《谁是哈里斯·沙玛》

Reviewer: Neo Hai Bin | 梁海彬
Performance: 1 July 2017

该剧导演娜塔莉利用6个演员演绎哈里斯笔下的多个角色。演员们披上这些角色的外衣，在多个身份之间游走、穿梭、转换；观众也跟着演员们经历众多角色的情感与处境。在导演的处理下，连“哈里斯·沙玛”也变成了一种角色／身份。他是个公认的剧作家，但在其中一幕，导演播放当年哈里斯演出的片段。原来他也曾是个演员，这也曾是他的身份。身份的复杂性和流动性是该剧的主题之一。

导演选择呈现哈里斯的哪一部剧、她如何做选择、如何处理戏剧架构、如何做呈现—— 都意味着她如何为观众建构“哈里斯·沙玛”。哈里斯·沙玛究竟是谁？他能够被“本质化”成一个单一固定的身份和职责吗？该剧开始时，演员们念出哈里斯创作过的剧名，到了最后，甚至还把《等待戈多》和《圣经》列入哈里斯的作品行列里头。在舞台上，演员有绝对的权力为观众建构“哈里斯·沙玛”这个角色，而观众只能接受。甚至，坐在观众席的哈里斯·沙玛也只能接受。

哈里斯·沙玛笔下的角色都来自他的想像力和创造力，某种程度上而言，也是他自己的一部份。他笔下的好公民、教师、印尼女佣、议员、自杀者、政治犯、精神病患者…… 既是他的多重面貌，也是新加坡社会的多重面貌。该剧反复强调“Being ________ in Singapore”，为身份认同的议题设立了具体的语境。因为，脱离了新加坡这个语境，所有的角色和身份马上会产生另一种意义。这些角色之所以成立，恰恰因为他们在新加坡的语境下产生、变化。“哈里斯·沙玛”也必须要在新加坡的语境下才能产生，而“新加坡”这个身份、角色，又在哈里斯的笔下不断被建构、推翻、重建—— 恰如导演娜塔莉安排演员们在舞台上不断披上、脱下、调侃、投入那许许多多不同的角色。

剧末，众演员们不断数着哈里斯的剧作产量，从目前的100多部剧，一直不断地接下去数着…… 是的，哈里斯会继续把“我们”写进“他”的作品里，原来“哈里斯·沙玛”是哈里斯，是新加坡，也是我们。

“Being……Necessary“

Reviewer: Cordelia Lee
Performance: 29 June 2017

The first quarter of 2017 saw past works by local playwright Haresh Sharma return to the stage. Esplanade’s The Studios presented MARGINS, a month-long season comprising four of Sharma’s works – Fundamentally Happy, With/Out, This Chord and Others, and Hope. Additionally, Those Who Can’t, Teach was restaged by The Necessary Stage (TNS), where Sharma sits as resident playwright.

In what seems like a year of celebrating Sharma’s contribution to Singapore’s theatre scene, TNS has collaborated with director Natalie Hennedige for its 30^th anniversary season to present Sharma’s playwriting legacy in a single play.

Enter Being Haresh Sharma.

Do be prepared to discard any ideas of watching a conventional play. Unlike its predecessors, Being Haresh Sharma is a refreshing break away from the easy linear narrative and largely naturalist acting TNS has recently been comfortable with. No singular storyline exists here. The play is strung together by vignettes, each inspired by a theme or motif found in Sharma’s works. Hennedige rounds up a handful of characters, aptly extracting snippets from full-length plays and splicing them together in each scene.

In one instance, a dreamlike pastiche of recurring human relationships greets the audience. Vinod and Saloma from Sharma’s Off-Centre, share the stage with Tara and Latchmi, a female pair in afro wigs from Abuse Suxx!. Taking turns, the couples expound with emotional intensity. As couple #1 convey their struggle against the shackles of mental illness through heightened physicality, Tara and Latchmi attempt to reconcile their existential views on love as the volatility of relationships threaten to divide.

Beginnings, sickness, love, grief, detention: these are the themes projected on screen and explored in this 2 hour 10 minute retrospective.

Regardless of the scene’s overarching theme, Hennedige consistently treats her audience, through costume choice and props, to a visual feast of bold patterns and neon colours. Simultaneously, multimedia runs in the backdrop to layer the performance further. Aerial shots of Singapore’s HDB flat landscape visually establishes a scene’s setting as a familial argument erupts on stage. And as Wendy (Karen Tan) from Model Citizens mourns her dead son, we see a mother’s pain adjacently captured on screen where she searches for him silently. While the psychedelic visual palette accompanied by golden hits and discordant beats do capture our attention, prolonged exposure can become a tad trying. For those unfamiliar with Hennedige’s style, this sensory overload threatens to alienate them before the two hours ten minutes are done.

The play ends by mirroring its beginning. The ensemble number off Sharma’s published plays in the same order, counting up to a hundred and three. Yet beyond its skilful execution and poignant content, Being Haresh Sharma feels strangely like a posthumous tribute to the artist. While its content contains beautiful moments, the whole concept of journeying through and celebrating a playwright’s works seems slightly gratuitous and self-congratulatory. Perhaps Being Haresh Sharma plays best to a niche audience – the fans of both Haresh Sharma and TNS since its conception 30 years ago.

With proper funding and the right support, possibilities are aplenty when staging a play. Yet, it still begs the question whether this commemorative production by The Necessary Stage was really, truly necessary.