剧评：Dive

（照片提供：Ruey Loon）
 

以爱之名—— 观 “Dive”

 

以爱之名做出的残忍之事，多不胜数，但当你所爱的枕边人便是那个对你施暴的人，你以爱之名而离不开他，你该如何处置？“Dive”的故事以这样的问题展开剧情：两个在泳池相遇的陌生人，很快“潜”入了爱河，他们的爱很快演变成长达数十年的虐待关系（abusive relationship）。编剧Laura Hayes 用充满诗意的文字带出种种残忍的恐怖的令人发指的行径，叫人不忍直视。四名演员轮流扮演故事里的两个角色，让观众看到，恋人间的虐待关系可以出现在任何情人之间，无关性别，无关年龄，无关身份与种族与宗教信仰。在狭小的表演空间里，导演Sim Yan Ying(YY) 安排观众坐在表演区的两面，观众看戏时也可以看到彼此。我看的那场戏，对面坐着好几对情侣，台上的演员们轮流扮演角色时，恍惚间，我竟觉得对面的观众也在扮演剧中角色，两面台的设计与剧本所要带出的主题配合无间。值得一提的是灯光设计师Elizabeth Mak的巧思，在那么狭小的表演空间里，竟然打造出多个不同的空间（游泳池、博物馆、居家住所、人物的心理空间），营造出剧情里多层切复杂的情绪。台侧有麦克风，当演员们在台侧用麦克风复述事件经过、叙述人物内心时，台上的角色会被话语牵着走。有了麦克风，就有了话语权，麦克风是权力的象征，YY会让拿起麦克风的角色对对方施暴，对对方进行情感操纵，她把无形的精神操控具体化，展示出权力关系的失衡。剧本略显冗长，观众看着一幕一幕的暴力，看着加害者如何一次一次地进行情感操纵，看着饱受精神虐待的受害者如何一遍一遍地默默忍受…… 一再重复的行径，让观众精神疲乏，是对观众屡屡施以暴力。难道情人间的虐待关系就是一场没有出路的轮回吗？在其中一幕，全场陷入黑暗，台上只有角色的声音在空间飘荡，而工作人员手举牌子挡着表演空间里的“Exit”指示牌，这当然不是剧本的意图，却也为这部剧提供了有趣的解读。剧中的受害者很无力，他身边的人也都很无助，他们只能劝受害者去见辅导员和治疗师。这个方法也奏效，受害者终于离开了情人，然而他的生活却也没有因此而好起来。加害者死了以后，受害者反而陷入更迷惘的境地，开始怀疑，假如当年没有答应潜入这段感情，他的人生会不会过得更好？这是一部悲剧，没有为观众提供任何可能性。正在面对虐待关系的人看了这部剧，会不会陷入更深的深渊？从未经历过虐待关系的人们看了此剧以后，是否只会将之视为一个虚构的故事，扼腕以后继续过活？无论如何，Laura Hayes 写出了那么深刻的剧本，提出这个极为普遍却鲜少被谈及的课题，是新鲜的尝试；在野米剧场的新创作平台“New & Now”推出，又是那么妥帖，让人欣喜。走出剧院，不禁大口喘息，从幽闭而让人恐惧的剧情走了出来，我是幸运的，但那些深受情感虐待的受害者，几时可以走出来大口喘息？像“Dive”那样，逼迫观众直视暴力，说不定这才是以爱之名值得去进行的事。

关于演出：2024年9月11日，7:30PM，The Studio @ Wild Rice, Funan，"New & Now" Wild Rice呈现

点击阅读演出详情：https://wildriceatfunan.start.page

演员：
Irsyad Dawood
Jean Ng
Ebi Shankara
Ellison Tan

制作团队：
Playwright Laura Hayes
Director Sim Yan Ying “YY”
Dramaturg Joel Tan
Set & Lighting Designer Elizabeth Mak
Sound Designer Guo Ningru
Multimedia Designer NONFORM
Costume Designer Sim Yan Ying “YY”
Make-Up Designer Bobbie Ng
Hair Designer Ashley Lim

 

 

(Photo credit: Ruey Loon)


In the Name of Love - Reviewing Dive

Cruelty in the name of love has been committed in countless ways, but what do you do when the person you love is the one who abuses you; and what if you simply can't get away from who you love? "Dive" unfolds with this premise: two strangers met at a swimming pool, and soon "dive" headlong into love, their love soon evolves into a decades-long abusive relationship.

The poeticness of the text brings out various horrific acts of cruelty, almost unbearable for the audience. Four actors took turns playing the two characters, so that they could see how abusive relationships can happen between any lovers, regardless of gender, age, social status, race or religious beliefs.

In the small performance space, director Sim Yan Ying (YY) arranged for audience to sit on both sides of the performance area; as they watch the play, they are able to watch each other too. There were several couples sitting across me on the night of the show that I watched, and as the actors took turns playing their roles on stage, I somehow felt that the audience on the other side of the stage were in the play as well-- the design of the two-sided stage did heightened the essence of the play.

It is worth mentioning how the lighting design by Elizabeth Mak crafted multiple spaces (swimming pool, museum, different living spaces, the characters' psychological space) within such a small performance space, and manifested the complexity of emotions in the play.

At times, the actors outside of the stage used microphones to narrate the characters' inner thoughts, and the characters on stage would be led by those narrrations. Whoever held a microphone owned the power of discourse. At any point in time, any character with the microphone could violently and emotionally manipulated the other character... Emotional abuse are usually invisible, and by displaying the imbalance of power with the microphones, YY made visible the invisible.

The script does seemed lengthy. Audience watched scene after scene of violence, witnessed how the aggressor emotionally manipulates over and over again, how the victim silently endures time and time again ...... It can leave the audience mentally exhausted-- perhaps an act of violence on the audience as well. Is an abusive relationship doomed to be an endless loop with no way out? In one scene, the entire stage plunged into darkness, only the characters' voices drifted within the space, and a stage crew held up a sign to block the light from the "Exit" sign. While this was certainly not intended to highlight the futility of abusive relationships, it did provide an interesting interpretation of the play.

Those people who are close to the victim helplessly watched. They could only advise the victim to see a counselor or a therapist. This worked, and the victim finally left the abusive lover, yet his/her life did not turned for the better. After the death of the lover, the aged victim began to wonder if his/her life would have been better if he/she had not agreed to dive into this relationship, ages ago... This is a tragedy that offered no other possibilities to the audience. Will those who are currently in an abusive relationship fall deeper into the abyss after watching this tragedy? Will people who have never been in an abusive relationship simply just treat it as a fictionalized story, and then move on with their lives?

It is a profound play, and it is a refreshing attempt to bring up a subject that is so prevalent yet so rarely talked about. It is also delightful for one to watch it on Wild Rice Theatre's new creation platform, "New & Now". When I left the theater, I gasped for air. I was lucky to be able to get out of the claustrophobic and frightening plot, but can we say the same for those who are stuck in abusive relationships? What can we do for them?

Perhaps, by compelling the audience to take a long hard look at the what we are doing in the name of love, as "Dive" did.

The above review is written after the performance on 11th September 2024, 7:30pm at The Studio @ Wild Rice, Funan and presented by "New & Now" Wild Rice.

Click to read information about "Dive": https://wildriceatfunan.start.page