An Oxcart for Dowry
Our Theatre
Date：2018.06.22
Venue：Cihiayi Performing Arts Experimental Theater
Comments on the Finalist
Our Theatre continues its practice of localizing and translating Western plays with productions in Taiwanese, and takes on the challenge of producing a classic of nativist literature, An Oxcart for Dowry. Wang Zhen-He’s helpless and struggling characters in strained circumstances from the lower social stratum are reinvented in Lin Meng-Huan and Lu Chih-Chieh’s script. The actors’ fluent delivery and precise grasp of the Taiwanese language skillfully cloaks compassion in crude mockeries and teases. The blind ox becomes a detached on-looker that leads the audience to perceive the hateful but also pitiable characters. Driven by desire and consequently surrendering to fate, they embody the greed and cruelty in a capitalist society. The highly recognizable musical rhythm of the Ryuzanji Company furthermore highlights the underlying sense of absurdity and sarcasm in the original story. The theater company’s approach to delineate the land through art in recent years is realized with profoundness in this work.
(Commentator: CHEN Yi-Chen)
Artwork Introduction
An Oxcart for Dowry, a theatre production by Japanese director Show Ryuzanji with the script written by Lin Meng-Huan and Lu Chih-Chieh, is an adaptation of Wang Zhen-He’s homonymous novel. It is the sixth adaptation work since the theatre company launched its series of Taiwanese adaptations since 2012, and the first adaptation that features a literary work from Taiwan rather than Western classics. An Oxcart for Dowry portrays the sarcastic, bittersweet and difficult life of grassroots characters. The production marks the third anniversary of the collaboration between the theatre company and Ryuzanji Company, and is integrated with Show Ryuzanji’s distinctive artistic style. Through parts of music and dance incorporated with a cinematic rhythm and vibrant performance style, the dialogue between modern theatre and the traditional, native theme ushers in a new horizon and expression for the theatrical adaptation of Taiwanese literature while validating the theatre company’s endeavor in bettering the theatre industry and culture with “script, language and native culture.”
About the Artist
Founded in Chiayi in 2003 and primarily comprising alumni from the School of Theatre Arts, Taipei National University of the Arts, the Chinese character “阮” in the name of the theatre company literally means “we” in Taiwanese. The theatre company became officially established in 2006 and was the first modern theatre company in the greater Chiayi area. Since its establishment, Chiayi has been the creative base of Our Theatre that aims to incorporate local culture into modern theatrical productions while actively engaging the public and society. Over the years, the theatre company has upheld the objectives of “creation,” “research” and “education/promotion” to consistently immerse its audience in cultural energies with over seven hundred performances already. Since 2012, Our Theatre started adapting Western classics into Taiwanese productions with local features, gradually formulating its unique aesthetic style with the folk color conveyed through the Taiwanese language.
Production Team
Original Author│Wang Zhen-He
Producer│Jhao-Cian Wang
Director│Show Ryuzanji
Assistant Director│Yamazaki Reiko, Wang Jhao-Cian
Playwright│ Lin Meng-Huan, Lu Chih-Chieh
Translator(From Chinese to Japanese) │ Wang Tan
Stage Manager│ Chen Chao-Chun
Assistant Stage Manager│ Huang Yong- Zhi
Set Designer│ Chen Jin-Ting
Technical Director│ Liu Bo-Yan, Lin Kun-Hsien
Lighting Designer│ Kao Chih-Chien
Master Electrician│ Yang Chia-hsuan
Custom Designer│ Huang Sunny
Assistant Custom Designer│Yi Hsiang-Hsu
Composer│ Suwa Sou
Sound Designer│Ko Chun-Yuan
Sound Technician│Chen Yu-Chien, Zhang Zhi-hui
Vocal Coach│ Deen Chang
Choreographer│ Lin Su-Lien, Chang Ya-Wei
Origin Vision Concept│ Lee Ming-Chen, Chuang Yi-Tseng
Calligraphy│Chen Shih-Hsien
Key Vision Design│ Gong Pei-Lin
Photographer│ HUANG Jiong-Che
Commercial Film│ Chen Yun-Shan, Yan Jie
Accompanying writer│ Yeh Yu-Ting
Actors and Actress│Yamashita Naoya, Fang Min-Yuan, Kozu Takuhei,
Yu Pen-Chieh, R Ho ay-Kang, Lee Chi-Lin,
Chou Chun-Peng, Chen Shou-Yu, Chen Yan-Da,
Chen Ying-Ta, Chung Pin-Chiao, Liao Jia-Hui
Rehearsal Assistant│Wu Hsin-Yi,Wu, Yi-Ying Chuang, Ting-Yu
Administrative Coordination│Liao Hsin-Tung
Executive Producer│Hsu Hui-Lin
PR│Tsai Ming-Chun, Chiou Shu-Kai
阮劇團團長暨製作人 汪兆謙
王禎和發表於1967年的經典短篇小說《嫁妝一牛車》，以拉牛車維生、耳朵半聾的萬發及貌惡的阿好夫妻，和一位來自鹿港、有狐臭的成衣商人簡仔為主角，描寫台灣農村社會底層小人物被生存環境壓垮的諷刺悲喜，是台灣鄉土文學時期代表作，在八零年代與2000年後各有電影與電視劇改編。而2018年，深耕嘉義的阮劇團與個人風格鮮明的日本導演流山兒祥合作，將此經典文學用戲劇手法重新呈現，並賦予鮮明風格與當代視角。
台日合作下的經典文學改編
2003年創團的阮劇團，推動台語改編計畫已六、七年。從2012年莫里哀《妻子學校》改編而成的《金水飼某》，到脫胎莎翁《仲夏夜之夢》的《熱天酣眠》，挑戰賈里荒謬經典《烏布王》的《ㄞ國Party》，由莫里哀《吝嗇鬼》而來的《愛錢Ａ恰恰》，再到2016年與流山兒★事務所合製的《馬克白》，都意在轉化學院所學於在地。但當劇團在嘉義站穩腳步，改編製作經驗也逐漸厚實，成員開始思索將視角移轉，回頭盤點台灣與東方經典，以戲劇演繹。
《嫁妝一牛車》在此時進入想法，作品中強烈的鄉土與現代主義精神揉合，感召相隔幾十年的後輩做出呼應。阮劇團團長汪兆謙說，「大家想到阮劇團，好像在地性很強，但是我們想做的不是狹義的地區性劇場，而是思考在當代時空，找到一種城鄉之間新的可能，而非二元對立。王禎和老師的寫作風格，對我們有重要參考意義。」與劇團已有共事基礎的流山兒祥，也就將合作延續——當初台日合作意外合拍，對小人物的創作關注也相當契合，《馬克白》獲邀至羅馬尼亞演出期間，汪兆謙與流山兒聊起下年度合作，大膽提出回歸東方經典的台語改編計畫，流山兒於是欣然接招這全新嘗試。
流山兒是日本戰後學潮時代興起的代表人物之一，一如同時代藝術家，擁有左派對社會的反思，批判同時也帶有強大行動力，希冀透過藝術打破死板框架，而反映在創作裡，則是節奏感與小人物滿場飛的熱力。這樣的風格帶到《嫁妝一牛車》，恰在鄉土文學的識別上做出突破。「過去我們講鄉土文學或藝術作品，常覺得台灣的歌、小說，因某種政治時空或當局打壓，總帶有悲情色彩，傳統台灣電影或戲劇也有這種基調。電影跟音樂的改革較早，八零年代新浪潮把電影語言重新翻新，音樂改革也從『唱自己的歌』開始，一路到八、九零年代魔岩、滾石與角頭唱片的出現。但在戲劇，我一直覺得我們對台語劇的想像，好像還停在一種寫實主義或總是悲情的形象。」汪兆謙認為，與流山兒的合作，讓外國導演的視角為台語劇做出觀點上的質變，《嫁妝一牛車》俐落的節奏轉換、批判性強烈卻滿漲的活力，效果多彩，「很不一樣、很不台灣，但這很不台灣的東西，讓我們看到另一種台灣的可能性，這是我們期待達到的位置，我相信也帶出過去鄉土戲劇沒有的面貌。」
台語改編的複雜工序與挑戰
此次改編歷經複雜嚴謹的工序，包括三、四人編劇小組的改編方向定調，林孟寰、盧志杰分別負責的國台語劇本編寫，過程加上大量國、台、日語翻譯與修改，到最後台語本完成，歷時半年；其後，再有多位台語發音指導老師，在排演前、中，針對符合劇本年代的台語發音腔調考究修正，字句精準雕琢。「劇本有三種語言，國、台、日語，每句都單獨一條。導演一邊看戲，聽音、看劇本，掌握日語意義；副導演山崎理惠子通中、日語但不懂台語，我則負責聽台語。排練過程中，兩三位老師不定期進來，聽台語是否準確。對我們來說，起碼台語要做到一種品質。」
語言以外，流山兒風格裡，演員拼搏般的滿場奔走，如搖滾樂般能量高漲的演出形式，對阮劇團來說是挑戰也是啟發。「回歸到劇場人，這是某種『毫無保留』，表演藝術工作者的天命，就是把自我、小我丟一旁，把自己全部交給你的一種氣魄跟決心。」汪兆謙說，「我們這些做戲的瘋子傻子，要用盡一切的可能，只為了要給你一個如此小的東西，那是動人的。」
開闊視野下的新鄉土、新台劇
從戲劇學院出身，到台語改編西方經典，再至鄉土文學改編，阮劇團像是不斷走在重新與土地連結的歷程。汪兆謙認為，台灣現代劇場四十年來受西方影響深遠，他和同代充分吸收西方文化成長的創作者，不斷反思自身，逐漸產生某種共有的渴望與聲音，如今也回頭展開行動、孵育成果；即便風格與方向不同，近年對「新鄉土」或「新台劇」的熱烈討論與嘗試，幾乎都基於這樣的探求。「我們在起家的時候做改編，然後慢慢地回來做原創的路——說自己的故事，但同時視野是夠開闊的。」
變動的年代，萬事不斷被重新閱讀解釋，表演藝術也相同，跨域、跨界背後，是傳統面對的再次定義。汪兆謙說，由此來看，《嫁妝一牛車》的製作意義，在於劇團深刻體驗創作及跨文化思考對話，過程中所擁有新的可能與平衡，而這平衡的觀念，也將延續至未來不同的製作。與流山兒的台日共創邁向第五年，汪兆謙觀察劇團的快速成長，從最初焦慮緊繃，到能量拉升後還能從容收放；累積創作眼界與執行經驗同時，對台語改編與原創的路徑也越發篤定。創團16年，邁向成年的阮劇團步伐越發清晰，也更懷抱企圖與勇氣。
（採訪撰文／許祐綸）
