剧评：对峙

照片出处：Tuckys Photography

黑箱剧场，有人性的光芒—— 观《对峙》

文：梁海彬

经历疫情，我们来看爱情，这或许是戏剧盒与必要剧场要向观众传达的。走入剧场，舞台周围都是由一个个纸盒搭起来的墙。纸盒搭建起来的世界，是Ram（角色原名Ramlah，而Ram这个名字是她因身份认同而选择的名字） 和 Jackie 的避风港，两人相互爱恋，一起成立了心中理想的剧场“零剧团”，为儿童和青少年呈现戏剧演出。纸盒当然不牢固，但是看着剧中角色们在纸盒上或坐或躺，观众也跟着觉得，或许这个由纸盒搭建起来的世界，真是一个可以抵御外界的城堡。有趣的是，Jackie很快就透露，零剧团里潜居着一只鬼，她们把那只鬼叫做“村上春树”，它喜欢玩弄灯光，不喜欢声音。Jackie的弟弟Jord知道以后，还特地读了《1Q84》，直觉很像是自己的故事。

Ram 的好友Adam 决定以这对恋人的生活为题材，拍摄纪录片。台上有几扇移动的门，纱布材质，呈半透明，多媒体投影投射在门上，都是Adam的纪录片片段，实景拍摄：政府组屋（Jackie的家）、家中的猫、海边的海堤、Jackie手上的烟蒂…… 观众成了Ram 和Jackie生活的偷窥者，像极了零剧团里的那只无处不在却又无踪无迹的鬼。

戏里处处是鬼：“村上春树”、Jackie和Jord早逝的大姐、以及Jord—— Jord在家中被家人忽视，自认像是一只没人看得见的鬼。其实《对峙》里的人物在不同程度上都是“鬼”，他们不得不隐藏自己的真性情，向外界显露适于社会规范的一面。Ram 和Jackie过着双重身份，“零剧团”像是她们的“1Q84”，在“零剧团”的这个平行世界里，她们得以暂时获得自在。

照片出处：Tuckys Photography

但有时灯光闪烁，Ram 在灯光下无所遁形，惊恐万分；Jackie站在一片辽阔的海景投影前，投影却越缩越小，最后缩小成了Jackie的棺材，最后把Jackie吞噬掉。外界的压力巨大，时时影响“零剧团”这片净土。Jackie躲在剧场内，觉得自己可以在压迫下求存，甚至可以甘于压迫，却终于独自郁郁死去。Ram 绝对是主动的，最后成功移民纽西兰，却在结婚时遭到宗教阻碍，始终寻求不到个性的抒发。

原来两个人的恋爱，从来不是，也不可能仅是，两个个体之间的事。人与社会、政治、宗教紧紧相扣，于是剧中角色总是在积极关注大选的成绩，于是他们总是在讨论政策的改变，于是他们总是聚在一起想象不一样的未来，因为爱情原来不是两个人的事。《对峙》的对峙，是个人与政治之间无可奈何的周旋。剧末，Ram 愤而拆毁了由纸盒搭建起来的墙，空荡荡的纸盒发出沉闷的回音，Ram 的希望之光却没有渗透空间，最后舞台上反而落下了“工作在进行中，不便之处敬请原谅”的工作告示牌。

戏剧盒与必要剧场联合创作的《对峙》，是三部曲的终结篇。谈情说爱，只是为了提供对未来的想象和望穿秋水。难忘在舞台上看到Ram 向Jackie的求婚，以及两人的结婚合照。观众什么时候可以看到同性恋者坦然无惊地披上婚纱，而不是眼睁睁看着这个群体被剥夺了婚姻的自由，并抱有歉意地向他们说“不便之处敬请原谅”？

照片出处：Tuckys Photography

戏剧盒与必要剧场从《宣言》、《贱民》、到《对峙》，都在探讨个人与政治之间无法分割的关系，《对峙》把这层关系表露得尖锐，延续了剧团一贯对人性的批判性思考和反思。剧场是独特空间，让社会上失语的群体，有机会寻回他们的声音，也让主流社群了解边缘群体每天都在遭遇的种种“不便”。

舞台设计师黄志伟充分利用了黑箱剧场的高度和深度，时而把空间变成郁闷且压抑的所在，时而让空间转变成角色们共处的温馨桃花源。灯光设计师白静怡以灯光设计出叙事空间，以及角色们的内心空间，让观众感觉鬼影处处，也制造出强烈的舞台画面。《对峙》的后台创意团队经验丰富，各方面的设计配合无间，营造出耐人寻味的故事氛围，也是《对峙》非常成功的一点。

看《对峙》时，无法不联想到必要剧场和戏剧盒的剧场空间，回忆剧团的无数创作…… 《对峙》是两大剧团的一场躬身自省，以这个角度来看这部戏，那又会是另一种有趣的解读了。

照片出处：Tuckys Photography


关于演出：2022年3月17日，8PM，必要剧场黑箱剧场，戏剧盒 + 必要剧场 联合呈现

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The Glow of Humanity in the Black Box Theatre

Theatre Review by Neo Hai Bin

Translated from Chinese to English by Melissa Lim

Let’s talk about love in these pandemic times. This is perhaps what Drama Box and The Necessary Stage intends to convey to their audiences.

Upon entering the theatre, one notices the cardboard boxes stacked like walls around the space. These walls of boxes create the universe that Ram (originally named Ramlah, though she opts to be known as Ram as part of her identity) and Jackie inhabit, a safe harbour within which they fall in love. They establish their ideal theatre outfit, Zero Theatre, presenting works for children and youths. Naturally, these boxes are far from stable. Yet as the audience sees the characters sitting or reclining on them, we are led to believe that maybe this cardboard world might well work as a fortress defending these individuals against the wider world. Interestingly, Jackie very quickly intimates that a ghost—which they had named “Murakami”—resides within the theatre; Murakami apparently likes playing with lights and detests sounds. Upon learning about this, Jackie’s brother, Jord proceeds to read 1Q84, which he later proclaims to be akin to his own story.

Adam, Ram’s good friend, decides to use the lives of the couple as the focus of a documentary film that he is shooting. On stage, we see several sliding doors covered in translucent gauze material, onto which the multimedia is projected. These are all footages taken from Adam’s film: an HDB flat (Jackie’s home), a house cat, dykes by the sea, an illuminated cigarette between Jackie’s fingers… The audience thus become voyeurs of Ram and Jackie’s lives, much like the ubiquitous yet unseen ghost of Zero Theatre.

The play is replete with ghosts: “Murakami”, the late elder sister of Jackie and Jord, as well as Jord himself, who is neglected by his family and sees himself as akin to an invisible ghost. In fact, the characters in Opposition are themselves ghosts in many respects. They are compelled to hide their true selves, and instead reveal only socially accepted facades. Ram and Jackie lead dual lives, with Zero Theatre being their own “1Q84”, a parallel world within which they find temporary respite.

Yet, at times, the lights flicker, and Ram’s innermost fears would be exposed. As Jackie stands before the projection of a wide expanse of sea, the projection progressively shrinks around her body, until it becomes her coffin, before the darkness swallows her whole. The colossal pressures of the outside world keep seeping into the unadulterated world that is Zero Theatre. Jackie hides within the theatre, believing that she can survive under pressure—and even seems willing to be oppressed. However, she ends up dying alone and depressed. Meanwhile, Ram makes some proactive moves and successfully migrates to New Zealand. But when she gets married, she becomes acutely aware of the obstacles her religion poses to that, and ultimately she fails to express her individuality as she would like to.

It becomes clear that love isn’t, and can never be, just a matter between two people. We are closely intertwined with society, politics and religion. This is why the characters in the play are constantly following the results of the elections closely. It is why they keep discussing policy changes. It is also why they often gather to imagine a different future—because love ultimately is not just an affair of two people. The crux of Opposition, therefore, is the continual helpless conflict between the individual and politics. At the climax of the play, Ram, in a state of fury, demolishes a wall constructed with cardboard boxes. The space resounds with the dull thuds of the empty boxes, but there is not a glimmer from the light of Ram’s hopes. Instead, what is unveiled with a deafening crash at the very end of the play is a signage indicating works in progress: “Sorry for the inconvenience caused.”

Opposition is third and final instalment of the trilogy of collaborations between Drama Box and The Necessary Stage. In talking about love, the work postulates various futures and concurrently, their hopes and dreams. One memorable scene sees Ram proposing to Jackie; another follows the couple as they pose for wedding photos. It begs the question: when will we be able to see LGBTQ people get married openly? When will we no longer have to witness this community being ripped of their freedom to love? And consequently, when can we cease to apologise by telling them, “Sorry for the inconvenience caused”?

In all their three collaborations—Manifesto, Underclass, and now Opposition—Drama Box and The Necessary Stage have explored the inextricable relationship between the individual and politics. Opposition expresses this affiliation sharply, and extends the companies’ reflections and critique of human nature. Theatre provides a unique space for marginalised communities to rediscover and assert their voices. Likewise, theatre offers the majority an opportunity to better understand and empathise with the innumerable “inconveniences” that minorities have to navigate and suffer from every day.

Set Designer Wong Chee Wai made full use of the black box theatre’s height and depth, at times making the space into an oppressive and depressing one, and at other times transforming it into a warm and inviting sanctuary that the characters share. Lighting Designer Genevieve Peck utilised her lighting design to accentuate the narrative of the play, as well as illustrate the inner lives and sentiments of the characters. The result is that the audience not only experiences a robust scenography, but also sense a ghostly presence throughout the play. The experienced design team of Opposition collaborated well to create a seamless stage design that added to the intriguing narrative—undoubtedly a point of success for the play.

In watching Opposition, one is inevitably led to consider the theatre of The Necessary Stage and Drama Box, and to remember the countless works that both companies have created… Opposition is a sort of self-reflexive investigation of both theatre companies. And if we reconsider Opposition in this light, it will yield yet another interesting interpretation of the play.


Performance watched: 17 March 2022, 8pm at The Necessary Stage Black Box.
Co-presented by Drama Box and The Necessary Stage