won the Best Play of the 2014 Taiwan Literature Award. LEE Ming-Chen associated the play with the symbol of a hashtag, on account of his observation about the common use in the social networks. “#” represents label and index. It is a sign of reference, but this symbol has evolved into something that no longer has a direct relationship with the written text. The words following hashtag are rather derived from the text, it becomes the derivative text of the original one. Also, visually speaking, “#” looks like the Chinese character for "well," which is metaphoric and diverse in meanings. So, LEE changed the title from Modern Fable into #.

Each allegory-like scene introduces an object or animal as the main character: the yellow duck from the zoo, the panda, the artificial chicken created to meet the fast-food market demand, the polar bears working in food factories for survival, the last human being that survived the doomsday, etc. With a sarcastic and humorous tone, the play corresponds to the humanity and life conditions in the real world, addressing issues such as food security, global warming, and apocalyptic scenes caused by natural and man-made disasters. Meanwhile, the highly concentrated, interwoven monologues and dialogues reflect the characters’ agitation and anxiety, revealing the most candid and undisguised fable of the modern world.

About the Artist

Creative Society Theatre GroupCreative Society Theatre Group (CS) was established by a group of experienced directors, playwrights, theatre scholars, arts administration professionals as well as media workers in Taiwan in May, 1997. Realizing the intrinsic connection between the contemporary theatre and socio-cultural trends, CS dedicates itself to the creation of original plays, exploring new theatrical aesthetics and discovering diverse ways of creative collaborations, all in the name of innovation. The fact that CS’s core members include a diverse group of creative directors and playwrights sets it apart from other theatre groups in Taiwan, and allows CS to further realize the multi-faceted creativity in the Taiwanese contemporary theatre world. CS has produced 31 works by its core members, including CHI Wei-Jan, CHOU Hui-Ling, WEI Ying-Chuan, and Michael LI, theatre veterans, including FU Hong-Zheng, WANG Chia-Ming, LIU Shou-Yuo, FU Yu-Hui, LU Po-Shen and HSU Yen-Ling, as well as young-generation directors and playwrights, including YANG Ching-Hsiang, Birdy FONG, ZHAN Jei, Sharon WU, LEE Ming-Chen, WEI Yu-Chia, ZHU Yi, Andrew CHAN, and WANG Zi-Chuan. The high artistic quality of CS’s works has received critical acclaim of the audience, art circle, media and academia.

WEI Yu-Chia

WEI YU-Chia holds an MA in Scriptwriting from the Department of Drama and Theatre, National Taiwan University. Her script, Modern Fable, won the Best Play of Taiwan Literature Award in 2014. (The title was changed into # and was produced by Creative Society Theatre Group in 2016.) Her other script, Mother/Singer, won the Excellent Prize in Scriptwriting of Taipei Literature Award in 2015. Her other work includes Youtube (playwright; the play was produced by The Deadend Flowers in 2015).

LEE Ming-Chen

LEE Ming-Chen was born in Yonghe, New Taipei City. He majored in directing and graduated from the Department of Theatre, Taipei National University of the Arts. He also engages in theatrical creation, performance, and graphic design. Since 2009 onward, he has been publishing and producing works in the name of Style Lab. His works focus on the texture of site and space as well as the relationship between material and people, seeking inspiration from the present condition and social atmosphere with an emphasis on collaborative creation and improvisation. LEE's active engagement in various creative fields and approaches enables him to continuously explore and experiment in the attempt to achieve a more organic way of theatrical expression that transcends the existing boundaries. His recent works include Tragic Inaction by Wind and Ear Studio at Fantasy 321 Festival hosted by Tainaner Ensemble, play reading and performance in To Meet Again by Our Theatre's Script Farm Project, The Inn - Room Service by Creative Society Theatre Group, # by Creative Society Theatre Group, Who Killed the Elephant by Dark Eye Performance Lab at In-Yer-Face Festival, Leave it Rotten at Taipei Fringe Festival, and New Idea Theatre - Love Song 2010.