附上幾個網址：
http://www.adctheatre.com/shows/diary
http://cambridgetheatrereview.com/
我這一次幫 cambridgetheatrereview.com，一個從牛津發起的 student theatre reviews網站，寫The Lonesome West 的 review，是一個很特別的嚐試。我大學是唸英國文學，所以一直以來都很喜歡去看表演。但是大學時期主要研究是 Shakespeare，所以對於其它時期的劇本比較不了解。今年，我想找一個除了唸書，辦派對，跟學語言之外的嗜好。之前試過去參加 Trinity College的 amateur choir，也有去自己的學院的 choir唱過一次，但是我雖然是研究基督教的，卻很不喜歡在讀書之外的時間討論宗教，更不用說還上教堂，參加彌撒了。況且唱歌從不會到能登大雅之堂，得下很大的功夫，實在沒那份熱情，於是就此做罷。
今年暑假前一兩個月，牛津那邊有一批學生想要開始一個 student theatre review的網站。他們的第一個目的是派一大批學生去 Ediburgh Fringe Festival 看各式各樣的表演，然後寫評語。他們提供住宿，以及表演的票，可能是一個星期或是兩個星期，每天都在看表演，沒看表演的時候就大家一起去蘇格蘭的pub喝酒，真是一個超級歡樂的暑假。但是後來我有申請參加 Bologna的 Latin Summer School，接下來又要去維也納陪男朋友，於是 Edinburgh Fringe review的想法只好做罷。
但是這個學生團體現在已經擴張到Cambridge，Bristol，以及Durham。剛好是英國最 posh 的四間學校，總覺得一定有關聯。剛好有這個機會，我就試試看。昨天去看 ADC Theatre的 The Lonesome West，剛剛也線上交了我的 review。有免費的票可以拿，還有機會發表自己的心得感想，看來我以後會常常寫 review。
附上我寫的review如下：
Charlie Risius, the director, says, “We have entered and embraced the twisted world of the play rather than trying to alter it.” The Lonesome West is a tragedy wrapped in comedy wrapped in tragedy, the surrealism presented as reality, and Michael Campbell (playing Coleman) brings the show together with his scruffy appearance, persuasive swigs of poteen, and fecking attitude. While Coleman is well played, Valeen (played by Jack Hudson) only comes to life as a moon to the shining sun that is Coleman and doesn’t become real until the post-confession scene in which the audience ponders, “What has Father Welsh done to Valeen? The poor chap.” Likewise, Father Welsh, the insecure Catholic priest with many a moments “crisis of faith,” pales in comparison, his death easily washed away. Girleen (played by Genevieve Gaunt) final outburst of anger is the only force that can break up the entangled brothers, yet that anger has no coquettishness and playfulness to compare against in former scenes.
The hilarious lines are delivered with absolute seriousness—the brothers fighting over the right to touch the floor of the house, eat crisps, and read the magazine, the Father complaining to Coleman that killing one’s father over a haircut taunt is the stupidest reason he’s ever heard of, and the suspicious murders of the Irish town. Yet as the play enters the second half, the line between hilarity and gravity is blurred and the audience is left undecided whether to laugh at the characters’ misfortune or to sympathise with them. And the dog whose ears were hacked off? I just don’t have the heart to laugh when Coleman sets the ears on Valeen’s head with a deliciously victorious smile.
The murderous Irish town is set against the backdrop of Catholic notions of salvation, confession, and forgiveness. Just as Coleman turns funerals into festive events from which he can nick sausage rolls and vol au vents, confessions are given in a sometimes sincere and sometimes spiteful way. Valeen’s figurines, marked with V’s and placed stage-centre, are the weedy little brother’s way of ensuring salvation. In Father Welsh’s letter, he mulls over whether he could be canonized. In effect, he does. His relic is pinned just above the shotgun, looking down on the brothers with the threat of the eternal damnation of his own soul. Yet Girleen’s necklace draping his letter becomes a constant reminder that in attempting to save the brothers, the priest has broken the heart of an innocent girl. Is it his fault that no one would confess to the two murders and that one from his parish has drowned himself? Is it his fault that his final bet on the brothers’ reconciliation is twisted into a protective amulet for the spiteful and murderous Coleman?
The outlandish characters in outlandish circumstances are not so unlike us. They are dead serious about haircuts, crisps, women’s magazines, and dog’s ears, and so are we.
