恶人谷

星期天要去看契诃夫的话剧 “三姐妹” 的恶搞怕若狄 "No Sisters"（抓马界才子 Aaron Posner 的作品）。为了不错过大部分的恶搞，我去把“三姐妹”的剧本拿出来读了一遍。之前只是草草地看过两部契诃夫剧，Uncle Vania 和 The Cherry Orchard，对于他的风格有个笼统的概念，没有细看。看了剧本后发现，咦，错过了一些好玩的内容。现在打算去读一下契诃夫的小说，看看跟话剧有啥不同的风格。

契诃夫以描述漫无目的的没落贵族或（小？）资产阶级著名，话剧的名气在于深刻，揭示人性，等等；然而在读这个剧本之前我没发现他其实很幽默，爱说墨墨黑的冷笑话 (pardon the mixed metaphor)。

“三姐妹”的故事发生在十九世纪末期俄国某外省小城。Prozorov 一家三姐妹 Olga, Maria, Irina，加一个兄弟 Andrey 一共四个人，小时候在莫斯科生长，母亲早逝，后来跟当军官的父亲来外省定居，父亲去世之后就没再回莫斯科。外省的生活无聊之极，三姐妹天天念叨着如果能回莫斯科就好了，夏天一到就去，或者明年就去，或者 ... 很典型的契诃夫主题，人生在美好的幻想和冷酷的现实中消磨掉。虽然早于存在主义的出现，倒也不是特别新颖的角度，貌似当时的俄国文艺界/知识分子中弥漫着类似的危机感 --- Something big is going to happen, yet we are wasting our lives with idle inaction, because we don't know what to do and feel ashamed.

但是！契诃夫与其他人的 moaning and groaning 的根本差别在于他的微妙的幽默感，对于批判某类人或者某种主义没有兴趣，而是带着有点嘲讽的温柔写每个人物。这甚至不是那种常见的呐喊类型作品：看看你们自己！多么浪费人生跟自己过不去！幸福其实是可以争取到的你知道吗？

一个了解戏剧历史的朋友告诉我，当年契诃夫把剧本交给好朋友 Konstantin Stanislavski 在莫斯科艺术剧院排演，Stanislavski 把它当作悲剧来导演 --- 确实，如果单看剧情的话，主要人物经历结婚、破产、婚外恋、分离、订婚、死亡一系列情节，最后谁也没能实现自己的梦想（回莫斯科定居），显然悲剧无疑。然而契诃夫自己把它看作喜剧来的，甚至说本来是当作 vaudeville 写的。我哈哈大笑，因为剧本确实很好笑啊。

大姐 Olga，一开场就是当地女校的老师，成天抱怨学生不听话，教起来好累，后悔没嫁人做家庭妇女。然而到结尾时（四年后），她已经升为学校的主管，有自己的住处，俨然独立的职业女性 --- 虽然当时不作兴夸这个，却也暗示她当职业妇女挺起劲。二姐 Masha，丈夫是学校教师，三句话不离拉丁文，生怕别人不知道他有学问。Masha 跟驻扎本地的军团司令 Vershinin 搞婚外恋，因为他是典型的“我老婆不理解我”案例，他老婆神经兮兮，经常企图自杀，还拖着俩娃和岳母。最后军团被调走了，两人被拆散，虽然哭得惊天动地，实际上未必不是最好的结局，至少没有上演安娜卡列尼娜。小妹 Irina，风华正茂，是军团里和本地的 eligible bachelors 都爱追求的美女，可是没有合适的，纠结了好几年，终于答应了退伍的 Baron Tuzenbach 的求婚。她根本不爱他，因为他人虽然不错，相貌实在太丑了。然后结婚前一天，男爵跟另一个爱慕者决斗，被崩了。好悲惨 ... 美女嫁不出去 ... 不用一朵鲜花插在牛粪上了 ... 而且 Irina 刚刚通过教师考试要自食其力了 ... 窃喜 ...

剧本是那种很契诃夫的调调，并不是没有戏剧性的大事件发生 --- 有火灾，有赌输家产，有婚外恋（还不止一对！），甚至决斗杀人 --- 但所有的大事件都在场下发生，舞台上纯粹是人物在对话与互动中揭示人生与变迁。一个有趣的风格，我发现，是大家看似彼此交流，其实各说各的，People are always talking over each other. They listen to but don't hear each other. 不是戏剧里一般那样你一句接我一句地向前推进剧情，而是象现实里那样大家漫无目的地东拉西扯，在七嘴八舌中狡猾地把人物心理和隐藏的感情慢慢地渗透出来。

抄一段感受一下：

Olga: You do look lovely today ... And Masha's beautiful too. Andrey would be better looking, but he's gotten fat ... And I've gotten old. I've lost so much weight; I'm sure it's all because of the girls at the school --- they make me so angry. But today is Sunday ... Well, that's all right, it's God's will, but sometimes I think if I'd gotten married and could stay home all day long, that would be better somehow..."
Tuzenbach: (To Solyony) Nothing you say makes any sense! I can't take it anymore. (Comes into the living room) I forgot to tell you. Our new commanding officer is coming to pay you a visit today. Colonel Vershinin.
Olga: Really? We'd be delighted.
Irina: Is he old?
Tuzenbach: No, not at all. Maybe forty, forty-five at the most. He seems very nice. Definitely not stupid. He just talks a lot."
Irina: Is he interesting?
Tuzenbach: I suppose so. Only he has a wife, a mother-in-law, and two little girls. And it's his second marriage... His wife is a little crazy. She wears her hair in braids like a schoolgirl, she uses very highfalutin language, talks philosophy, and spends a lot of time trying to kill herself --- mostly in order to annoy her husband, so far as I can tell.

虽然对话看上去很家常，漫无目的，但细看就会忍不住笑出来，而且这些笑话跟每个人的性格有直接关系，隐藏了很多信息，特狡猾！

Masha: Now I remember! They used to tell us about "the lovesick major." You were a lieutenant then, and you were in love with someone, and they used tease you about being a major ...
Vershinin: (Laughing) Yes, yes, that's right. The lovesick major, yes ..."
Masha: You didn't have a mustache then ... Oh, you've gotten so old ... (Almost in tears) You've gotten so old!"
Vershinin: Yes, when they called me the lovesick major, I was young and I was in love. Now I'm not.
Olga: But you really don't look so bad. I mean, you've gotten old, but you're not really ... old."

还有这段对话也是给我很深的印象。Chebutykin 是他们家的老朋友，随军医生，总是唠叨自己年轻时追求过三姐妹的娘，还送给 Irinia 一套特别之前的银茶壶，然而这个人物什么也没做，只是在一边闲逛，说点闲话。

Masha:He sits there, he just sits and sits ...
Chebutykin: So what?
Masha: (Sitting down) Nothing. (Pause) Did you love my mother?
Chebutykin: Very much.
Masha: Did she love you?
Chebutykin: (After a pause) That I can't remember."

这一句 "That I can't remember" 简直太神了，让我又想大笑又想跳起来，太真了太 universal 了。

最初排演此剧时，演员纷纷表示这也太难演了！你到底要讲什么？剧情在哪里？冲突在哪里？演 Masha 的女演员 Olga Knipper 说：When Anton Pavlovich read The Three Sisters to us, the performers and directors who had long awaited a new play from our favorite writer, there was perplexity and silence ... Then came individual attempts to pass some comment, and one could hear: "It's not a play, just the outline." "It can't be performed, there aren't any roles, only the suggestion of them."

但是 Stanislavski 最终摸索出一套表演方法，即著名的 Method Acting，后来被引入美国，成为美国戏剧表演界的基础理论。我疑心跟契诃夫那种绵里藏针、把舞台剧当小说来写的做法有直接关联。Olga Knipper 后来嫁给了契诃夫，可惜没过两年他就肺结核恶化死了。

再抄一段特别搞笑的。在这一段里，Masha 和 Vershinin 情难自已 ---

Masha: I got married when I was eighteen, and I was afraid of my husband because he was a teacher, and I was barely out of school. I used to think he was terribly wise, intelligent, and important. Now I've changed my mind, unfortunately.
Vershinin: Yes. Well...
Masha: Oh, I don't mean my husband. I've gotten used to him. But most of the people in this town are so vulgar, so unpleasant, so stupid. Vulgarity upsets me; it wounds me; I get physically sick when I see someone who lacks finesse, who lacks kindness and gentleness. When I have to spend time with my husband's colleagues from the high school, it makes me sick.
Vershinin: Well... I don't see that much difference, though, between military and civilians --- in this town at least. They both seem uninteresting. They're all alike! Listen to any one of the locals who claim to be sensitive or intelligent --- civilian or military. His wife depresses him, his house depresses him, everything he owns depresses him. We are all supposed to be such highly developed abstract thinkers, but why are our lives so depressing? Why?
Masha: Why?
Vershinin: Why does his wife depress him? And his children? And why do they get depressed by him?
Masha: You're a bit depressed yourself today.
Vershinin: Maybe. I didn't have any lunch. I haven't eaten a thing since this morning. My daughter wasn't feeling well, and whenever something is the matter with my two little girls I always get very upset; it kills me to think of the mother they've got. God, you should have seen her this morning! What a fool she is! We started fighting at seven this morning, and at nine I slammed the door and left. (Pause) I never talk about these things. It's funny, you're the only one I complain to about it ... (Kisses her hand) Don't be angry with me. You'r absolutely all I've got."

这太厉害了，又太好笑了。现实里大家确确实实就是这样的啊。

根据你的新帖，你是说男女都这样讲话的？从前的女性杂志，比如读者文摘都喜欢说女性都是这样说话的。

我觉得这方面是男女皆同的吧？大家不都是很喜欢把自己的恐惧和焦虑投射到别人身上么？

你看了话剧没有？

笑嘻嘻 wrote:你看了话剧没有？

我看了怕热第 No Sisters，城里的 Studio Theater 排演的，他们同时还排演 Three Sisters 原著，我没空连着看下来。No Sisters 这个剧很有趣，明显是受 Tom Stoppard 的 Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead 的影响，挖掘名剧中的配角的戏外人生。所以，楼下大剧场在上演 Three Sisters，几个戏份不多的配角趁自己没戏的时候坐电梯到楼上的小剧场演 No Sisters。搞得很 meta，很脱离，后现代的调调，舞台四周还放了一圈电视机屏幕，直播楼下三姐妹的演出实况。跑上跑下的忙死了。如果不了解原剧内容就没法彻底 get 到这个剧的台词。

从某种意义上来说，其实这就是写同人来着。原剧里有几个配角，尤其是一个神神叨叨口无遮拦有社交障碍的男生 Solyony，戏份不多，显然 Posner 被激发了兴趣，给他编了一大通 back story 演出来。

到结尾时 No Sisters 里面的人物坐下来一起看电视里 Three Sisters 的主角们演原剧里的高潮戏 --- 还很恰当，因为契诃夫把高潮动作戏放到舞台之外，正好可以在楼上演出来。一个人物感叹说：I love Chekhov.

粉丝团剧！

我前儿没来得急跟CAVA回帖。她推荐看黄永玉的无愁河的浪荡汉子，我的中文kindle卡在了看静静的顿河，就扔下了只看英文kindle了。静静的顿河，文字比较水，但是人物真清楚，隔这么长时间我还清清楚楚记得。前苏联旧俄罗斯有很多好的文艺作品。

对于苏联和俄国文学我没啥了解，不过契诃夫给我的印象不是很典型的俄国口吻，而是很有现代感，简直立刻就能代入二十一世纪社会。也不知是不是一种轮回。冷幽默让我联想到北欧侦探剧。

每次找不到有趣的新书看，我就想还有许多经典还等着我去开发，于是就觉得很安心。

英国科班出身的舞台剧演员，除了莎士比亚必演外，就要算契科夫和易卜生的剧目值得挑战了。

正在看 The Seagull。看到一段超可笑的，抄一下，是当红作家和少女粉丝之间的对话：

Trigorin: It's so rare that I meet interesting young girls your age, I forget what they're like. I can't remember anymore how people feel at eighteen or nineteen; that's why the young girls in my stories never ring quite right. I'd love to be in your shoes just for a moment, just to know what you're thinking and what kind of a person you are.
Nina: And I'd love to be in your shoes.
Trigorin: Why?
Nina: To see what it feels like to be a famous writer. What does fame feel like? How do you know when you're finally famous?
Trigorin: How? I don't know. I never think about it. Either you're exaggerating my fame, or there's no feeling involved. I don't feel anything.
Nina: What about when you read your name in the papers?
Trigorin: If they like you, it's fine; if they don't, you feel irritable for a couple of days.
Nina: What a wonderful life! You don't know how much I envy you!

嗯，真有点相见恨晚的感觉，Chekhov is so my cup of tea.

看过好几部契科夫的剧－－剧院爱演－－可就是不太感冒。大概完全是性格问题。那种永恒期待却永恒没有勇气行动的怪圈感太窒息，受不了。

最近看了一大堆剧，都没时间写。上周终于看了谁害怕维杰尼亚沃尔夫，非常惊艳。中年教授是GOT 里的太监演的！演的非常赞。今天晚上去看山羊还是苏维娅，也是Edward Albee。 订票是因为想看Damian Lewis, 对题材有点害怕，也没注意剧作者，连看两部他的剧纯属巧合－－谁害怕维杰尼亚沃尔夫是素食男订的票。看完我们俩觉得超级满足的感叹好看，现在也很期待山羊了。

Knowing wrote:看过好几部契科夫的剧－－剧院爱演－－可就是不太感冒。大概完全是性格问题。那种永恒期待却永恒没有勇气行动的怪圈感太窒息，受不了。

我觉得“永恒期待永恒没有勇气行动”这个主题安在 Chekhov 头上可能是错的，至少是不完全的。不过只有人到中年才会感受到。刚看完 The Seagull，里面的人物只有一个是这种类型，其他都还挺有勇气行动的，只是作者跳过了他们的勇气行动，把 action scenes 放在台下而已，给我们看行动的下场，不，结果。

我有个猜想但是未经证实。以前看过两部 Chekhov 的戏都没有读剧本这么强烈的喜剧感，考虑到他的剧本都是被 Stanislavski 第一轮解释的，而 Stanislavski 在全世界话剧界又是超级泰斗，我觉得他把 Chekhov 的剧给演坏了，把喜剧当悲剧演，顿足捶胸地讲微妙的讽刺笑话，是不行的，然后搞得后代的排演都跟着继续演得不对。Chekhov 的剧应该克制地演，慢慢地念台词，不要很多表情，不要声音很大，留下很多空间让观众自己慢慢品味笑出声来。

好吧，Stanislavski 是泰斗，超级泰斗，又是 Chekhov 的朋友，轮不到我非议他理解错了，然而我确实觉得他理解错了！

或许电视/电影更适合 Chekhov 的剧本而不是舞台。