剧评：Hard Mode

 

凯门剧场《困难模式》开幕夜谢幕。
Curtain call on the opening night of Checkpoint Theatre's Hard Mode.

《#你的青春有点难懂并不代表世界不能包容》——观《困难模式》

文 / 郭毅杰

凯门剧场（Checkpoint Theatre）的《困难模式》（Hard Mode）以当代新加坡青少年成长点滴为蓝本，拼图再现长大成人的挣扎与快乐，引发跨世代“青少年”的共感共振。剧作铺陈五名本地青少年——亚当阿丽莎两兄妹，同友人莱恩、XY和玛雅——的成长起伏，穿插游戏隐喻与时下用语，正视人们在成长中的自我发现与身心变化。

舞台亮起，轻快键盘声响，演员群犹如游戏人物现身由格子接连而成的舞台，面向观众席挥手比爱心，模拟电子游戏界面，时而有意无意打破第四堵墙，开启戏里戏外青少年成长的困难模式。序幕迅速铺垫背景且确立人物关系，将新加坡艺术学院剧院（SOTA Drama Theatre）空间想象为“没有个性”的盛港，同时隐喻青少年于成长阶段尚未成形的主体。当藏匿布幕后那缤纷多姿的舞台设置终于被揭晓，观众在一片哗然中即刻置身青少年的多彩心理世界。

剧目用心刻画三五成群的嬉闹时光，尤其讨喜在座的青少年且间接逗乐成年观众，更重点赋予每个人物专属的“主角时刻”（main character moment）——亚当的童年阴影、阿丽莎的网络恋爱、莱恩被同学霸凌、XY的隐姓埋名、玛雅的自伤行为等——借此引发观众对号入座现今围困青少年的多面议题。然而，相较于直视青少年难题的年头音乐剧《中学》（Secondary: The Musical），本剧并未秉承凯门剧场一贯的深剖作风。或是受国家艺术理事会委托所限，抑或同时考虑目标观众及其适宜观戏时长，剧作多以避重就轻的方式，蜻蜓点水般带过种种棘手课题。当然留白也不失为一种坚柔形式，提供观者空间自行（或同师长抑或孩子）思论难以言明的议题。

对于青少年游戏人生的困境，编剧似乎另以时空跳跃的戏剧手法，让人物摆脱2024年的困顿，由未来处境对照当下，时间产生的距离使成长中的困难感觉小一些。场与场之间反复来回跳跃，所幸创意团队于导演同戏剧顾问的调度下，为剧作建筑坚实可信的剧场时空。舞台设置主要以粉彩色为配色的三件式灵活装置为青少年生活空间，辅以此外的格子舞台地板为未来空间。灯光的移动指引，还有声响的韩国流行元素，加以完整剧场时空的切换自如。服装妆发皆大力辅助人物的发展变化，在日常青少年装扮的基础上设计出符合舞台色系同人物性格的有机造型。五名新晋演员的诠释更使角色可爱可信，尤其是谢家杉依角色年龄表现不同的肢体语言，还有黄佳敏精准的情绪切换与掌控。 

青春成长的叙事永远不会过时。即使这出戏围绕当代新加坡青少年的生活现状，其中诸多境遇不受世代鸿沟阻碍，而是我们成长过程同现实生活中相同面对的难题。成长或许是那一种人生状态，我们都在持续进行中。

关于演出：2024年10月18日，8PM，SOTA Drama Theatre，Checkpoint Theatre 呈现

剧评刊登于《联合早报》艺评

Playwright Faith Ng

Director Claire Wong

Dramaturg Huzir Sulaiman

Set & Lighting Designer Petrina Dawn Tan (Doodle Productions)

Lighting Co-Designer Tai Zi Feng (Doodle Productions)

Sound Designer Shah Tahir

Costume Designer Max Tan

Hair Designer Leong

Make-Up Designer Bobbie Ng (The Make Up Room)

Creative Access Artist Grace Lee-Khoo

Cast

Chaney Chia

Izzul Irfan

Janine Ng

Kyra Lefebvre

Matthias Teh

"#MayYourYouthBeEmbraced"—Review of Hard Mode

Review by Quek Yee Kiat

Translated by Quek Yee Kiat

Built upon the growing-up anecdotes of contemporary Singaporean adolescents, Checkpoint Theatre's Hard Mode re-presents the struggles and joys of growing up (and adulthood), resonating across generations of ‘teens’. The play follows the ups and downs of five local teenagers (siblings Adam and Arissa, and their friends Rian, XY and Maya) as they mature, interspersed with game metaphors and present-day slangs, fleshing out the physical and psychological changes as well as self-discoveries that occur in the course of growing up.

As the lights go up, and keyboard clicking sounds morph into a quick accompaniment, the cast appear (as if they were game characters) on the stage formed by interconnected grids, waving and gesturing finger hearts to the audience, mimicking the interface of a video game. At times they break the fourth wall, intentional or not, launching (and connecting) the 'hard mode' of adolescent growth, both within and without the play. The prologue swiftly sets the scene and establishes the characters and their relations, imagining the space of SOTA Drama Theatre to be a Sengkang with ‘no character’, also serving as a metaphor for the yet-to-be-formed subjectivity of adolescents in their formative years. As the well-hidden pastel set is finally revealed, the audience is in awe and instantly immersed in the colourful inner world of teens.

The play thoughtfully portrays and situates the ensemble of characters in playful moments, especially pleasing and delighting the younger audience, which indirectly amuses the adults in the audience. More importantly, the play equips each character with their own 'main character moment'—Adam's childhood trauma, Arissa's cyber relationship, Rian's being bullied in school, XY's 'anonymity', Maya's self-harm etc.. These moments lend themselves for the audience to relate to the multifaceted issues that teenagers face nowadays. However, in (inevitable) comparison to their season-opener Secondary: The Musical, which tackled hard topics head-on, this play does not seem to go by Checkpoint's usual deep-cutting approach. Possibly due to its limitations as a National Arts Council commission, or perhaps in consideration of a suitable runtime fit for its target audience, the play mainly avoids dealing a heavy hand, opting to lightly touch upon thorny issues. Conversely, these 'negative space(s)' may also be seen as a firm yet gentle approach, allowing the audience space to contemplate difficult topics on a personal level (or with their teachers/parents/children). 

With regards to the predicaments of these adolescents, the playwright appears to frequently employ temporal and spatial jumping tactics, which allows the characters to (temporarily) break away from their difficulties in 2024, and reflect on the present from their (prospective) futures. The distance of time makes growing up seem a little less difficult. Despite jumping back and forth (in space and time) between scenes (especially towards the second half), the play is thankfully not as confusing—its creative team, with the guidance of the director and the dramaturg, contributed in constructing a believable theatrical world. The main three-piece adaptable set decked in pastel colours makes up the lived space of the teenage characters, while the visible stage grids function as futuristic spaces. In addition, the directional movement of lights and K-pop inspired sounds complete the spatial and temporal transitions and demands of the play. The costume, hair and make-up designs supported the growth and development of the characters too. Based on everyday teenage outfits, these designs not only fitted the set's colour scheme but also highlighted the characters' personalities. The five emerging actors delivered endearing and likeable performances, especially Chaney Chia's age-appropriate body language, as well as Janine Ng's emotional precision.  

Youthful coming-of-age narratives never go out of fashion. Even though the play is centred around the lives of contemporary Singaporean adolescents, the situations they find themselves in are not necessarily generation-specific (or age-specific)—we have faced / will continue to face similar difficulties in the course of growing up as well as adulthood. We are always in the process of growing up.

The above review was written after the performance on 18th October 2024, 8pm at SOTA Drama Theatre, and presented by Checkpoint Theatre.

This review was first published in Lianhe Zaobao under Arts Review.