劇団相殺の初公演「含羞」「箸をかまえて」(7月6-7日、新宿タイニイアリス)をみた台湾の「無夢楼劇団」(Dreamless Theatre in Taipei)主宰者C・Janさんから英文の劇評が寄せられました。Janさんは台北大学在学中から演劇活動を始め、今年4月に、サルトルの「出口なし」をもとにした「悪戯 Itazura」を作・演出して劇団を旗揚げ。2003年に「榴華殿」の台北公演「月下美人」に姉の役で客演するなど日本との交流があり、現在日本で演劇の勉強中です。Janさんのサイトにも全文が掲載されています。
A Dirge Sang Only at Midnights–劇団相殺「含羞」「箸をかまえて」
by C. Jan (Dreamless Theatre in Taipei)
In Taipei, performances are better took place at weekends to make sure that
the audience have the mood to appreciate the artistic live. However, there
are various kind of plays, talk shows everyday in Tokyo, therefore Iam
always curious at what kind of theatre troupes and their audience will show
up on week days.
Chopsticks are set up or Have chopsticks like sword, performed by July 6th
Tuesday & 7th Wednesday, offers me an opportunity. About 19:20, I enter the
Tiny Alice Theatre and have myself seated. Perhaps it is because the
exhausting daily job, the atmosphere is like the dense fog, lazy and dizzy.
Well, you can also call this a type of relaxation.
Seems like the average age of the troupe isn’t pretty young, maybe the
theme and the sense of values through whole work prove this. The performers
are not few, and the stage-sets, lightings, sounds and projections are
appropriately placed though, which makes you feel even more hollow and
empty, like a dirge of white-collar ideology sang only at midnights.
What interests me is the sense of time through the performance. At the
middle of the play, I feel like it is over twelve o’clock at night and this
is a play only for spirits or phantoms, therefore I’d better remain low-key
in case they will catch me (laugh).
When my mind is somewhere else for a while, the reaction of other audience
draws my attention. Not sleepy, whether this is a good show or not, they
REACT. Obviously the play speaks for them in some way.
Although myself cannot find a tunnel into that world for I can hardly
understand Japanese, sure there are supporters for them. Well, isn’t this
one of the essential meanings of performance, to at least please the
audience?
Most of the time we allow the artists to ignore the voices of the audience
in the process of creating or presenting the artistic works, in order to
reach the pure originality.
However, if there is some experienced creator also creates a space for
audience within the performance – even only an abstract concept, probably
will earn the creator some different admiration.