蔡明亮导演的三出独角戏《只有你》之我见

那三天，带着疲惫的身躯与友人一起观看了蔡明亮导演的三出独角戏《只有你》。虽然身躯疲惫，不过心却被《只有你》深深的打动了。

忙忙碌碌的都市人，曾几何时能够静静、默默、散漫地看的心爱、或陌生人睡觉、吃饭、走路呢？一首首老歌，带人们回到了过去，呼吁人们放慢脚步。开场与闭幕所播的《答案》歌词：“天上的星星，为何像人群一般的拥挤。地上的人们，为何又像星星一样的疏远”，这没有答案的答案，不更是都市人当今的写照吗？

蔡明亮导演曾经说过：“我的戏跟电影一样，还是很【我】的方式。它或许不太有戏，但某个点到了，感觉会来。这不是单纯的表演，观众会看到的，是自己。”的确，这三出独角戏让我看到了我自己，尤其是当我孤独、独自一人的时候。在家里跑来跑去、打打影子拳、思考哲学、人生意义，剧中人物仿佛不是在演他们的角色，而是在演观众“本身”的角色。

第一场《杨贵媚 – 我的阿飘》

      蜘蛛精若活在现世中，将会是怎么局面呢？没有唐僧的世界，蜘蛛精只能漫无目的的在盘丝洞里做些无聊的举动来打发时间？这场最经典的对白莫过于杨贵媚不断重复：“我闻到你的味道。”痴情、执着的表现？有谁不曾执着与某人、某物呢？蜘蛛精的执着，或许就是我们多某事、某物的执着吧！

第二场《陆弈静的点滴 – 我的死海》

      咖啡，都市人不可或缺的提神饮料。不过水能载舟、也能覆舟。过了头，损害的是你自己。陆弈静，所扮演的咖啡“瘾君子”，因为在现实里找不回那首歌，而继续沉迷于“死海”，咖啡里。虽然我没试过像剧中的陆弈静那般执着，不过剧中的她，让我回想起了我曾经疯狂的一些时刻。想要不眠不休的打赢新游戏、读完一本小说/漫画、观看完一部连续剧。。。这一切、一切都是我曾经经历过的经验。而看着陆弈静在台上对自己的身体说对不起，让我不禁为那些熬夜、虚耗精神的日子感到内疚，巴不得也想要对身体说句对不起。

第三场《李康生的鱼 – 我的沙漠》

      对于父亲的思念，转移为对鱼尸、捕鱼、养鱼的执着、沉迷。演出一半，李康生与观众的互动，叙述捕捉章鱼、海胆的经历，为之前两场原本显得枯燥乏味的独角戏，带来了一阵新鲜感。起初，观众的错愕感，不一会儿被笑声掩盖了。而接近剧末时，李康生一边将鱼尸摆在面粉上，一边诵念的《般若波罗蜜心经》，也为三出独角戏划上了美丽的句点。《般若波罗密心经》里的“五蕴皆空”不禁让我联想到了“人生如戏，戏如人生”的这句话。

真真假假、假假真真。从剧中看到自己，从自己看到艺术。或许这就是《只有你》带给我最大的恩赐吧！

写在2011年尾

一眨眼，2011年即将结束了，而玛雅人所说的世界末日2012年也即将开始了。。。

回想今年的大事的话，那应该是我大学毕业了吧？

三年时光，说长不长，说短不短。。。从大学第一年开始只顾上课，不懂如何结交新朋友，到第一次参加中文系同学会的出游，到选择修读中文系汉学，结交了一群对中华文化、中文有热诚的好朋友、好老师，我只能说我的大学生涯是开心、愉快的。唯一遗憾就是因为成绩不好，无法修荣誉班、写论文。。。不过，有机会的话，我一定会去修Masters的。。。不过可能得等我收入稳定之后吧。。。哈哈。。。

一件庆幸的事乃我现在暂时找到了一份工作，虽然还是临时工，不过有很大机会能成为正职。每一天都在学习新事物、同事也都是一群好人，所以我很感恩、感激。。。现在只求事业顺利吧。。。

感情生活还是老样子。。。单身一人。。。哈哈。。。或许我应该种盆桃花树吧。。。。

家庭方面的话，今年可说是多事之秋。。。不过不是自己家人，而是亲戚，所以还是感恩。。。

每星期追看的漫画。。。《海贼王》、《家庭教师》、《圣斗士星矢-冥王神话外传》、《死神》、《火影忍者》、《最强弟子兼一》、《美食的俘虏》、《全职猎人》、《妖精的尾巴》、《名侦探柯南》、《第一神拳》、"Claymore"....至少每星期都有期待。。。呵呵

最喜欢的电影就是九把刀的《那些年，我们一起追的女孩》。。。感人、幽默、回忆。。。。太好看了。。。。

好了。。。就那么多了。。。2012年祝一切顺利。。。

random

(C)今年的漢字 (C)免费的游戏FREEM (PR)マビノギ

Thoughts on a random day of the last month of December...

2010 is almost over...nothing much to say about it...Perhaps when the end is almost here, then I would have more say about it bah...

To have that sort of feeling again for someone else, it is sort of a gleeful, yet scary feeling. I guess I am kind of comfortable with how things are currently progressing, and afraid of what would happen if I say my feelings out loud, or that I am already grateful for the kind of feelings that we both share, or perhaps I am just waiting for that moment bah. All the perhaps, all the what ifs, blah...顺其自然吧。。。

Social-life wise, after the harrowing 4 exams within 2 days ordeal, I guess I am getting back into the loop of things bah. Shisha, outings, suppers, dinners. Better enjoy myself before the start of the next semester.

下周就要开始毕业特刊排版的工作了。虽说现在还没察觉到有任何压力，不过身为主编，而且又是第一次做编辑的工作，我还是会担心我辜负了雨情、慧娟学姐对我的期待。在这里对自己说一声“加油”！

The weekly dose of Manga madness (One Piece, Naruto, Bleach, Fairy Tail, Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas, Saint Seiya: The Next Dimension, Conan, Katekyo Hitman Reborn!, Kekkaishi, Claymore, D-Gray Man, Soul Eater, Kenichi The Mightiest Disciple), plus Amazing Race, plus HK Dramas...

This is the life bah...lol

....

有一点厌倦了。。。别人的烦恼，却间接、直接变成我的烦恼了。。。

为了"朋友”二字，真的值得吗？

到目前为止，我认为是值得的。伯牙为友绝弦，我只不过是当自己是一面墙，让朋友当我是一处发泄的地方。那我为何会感到如此厌倦、烦躁呢？唉。。。

科技发达，有利也有弊。。。唉。。。

强颜欢笑ing。。。：-）

Invisibility/Breathing (Perfomance Analysis:Ａ／Ａ－）

Poet escapes to the rural area, seeking to disappear. Fisherman fears the sea; but yet, do not dares to venture into the city, as it holds unknown dangers for him. Prostitute travels to the rural area, seeking to escape from the harsh realities of life for her in the city, but yet, the city returns to haunt her, giving her no peace. The interaction between the three characters, and the Policeman (who represents the dangers and evilness of the city), is what encapsulated the whole four acts to the Natalie Hennedige’s theatre response to Quah Sy Ren’s (1996), Invisibility.

As is mentioned in the programme, Invisibility/Breathing is the examining of the hope and futility of restless people in a restless world. However, unlike Invisibility by Quah Sy Ren, which takes the audience on a “voyeuristic ride towards urban myth” , Invisibility/Breathing seems to be trying too hard to be too many things at once. It tries to convey to the audience that nobody is really connected with each other, not even those whom you lived with for an extended period of time, yet at the same time, trying to create the conflict between the rural life and the city life. It also seems to try to re-create a sense of the theatre of the absurd, by inserting random acts of dancing among the characters on stage, which do not, served to advance the storyline, or invoke a sense of the theatre of the absurd for the audience. Instead, the audience is left to wonder what the meaning behind such random dancing was, or to put it more crudely, it was a WTF moment for the audience. All the above ideas that Natalie tried to convey across to the audience via Invisibility/Breathing, however, serves only to make the whole play seems disconnected and disorganized, almost as if there were too many things on the plate that the director is trying to bring across to the audience, so much so that the audience is left feeling overwhelmed.

In a certain way, Invisibility/Breathing was reminiscent of Harold Pinter’s The Caretaker, which has three main characters (Mick, Davies, and Aston) living together for an extended period of time, interacting with each other, but yet in the end, not really knowing or understanding about each other. Likewise, Invisibility/Breathing is similar. By the random or mundane twist of fate (depending on how you want to see it), the Poet, the Fisherman, and the Prostitute met each other, and decided to stay and interact with each other. Their lives began to intersect and each in a sense is dependent on the other for support and guidance. However, in the end, like the characters in The Caretaker, all three of them do not really understand or are connected with each other, and by the end of the play, their lives were drastically changed.

Furthermore, Natalie tried to tie Invisibility/Breathing to Quah’s Invisibility, by having the Poet keep on asking the other two characters on whether they would see him. The Poet’s attempt to make himself invisible and his desire for the Fisherman to bring him out to sea, serves to indicate the Poet’s contempt and disregard for the society, and this is reminiscent of Invisibility’s Scene 1: The Act of Invisibility, whereby the character A seeks to become invisible. However, unlike A seeks to become invisible by following ancient Chinese texts, the Poet in Invisibility/Breathing did not seem to actively seek to become invisible per se, but rather only seeks to affirm his worth in society through the asking of that question.

One part that I like about Invisibility/Breathing was the very idea that books, and the act of the Poet reading out excerpts from various authors (etc. Shakespeare, D.H. Lawrence, Franz Kafka) is retorted by the Fisherman, as stealing experience from the dead. To me, this seems to tie in with the image of the Poet, as someone who has no life experience of his own, since he seems to be too dependent on his books, and on the Fisherman and the Prostitute. Even though the Poet seeks to find himself, or to better understand himself via his books, it is evident to the audience that he has failed in doing so, since by the end of the play, he has achieved nothing, and is still begging the Fisherman to bring him to the sea. Furthermore, during the various intervals of the play, the Poet is seen, jumping around the raised platform around the stage, and extorting to the audience that he is here. This jumping around by the Poet seems to emphasize the fact that he is restless. All the above serves to highlight and emphasize to the audience the theme of restlessness and the futility of restless individuals to find connections and meanings in this world, since the actions of the Poet is ultimately meaningless, and do not by any chance, changes the fact that he is still alone, without making any deeper connections with other people.

However, it would also be argued that the appearance of the Policeman (in an extremely gaudy, flamboyant costume), and his disruption of the mundane (?) and routine (?) lives of the Poet, Fisherman, and the Prostitute would be said to be another attempt by Natalie to convey to the audience the sense of futility and hopelessness of restless people in forming connections. This would be seen by the fact, that every time the Policeman appears, the status quo is changed in some ways. For instance, when the Policeman appears in the last scene, the Prostitute was forced to become a mover of corpse, while the Fisherman was forced to become a self-appointed guardian of the cemetery. Through the direct actions of the Policeman, the three characters have become strangers again to each other. Perhaps it would be safe to say, or assume that the Policeman plays the role of fate, or the harsh reality of life, and that his appearance in the play perhaps emphasizes the fact that the Poet, Fisherman and the Prostitute do not have the fortitude or strength necessary to survive mentally intact in the harsh world, and that their seemingly safe refuge in the rural area is not actually safe at all.

Moving on to the non-performance aspect of the play per se. Invisibility/Breathing is an approximately one and a half hour play, with no intermission in between scenes. Therefore, it is advisable for the audience to clear their bladders first, if not, they might be able to feel the restlessness of the three characters very intimately. Furthermore, the seats within the Studio Theatre are not very comfortable per se, which in a sense, makes the audience involuntarily fidgets in their seats and which in turn, indirectly conveys the sense of restlessness that Natalie is trying to convey to the audience, whether this is intentional or not, is questionable.

Another technical aspect of the play, which leaves much to be desired, would be the translation done by Enoch Ng. Case in point, one of the scenes features the Prostitute calling the Fisherman 无情, which typically should be taken to mean being a heartless man, however, Enoch chooses to translate the term to being a hard man, which according to the Encarta online dictionary, refers to someone who is “perceived as vicious and ruthless, often with criminal tendencies”. Of course, when taken into account, the fact that the Fisherman did in fact commit murderous acts later in the play, the use of the English translation, “hard man”, could be seen to be a case of foreshadowing, however, given the lack of such connotations on the part of the original Chinese script, it seems to have spoiled the plot for the English-speaking audience, who have to rely on the subtitle to get the meaning and gist of the storyline.

In conclusion, I would give Invisibility/Breathing three and a half thumbs-up out of five. Although Natalie’s presentation of the play might seem haphazard at times, and one gets the sense that she is trying to place too many things on her plate, however, this does not remove the superb acting by the actors, nor away from the captivating storyline.

INTERESTING! MARK: A / A -

Qingming Festival Essay...(B) (Nothing much to say..)

Write a paper on the transition of traditional Chinese Festivals in modern society, using Mid-Autumn Festival or Qingming Festival as a case study.

Qingming Festival, or the Clear Bright Festival, occurs during one of the twenty-four periods of the Chinese solar calendar, each being fifteen days long. It starts approximately on April 5th and lasts until about 20th of the same month. At its very beginning, the Qingming period just marked the beginning of the sowing of rice , and did not have its connotations of the Chinese praying respects to their forebears. However, the Qingming Festival is now associated with grave-sweeping or a day for paying respects to ancestors and the dead, and also a celebration of family as family members gather together and renew their ties with one another. The practice of honouring one’s ancestors – rooted in the Confucian concept of li (ritual and humanity) – affirms the significance of familial piety, clan lineage, and most importantly, social hierarchy, order, and identity, all of which are integral to a sense of being a proper Chinese.

It has been speculated that Qingming Festival may have evolved from the Hanshi Festival (寒食节, literally, the Day of Eating Things Cold), which was a memorial day for Jie Zitui (介子推), who was one of the followers of Duke Wen of Jin. Before Duke Wen of Jin became Duke, he was forced to live in exile in a foreign land for nineteen years. Once, during Wen’s 19 years of exile, they did not have any food to eat, Jie cut off some flesh from his own arm and cooked it for Duke Wen to eat. After he became Duke, Duke Wen wanted to reward those who followed him with titles and fiefs; however, Jie decided to reject the rewards and went to live a secluded life in Mianshan. In order to force him out, Duke Wen decided to set Mianshan on fire. However, Jie would rather die than accept a reward for his meritorious deeds of the past.

The day Duke Wen of Jin set fire on Mianshan happened to be the Qingming Festival. To pay him respects and in appreciation of the sterling quality of Jie Zitui, who would rather be burnt to death than be given a fief, people on that day put out their kitchen fire and eat cold things prepared beforehand. In time, this has become an accepted custom. This is also the day for people to sweep clean the tombs of their ancestors and mourn the dead.

However, the Qingming Festival itself was created by the Tang Emperor Xuanzong in 732. It is said that because the wealthy held too many expensive, elaborate ancestor-worshipping ceremonies, and in a needed effort to lower this expense, Emperor Xuanzong declared that respects could be formally paid at ancestor’s graves only on Qingming.

Tomb-Sweeping, otherwise known as 扫墓, is an activity which is synonymous with the Qingming Festival. There are three steps in a proper grave sweeping: cleaning the grave, which includes weeding, cleaning, and painting the gravestone; making offerings (meats, fruits) to the earth gods and the ancestors; and burning incense, joss sticks, and paper money.

Since ancient times, grave cleaning have been an integral part of the Qingming Festival. During the Qingming Festival, the Chinese would usually be awake by the wee hours of the morning, and make their way to the location of the gravesites, which is usually located in cemeteries in urban areas, and in mountaintops or hilltops in rural areas. This practice has practically remained unchanged, and kept by the overseas Chinese Diaspora. However, in a case when families do not have a gravesite, the ceremony will take place at a clan society or something similar to a “Hall of Remembrance”.

Land scarce Singapore, however, would provide an interesting case study in which grave cleaning have to be adapted and change to suit the needs of society. Cemeteries in Singapore are few and far between, with only Chua Chu Kang Cemetery Complex being the only one in Singapore still accepting burials, with other cemeteries making way for re-development. Therefore, it has become increasingly popular for the Singaporean Chinese to choose cremation for the deceased, and then, places the remains of the deceased in temples. As such, grave cleaning, in the purest sense of the term, is slowly becoming a rarity in land scarce Singapore.

Another unique case study, in which the Qingming Festival has been adapted to suit the needs of Overseas Chinese, would be seen in Honolulu. Traditionally, the Qingming Festival “is not a spectator’s event and only family members, relatives, or related members of an association would have been invited to attend.” However, during the 2001 Honolulu Qingming ceremony, the “combination of old and new elements” has made it “an excellent example of cultural innovation, creativity, and hybridity at work”, which not only involved the members of the Chinese community, but also “special local dignitaries, which included the mayor of the City of Honolulu, Jeremy Harris, officials of several prominent Chinese associations, military officials, Chinese veterans, the Narcissus Queen and her court, and the Queen of Chinatown and her court.” Even in its programming, innovation would be seen, with the organisers “juxtaposing a variety of musical styles ranging from Japanese music to military marches and to Scottish bagpipes”.

However, one thing which has not really changed from traditional China to modern society would be the sacrifice of food, and the act of eating them after the tombs had been swept. Although the food sacrifice might differ from families to families, what is constant is the fact that family members would eat the food that had been sacrifice to the deceased. Perhaps this might be because the Chinese felt that the food which has been sacrifice to the deceased, has in turn, been blessed by them, and thus, the act of eating them would serve to bless the Chinese in turn.

If one looks at ancient records of the Qingming Festival, one would find that Treading the Green (踏青), a “day for urban inhabitants, including women, to have an outing on the city outskirts”. Even in rural areas, Treading the Green, would also be seen to be a common experience, with such excursions being “seen in connection with the visits to the graves, the latter being situated outside the villages”. Perhaps the activity of Treading the Green would be seen in this light, the ancient Chinese might have few opportunities to go on excursions outside cities or their villages, and hence, the Qingming Festival, with the “mandatory” visits to the graves of their ancestors, which were usually located outside cities or villages, meant that it gave them a chance to make excursions out of the cities or villages.

Perhaps the practice of Treading the Green continues to be practice by modern Chinese today, especially with those whose ancestors’ graves are located outside the cities or villages. However, for those modern Chinese, especially the Overseas Chinese Diaspora, where the graves of their ancestors are usually located within the cities itself; the practice of Treading the Green might not be as relevant to them today.

Of note, one might find it significant that for some modern Chinese, the Qingming Festival might not only be about the remembrance of their ancestors, but also to those who died in events considered sensitive in China, such as the victims of the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989 or Premier Zhou Enlai who died in 1976. However, in most areas of China, such observances are suppressed and all public mention of such subjects is considered taboo , since it is seen as being subversive by the Communist Government in China, but such practices are more commonly seen in areas, where “the rights of free expression are generally recognized, as in Hong Kong”.

In conclusion, one would see that the Qingming Festival has not changed much from the traditional to the modern era. Even if there were changes, it is usually cosmetic and, the meaning behind the Qingming Festival that of remembering the dead is kept.

References
Aijmer, Goran, “Ancestor in the Spring, the Qingming festival in modern China,” in http://sunzi.lib.hku.hkjo/view/44/4401387
http://www.herongyang.com/chinese/festivals/chinese_qingming_festival.html
Lau, Frederick, “Serenading the Ancestors: Chinese Qingming Festival in Honolulu,” Yearbook for Traditional Music, Vol. 36 (2004)
S.L. Shen, UPI Correspondent, China’s restless dead on Tomb-Sweeping Day, published on 08 April, 2009. (http://www.upiasia.com/Politics/2009/04/08/chinas_restless_dead_on_tomb-sweeping_day/9394/)
Wikipedia
Xing, Qi (translated by Ren Jiazhen; illustrations by Yang Guanghua). Folk customs at traditional Chinese festivals. (Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1988)