特点介绍 Special Remarks for the Show

「宋江怒杀阎惜姣」并不是一面倒为「淫妇――阎惜姣」翻案，也没有一味地反过来谴责「男人――宋江或张文远」的极坏。阎惜姣可怜可悯，通奸情有可原，但她自私地得寸进尺，抓住宋江暗助反贼的证据，要向官府告密，招致杀身之祸，也是咎由自取。事实上剧中男女没有百分白的好人和百分白的坏人，宋江是假仁义，张文远是真滚友，却不是真坏，总之机缘巧合，就酿成人性与社会性的杀人奇案，审死官也审不清谁对谁错。

「阎惜姣」的特色是吸取了京昆戏曲的剧情与形式，剧情上加入了「水浒传」小说所没有的女主角死后变鬼，遇判伸冤，向张文远试情索命；形式上则采用了没有歌唱的戏曲化，装扮、做手、锣鼓、布景、排场等等，象做「大戏」，但同时又是百分白的正式「话剧」。

这是一部古典戏曲与现代舞台剧的结晶体，「一部以华人传统戏曲程式表演的话剧」，特别适合现代人和不习惯看或听戏曲的新一代华人观看，让我们重新认识华人优秀传统表演艺术的捷径。既是奇情有趣的话剧，又能生动概括地展现华人戏曲基本程式，还有两个「解说者」在旁介绍搞笑，以「对口相声」的方式向大家讲述剧情有关但省略不演的片段，夹叙夹议，类似德国近代戏剧家布莱希特的疏离效果，以期观众作冷静的反省。

The most distinctive difference between this play and the traditional Chinese opera is the creation of two Narrators, one male and one female, each representing their own sex in explaining what goes on in our heroine’s mind and in the progression of events. They serve as the Property Men on the Beijing Opera stage, moving stage furniture and set new scene. In the form of the Chinese DuiKou XiangSheng （对口相声）, which is not unlike the Western standup comic routines, the Narrators explain the conventions of the Chinese theatre to the uninitiated. They relate untold stories, they enter conversations with main characters, and they serve as the inner conscience and inspirers to our heroine. Their functions are quite close to those of the Brechtian narrators in the Epic Theatre, as well as those of the Chorus and the Gidayu chanters in the Japanese Noh, Kabuki, and Bunraku theatres. This mixture of elements in the modern Western theatre and traditional Asian theatre with ample usage of conventions in the classical Chinese theatre and narrative literature is a bold attempt in this capacity as a playwright.

All in all, VENGEANCE is still a straight play without singing, although the movement patterns and percussive routines required are very much in the Beijing Opera / Kunqu Opera style. Its costume, accessories and make-up are also those of the traditional Chinese theatre. It calls for an empty stage without scenery, but its set design is very much Chinese in spirit. Modern theatre lighting is employed, but its execution enhances dramatic effects rather than compromising the suggestive style of the Chinese theatre. What we are proposing here may be helpful in developing a new form of theatre, which relates familiar Chinese stories to a modern audience without compromising either the original form of the modern sensibility.