“Some Enchanted Evening.”

Reviewer: Christian W. Huber
Performance: 17 August 2017

The Singapore International Festival of the Arts (SIFA) returns with its 2017 edition with a thoroughly absorbing festival opener, Art Studio. It’s based on a novel by Singaporean poet, novelist, and literary critic, Yeng Pway Ngon, and produced by Nine Years Theatre (NYT). NYT’s co-founder and artistic director Nelson Chia – who adapted the novel and directed the resulting play – has courageously created a choreographed piece that showcases his experience on the Suzuki Method of Actor Training and Viewpoints, and which his theatre ensemble has adopted effectively.

Viewpoints is an improvisational system that trains an actor to use their body in time and space to create meaning, while The Suzuki Method restores the wholeness of the human body to the theatrical context and uncovers the actor’s innate expressive abilities with a rigorous physical discipline. The two techniques complement each other and gives artists the control to make conscious, deliberate choices in performance. No other theatre company in Singapore has used them with such dedication as NYT, and it is wonderful to see the results in such a richly textured, poignant and moving tribute to artists.

Whilst a stylistic piece – it has no extravagant staging, and minimal multi-media usage – it relies on the buy-in of the audience to imagine the changes in settings and time created and described by the ensemble.  Each movement, stage business, scene change seems to move to a rhythm set by them.  Clearly ‘less is more’ works as an asset to this piece.

That everyone in the ensemble tells the story at some point also engages.  The story begins with a young school dropout coerced by his friend to become a model for life drawing by a group of artists. It then splinters to follow the journeys of these artists over a period of almost 60 years (from the 1950s to 2010 Singapore), told in the third person, or through one person’s subtext, or like a Greek chorus. The storytelling is shared fluidly amongst the performers, and makes the story unfold ‘live.’

Some of the best moments are the ones that come completely out of left field.  A bit of absurdity (e.g. an actor coming out as a mynah bird, or the impression of French people in a very funny routine) helps to break the seriousness, and shows how NYT is willing is to break from the norm.

Whilst the one regret this reviewer had is not being able to appreciate the piece in its chosen performed language (surtitles don’t always give you the full meaning or intention of its translation from the original), one acknowledges this enchanting work from NYT that has succeeded in touching the hearts of the audience by the generous and rapturous applause given at curtain call.

It is heartening to see NYT take great leaps to bring Chinese language theatre to another level in Singapore’s art scene.

“在森林和原野里“

Reviewer: Liu Chang | 刘畅
Performance: 18 August 2017

<画室>改编自新加坡著名华文作家英培安的长篇小说《画室》。从人物塑造、情节、感情基调和叙述角度等方面，该剧都成功地忠于原著；同时，现代舞台设计和戏剧形式（例如合唱队）的运用，使得该剧在小说之外，有着一种属于自己的风采。

该剧中所有主要人物性格和命运各异，却都与一间画室有直接或间接的关联：到画室做人体模特的少年继宗和阿贵，老师颜沛（及前妻婉贞），颜沛的学生思贤、宁芳、健雄（及未婚妻美凤）、素兰，以及只来过一次的叶超群等。

这些人物均有跨时代的人类情感通性，如对艺术和爱情的执着追求、在名利诱惑下的矛盾与挣扎、以及对孤独与死亡的深刻思考；人物塑造又都符合故事发生地的时代变迁特征（新加坡，1970年代至2010年）。例如1960年代起，新加坡经济逐渐起步至腾飞，颜沛（由郑光辉精彩演绎）和叶超群（以合唱队形式塑造）就代表了两种类型的画家：前者虔诚于艺术，生活朴素，不好名利，即使其妻婉贞为经济问题与其矛盾重重、婚姻出轨、甚至最后与之离婚，也终身不为金钱利益所动，能够忍受艺术创作中的寂寞和冷遇；而后者则不屑钻研艺术本身，只热衷于攀龙附凤、结交社会名流、借中国改革开放等机会扬名新加坡内外；再如，1970年代新加坡社会依然存在各种不稳定因素，青少年易迷失自我，失学少年继宗和阿贵即是两类典型。前者被学校开除后依然求学心切，后者则自暴自弃，加入私会党；却未料到随着新加坡社会进步、经济发展，二人生活轨迹愈发不同：继宗成为 大学老师，生活稳定，阿贵最终早陨于酗酒。

值得一提的是，所有人物中，健雄（由梁海彬精彩诠释）十分特别，是新加坡特殊历史条件下的人物，其命运令人唏嘘。

健雄本是1970年代新加坡工地上的体力劳动者，业余时间热爱画画，有一个善良温柔的未婚妻美凤，幸福生活触手可及。出于偶然接触或是个人原因，他亲近左派，并曾向往做一个苏联画家科尔日夫那样的艺术家，为革命绘画。但他迫于政治原因仓促逃亡马来西亚，苦盼三年才上队，刚入森林就因突发事件稀里糊涂地做了逃兵，从此跟随林中偶遇的救命恩人大胡子开始了长达十几年（其实连他自己都算不清楚年月）的流亡生活，既要躲避政府军的追捕，又要避开同志队伍对“叛逃”行为的清算。

在上个世纪特殊的历史背景下，森林（包括原野——“在森林和原野是多么的逍遥，亲爱的朋友呀，你在想什么？”）曾一度肩负起不同国家不同民族对新世界的激情与浪漫向往，也为后世承载了太多的历史政治想象，如古巴革命、马共游击等。革命始于森林，终止于森林。从这个角度看，健雄这个人物就多了画室之外的意义，有别于画室里的其他画家。但他也打破了普世对革命同志的刻板印象——对理想至死不渝，勇敢坚韧等。健雄没有打过一天游击，没有杀过一个敌人，森林唯一的功能似乎就是令他认清了自己的“懦弱”（却也是人之常情）、不彻底的革命性和对尘世生活的眷恋。他对森林的感情经过了一系列变化：从不切实际的浪漫向往，到认清自己，至最终半是无奈半是欢喜地长眠于森林。

当马共队伍于1989年最终放下武器走出森林，也许依然有笃信革命的同志继续以森林为家直至终老，但健雄的“始于森林，终于森林”却从头至尾充满了黑色幽默的讽刺和辛酸。本剧（及原著）对健雄的死亡处理很残酷，但又非常写意甚至浪漫，也从一个侧面反映出小说原著对人生与革命的态度和感悟。

并且，通过对健雄的塑造，“森林”在本剧（及原著）中成为继“画室”之外另一个具有重要意象的人物活动的空间。画室是密闭、狭小和安全的，属于既充满善良也四处作恶的人类社会，森林是开放、广阔与危机四伏的，有极其残酷却简单的丛林生存法则。前者衬托出画家的伟大和高尚，而后者更易使画家认清自己的渺小与平庸，而在这两者截然不同的空间里，对艺术、孤独和生死的思考却始终占据了人物的心灵。