剧评：Metamorphosis
谁才是虫—— 观《变形记》
跨文化戏剧学院（ITI）呈现柏柯夫的《变形记》，忠于原著，也不忘启发观众的想像力。例如主角格里高尔墙上挂着的一幅贵妇人的画，在舞台上是空白的，让观众自行想像那幅画。剧组不时以灯光打出格里高尔的影子，让他在舞台上成为剪影。乌黑的人影在钢框上爬上爬下，牵动观众的想像，亦实现了卡夫卡先生为自己小说插画家提出的建议：“千万不要画那只虫”，让观众自行想像那只虫子的模样，也让演员有机会充分展示其肢体表现。
除了舞台中央的钢框，舞台上也有好几个高矮不一的排水管，排水管让人联想到钢铁水泥，联想到工业城市。居住在城市，人们便需要维持城市的运作，以便生存；于是，人的价值取决于其工作赚钱的能力。一旦失去了这个能力，人就失去了生而为人的价值。格里高尔蜕变成虫子以后，失去的不仅是工作，也是他做为人的价值。格里高尔变成虫子以后，仅管还保有人性（他依然能欣赏画作，能欣赏妹妹演奏小提琴），却被家人和社会剥夺了人权—— 他并不是因为变成了虫而失去人性，实则是被他人剥夺掉他的人性。
排水管之间的空隙，是格里高尔家里不同房间的“门”与“窗”，既让剧中角色穿插其中，也挡住角色们的去路。排出污水的排水管排不出人性的污秽，格里高尔的家人们（以及这座城市的人们）都像是居住在下水道的昆虫，剧中格里高尔的家人们有时会像昆虫般踮着脚尖走动，来勘查的主管和来租房的房客也都没有人样。从前读小说，我总以为格里高尔是因为身子虚弱，是因为没有机会就医而渐渐死去。但ITI版的《变形记》让我觉得格里高尔是“怀着温柔和爱意想着自己的一家人”、是抱着“消灭自己的决心比妹妹还强烈”的心死去的—— 也许格里高尔并不是病死，而是自杀。
格里高尔死去后，他的家人们发现格里高尔的妹妹长大成了美丽的女人。在ITI的《变形记》，剧组让苍白的灯光打在妹妹身上，而妹妹型态微微扭曲，像虫；温暖的灯光打在死去了的格里高尔身上，他闭着眼，像是睡着了般，他虽然身子弯曲，但是怎么看都是一个人，是人，而不是虫。我们可以想像，也许格里高尔从头到尾都是人，而他的处境让他的家人（以及这个社会）暴露了他们昆虫般的性情，格里高尔的变形让这座城市的“人们”都现形了。我喜欢ITI版对《变形记》处理，让观众能有这样的感悟，也让观众看到这群演员们对《变形记》的态度和诠释—— 这是一场《现形记》。
演员们的演技精湛，来自不同国家的演员演出一家人，毫无违和感，反而能让观众发觉，这个故事超越了族群与文化，超越了时代与空间，是血淋淋人性的写照。让经过了严格的演员训练的ITI演员们一起演绎《变形记》，也实在太适宜了。饰演格里高尔家人们的演员们也许未能更细腻地表现出作为看护者的矛盾和复杂心理，以及作为看护者所必须承受的巨大精神压力—— 但这一批评实在是在洗垢求瘢了，因为剧本也许并没有这样的要求。我观看的那一场戏，好些观众向前倾着看戏，好电影能让人“坐下，放松，享受”（sit back and enjoy），好的舞台剧则能让人“坐在椅子前沿看戏”（on the edge of one’s seat）。
《变形记》让观众沉浸在精彩的表演，我亦如是—— 看戏时，我忘了他们是毕业的学生，忘了我在看毕业演出，忘了他们演员训练的背景…… 我被演员们牵引进这么一部剖析人性的戏。近年来，ITI的毕业演出，有时像是学生学习汇报或总结，但《变形记》让人看得忘我，让人觉得这无异于一部跨国合作的优秀演出。不像毕业演出的《变形记》，绝对是《变形记》作为毕业演出最成功之处。
关于演出：2024年11月9日，8PM，滨海艺术中心小剧场，跨文化戏剧学院应届毕业生呈现
Directed by Aarne Neeme
Performed by ITI's 2024 graduating cohort:
Adam Guevarra Almeniana
Akshay Sharma
Karthik S
Krys Yuan
Lam Man Yik
点击阅读线上场刊和创意团队资料：https://sites.google.com/iti.edu.sg/metamorphosis/
Who's the Bug - Reviewing “Metamorphosis”
The Intercultural Theatre Institute (ITI) presentation of Steven Berkoff's "Metamorphosis" stays true to the original text, but also seeks to inspire audience's imagination. For example, in the show, the painting of the woman in fur that hangs on the wall of Gregor Samsa's room is a blank "canvas" on stage, leaving space for audience's imagination to fill the gap. During the performance, the stage is lit in a way that shows Gregor as a silhouette on stage, crawling up and down the steel frame, fulfilling Franz Kafka's advice to the illustrator of his novel: “the insect is not to be drawn”. The dark shadow gives space for the audience’s imagination, and also allows the actor to fully express his interpretation of the insect.
There are also several drainpipes of different heights on the stage, reminding us of the steel and concrete in an industrial cities. City dwellers need to keep the city running in order to survive, and so the value of a human being depends on his or her ability to work and earn money. Once this ability is lost, the human being loses his/her value as a human being too. Gregor's transformation cost him not only his work, but also his value as a human being. In the play, Gregor's humanity (he can still appreciate his painting, and his sister's violin performance) is stripped not because of his transformation into an insect-- he is stripped of his humanity by his family members, and by the members of his society.
The gaps between the pipes are the “doors” and “windows” of the rooms in Gregor's house. Characters move through the gaps, and are also block by the imaginary doors. Pipes that drain sewage fail to drain the filth of human nature— moving through the pipes, Gregor's family (as well as the people of the city) seem to live like sewer-dwelling insects. The family sometimes scurry on tiptoe-- much like insects-- the chief clerk who come to investigate, and the tenants who rent the rooms, move in exaggerated, non-human quality too. In the past, reading the novel, I always thought Gregor died because he grew weak and did not manage to get treated by doctors. ITI's version of "Metamorphosis" gave a new take on the story: since Gregor died as he “remembered his family with affection and love”, and knowing that "his opinion of it all, which was that had to disappear, was even more resolute than his sister's", then perhaps Gregor did not died of illness, but of intentional suicide.
After Gregor's death, his family realizes that Gregor's sister had grown into a beautiful woman. In ITI's version of "Metamorphosis", as the show ends, a pale light shines on the sister, but her body appear slightly twisted, like an insect; a warm light then shine on the dead Gregor, his eyes closed as if asleep, and despite his bent body, looking like a human, a man, and not an insect. One can imagine that perhaps Gregor has always been human, and that his situation actually exposed his family’s (and the society’s) insect-like nature. Gregor's metamorphosis unmasked the “insect-like nature” of city-dwellers. I love ITI’s take on Steven Berkoff’s “Metamorphosis", and how it allows audience to take part in the actors' interpretation of the show.
The performance by the actors are superb. The fact that these actors from different nationalities and cultures plays a family does not give any sense of contradiction, on the contrary, the audience realize that this story transcends ethnic groups and cultures, and is beyond time and space, and is a portrayal of the timelessness of the ugliness of human nature.
It is only fitting that these ITI students, who have undergone rigorous actor training, should perform “Metamorphosis”. The actors playing Gregor's family may not have been able to convey the complexities and the arduous emotional stress that any caretaker must endure, but this criticism is somewhat trivial and is a nitpick, as the script may not have called for such portrayal. During the performance that I watched, I noticed a few audience who leaned forward throughout the play. A good movie is one which made audience “sit back and enjoy”, while a good theatre play is one which affect the audience in such a way as to get them to “sit on the edge of one's seat".
"Metamorphosis" is a wonderful performance-- as I watched the play, I forgot that I was watching ITI graduates; I forgot that I was watching a graduation showcase; I forgot about the actors' training and their background... I was completely drawn into the world of Kafka by the actors. ITI's graduation performances have sometimes felt like student presentations, but “Metamorphosis” is indeed an international collaboration by professional actors, performed with artistry and craft. The success of ITI's “Metamorphosis” is such: graduation show that is unlike a graduation show.
The above review was written after the performance on 9th November 2024, 8pm at Esplanade Theatre Studio, and presented by Presented by Intercultural Theatre Institute's 2024 graduating cohort in Collaboration with Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay.
Directed by Aarne Neeme
Performed by ITI's 2024 graduating cohort:
Adam Guevarra Almeniana
Akshay Sharma
Karthik S
Krys Yuan
Lam Man Yik
Click to read the digital programme and credits: https://sites.google.com/iti.edu.sg/metamorphosis/
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