白色說書人》由資深劇場工作者邱安忱擔任獨腳戲演員演譯劇中七個角色,與戲偶同台,以台灣戒嚴時期的創痛為敘事前提背景,發想曾被白色恐怖糾纏的主角父子,如何雜揉自身生命經歷、恐懼、慾望,並將其情感投射在俠義的故事角色廖添丁身上。
同黨劇團以特殊的藝術合作方式構築《白色說書人》的舞台畫面,結合傳統與新式的藝術展演元素,將布袋戲的傳統展演戲台生活化為日常物件。
《白色說書人》為金鐘獎最佳編劇詹傑的原創劇場作品,導演為曾獲得台新年度獎項的戴君芳擔任,並邀請中華文化藝術薪傳獎布袋戲得獎者吳榮昌、山宛然布袋戲劇團團長黃武山擔任操偶手。此外,也結合英國藝術家Tim Budden融合西方與東方風格的剪紙作品,加入舞台上的紙紮元素,呈現一劇多元的舞台畫面,試圖讓傳統與現代產生深層互動與精緻對話,並創造嶄新美學。
Sharing the stage with puppets, veteran theater worker CHIU An-Chen plays seven characters in the one-man show, White Storyteller. Taiwan’s traumatic Martial Law period serves as a narrative backdrop for this conceptualization of a father-son protagonist pair who had grappled with White Terror. They twist and form their individual life experiences, fears, and desires, as they project their emotions onto the character of Liao Tianding from heroic legends.
The Party Theater Group constructed the stage set for White Storyteller through a special method of artistic collaboration that combined the traditional elements of artistic performance with the new to transform the traditional performance stage of Taiwanese glove puppetry by bringing it to life as a daily object.
White Storyteller is an original theatrical work written by Golden Bell winning playwright ZAN Jae, directed by Taishin Art Award winner TAI Chun-fang, with puppetry performed by Chinese Culture and Arts Award recipient master puppeteer WU Rong-chang and director HUANG Wu-shan of Shan Puppet Theatre. Adding to the paper-binding elements on stage is the East-meets-West paper cutting art of British artist Tim Budden. All combining to reveal a multifaceted stage set that attempts to generate deep interactions and exquisite dialogue between the traditional and the modern, and creates a brand new aesthetic in the process.
同黨劇團 The Party Theater Group
同黨劇團成立於2001年。近年作品以融合真人、戲偶、面具、多媒體素材等為創作元素。除演譯劇場經典文本外,更積極邀請不同國籍藝術工作者進行國際交流計畫,以拓展藝術領域。作品《飛天行動》曾獲得第七屆台新藝術獎年度十大作品,其餘《奠酒人》、《阿卡曼儂》、《我的妻子就是我》等亦獲得台新藝術獎當季提名。
Founded in 2001, recent works of The Party Theater Group have utilized real people, puppets, masks, and multimedia, etc., as creative elements. In addition to interpreting classical texts of theater, they have invited arts workers from other countries to engage in projects of international exchange in an effort to expand the arts arena. Their work, The Sky Crisis, was named by the 7th Annual Taishin Arts Award as one of ten major works of the year, and their performances of The Libation Bearers, Agamemnon, I Am My Own Wife have also been nominated for the Taishin Arts Award in their respective years of performance.
「布袋戲是透過手的操控去講故事,就像在那個時代裡,每個人都有隻看不見的手在背後操控,而我們都是被命運操控的戲偶。」
最初,同黨劇團團長邱安忱只是想用布袋戲演一齣莎士比亞的《馬克白》,自己全程配音,沒想到被編劇詹傑打槍,認為不夠有趣,恰好他正讀到《無法送達的遺書》,塵封了多年的受難者遺書,拼湊出白色恐怖年代失落的記憶。最後,劇團決定用布袋戲元素說一個戒嚴時期的故事。
每個人都是被命運操控的戲偶
邱安忱在兩三年前便默默跑去向國寶大師陳錫煌學布袋戲,此次興致勃勃的想把所學應用在他的劇場創作裡,他認為用布袋戲來講述這樣的故事再適合不過了。「布袋戲是透過手的操控去講故事,就像在那個時代裡,每個人都有隻看不見的手在背後操控,而我們都是被命運操控的戲偶。」
《白色說書人》就是在此概念下出發,以小人物「王文彬」為主線,牽出他與阿爸的故事。王文彬的阿爸就像早期廣播名人「吳樂天」一樣能說善道,他總是拿著布袋戲偶,為兒子搬演一齣齣的廖添丁故事,連孫悟空、濟公、武松、潘金蓮都一起上場。然而當阿爸年老失智時,一封遲到多年的遺書,卻讓王文彬發現他不但並非親生阿爸,而且還是害親生阿爸入獄自殺的仇人……
全劇發生在頭七夜晚,王文彬與死亡的父親對話,希望與他的魂魄相聚。兒時與父親連結最深的布袋戲,便透過回憶在舞台上一一浮現。而王文彬的家庭秘密,也透過布袋戲,像剝洋蔥般,一層一層揭開。
當獨角戲遇上布袋戲
原本只想幫布袋戲配音的邱安忱,結果變成說書人,一人分飾7角。雖然他早就在2011年獨腳戲作品《我的妻子就是我》一人分飾40個角色,但此次以國台語雙聲帶貫穿整齣戲,且劇本中完全沒有對話,觀眾必須憑藉王文彬的獨白來臆測人物和劇情的發展。「這樣的獨腳戲,比一個人分飾40個角色還困難!」邱安忱說,「所以,布袋戲的意義重大,它填補了配角的空白,適時為觀眾演譯故事劇情。」
舞台上,邱安忱同時與操偶師以戲偶演出各形各色人物,讓故事與說書角色呈現出另一種虛實交錯的時代氛圍。劇場設計林仕倫打造了大大小小的紙紮式道具、以及具有輓聯意味的舞台背景,營造出頭七的意味,也創造出非傳統式的布袋戲演出空間──沒有傳統制式的布袋戲台,反而以生活化的物件作為戲偶搬演的平台,戲偶可能出現在紙紮冰箱的後方,也可能從紙紮的水族箱跳出來,就像變魔術一般。
而承擔此次布袋戲跨刀操偶的,則是「弘宛然」吳榮昌和「山宛然」黃武山兩位知名演師。「這是我們首次捨棄彩樓,以立體空間為舞台,一開始很沒安全感。」吳榮昌笑道,布袋戲是非常即興的藝術,現代劇場卻有它的運作規則,演師還得從幕後走出來,苦練走位和背台詞,必須花時間彼此適應。此次演出形同布袋戲藝術的「懶人包」,除了展現說唱技巧,更能見到細緻而精巧的操偶手法,諸如梳髮、脫衣、游泳等動作,再搭配與現代劇場結合演出,增強戲偶與戲中角色的生活連結,暗喻了時代背景及故事主人翁的內心世界。
在傳統中看見創新與合作的想像
在造型上,偶頭的樣貌是整尊布袋戲的靈魂,此次劇團也邀請了李天祿最後一個弟子賴泳廷擔任偶頭設計。舞台視覺則由英國剪紙/雕塑藝術家Tim Budden合作。Tim 的剪紙作品絢爛而華麗,作品常融合大量東方元素,在《白色說書人》的製作中,Tim Budden以靜止及移動的燈光投射,製造出剪紙和複合式媒材及其移動影子的多重視覺,或以投影投射剪紙作品,與布袋戲演出兩相結合,藉此畫面呈現、營造戲中非寫實的場景,更創造出本劇特有的跨界藝術美學。
邱安忱說,《白色說書人》讓他明白現代劇場和傳統戲曲結合真的不容易,必須花很多的時間去磨合,但也因為如此,我們才能從傳統技藝之中看見更多創新與合作的想像。
布袋戲偶時而與主角互動,時而穿越時空扮演穿針引線的靈魂角色,作品層次豐富而深刻地演出一個台灣小人物被政治壓迫的生命史。
入圍理由
全劇敘說一位底層勞動者,在為父親守靈時,回溯兩代白色恐怖經驗的生命故事。舞台裝置成靈堂,陳設大部分以紙紮為主,營造出既生活又前衛的特殊質感。演員邱安忱與操偶師吳榮昌、黃武山搬演的兩尊布袋戲偶同台。戲中,邱安忱在操偶當中進入記憶世界,過去的白色恐怖歷史與現實交錯在演員與布袋戲偶之間,布袋戲偶時而與主角互動,時而穿越時空扮演穿針引線的靈魂角色,作品層次豐富而深刻地演出一個台灣小人物被政治壓迫的生命史。(主筆/林采韻)
Comments on the finalist artworks
The performance spoke of a laborer’s life story as he revisited the horror of the White Terror experienced by two generations of his family during the wake for his father. The stage, therefore, was designed as a funeral hall, and the setting was constructed with paper craft, creating a unique texture that was both avant-garde and reminiscent of everyday life. Actor CHIU An-Chen performed with two puppets controlled by puppeteers WU Rong-Chang and HUANG Wu-Shan. In the performance, the actor entered the memory world as he controlled the puppets. The history of the White Terror was interwoven with the reality as the performance was carried out by the actor and the puppets. The puppets sometimes interacted with the leading actor, sometimes played the crucial role that traversed history and strung the clues together. With intricate layers, the work introduced in a profound way the politically oppressed life of a small potato in Taiwan. (Commentator: LIN Tsai-Yun)