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Harold Pinter's “Old Times”
哈羅德品特的《昔日》
Ah yes, I remember it well
是的，我都記得
A mysterious play about the tricks of memory returns to London
關于記憶之隙的神秘戲劇重登倫敦舞臺
She says tomato, I say nothing
她說了番茄，我可什么也沒說
HAROLD PINTER knew his way around silence. There is something dangerous about quiet on stage, as if it is a gap, an emptiness, a mistake. But Pinter, an English playwright who died in 2008, understood these moments to be the essence of drama, charged and full of reckoning. Speech, on the other hand, was “a constant stratagem to cover nakedness”, he once wrote. In his work the lapses in dialogue can yawn on awkwardly, even oppressively, but they tend to be more expressive than the words.
哈羅德品特深諳沉默之道。舞臺上的沉默有某種危險性，仿佛一道裂縫，一種虛無，一個錯誤。然而故世于2008年的英國劇作家品特，卻深深懂得：這些沉默時刻暗潮洶涌，蓄勢待發，正是戲劇的精華所在。他曾經寫道，言語僅僅是“為掩飾赤裸而經常采用的伎倆”。在品特的作品中，對話間的空白尷尬地蔓延開來，甚至壓抑得叫人窒息。然而，這些空白卻比言語更富表現性。
“Old Times”, a play that premiered in 1971, is full of this electric silence.In a new production at the recently renamed Harold Pinter Theatre in London, directed by the gifted Ian Rickson, the work feels as vital as ever.
《昔日》，這部首演于1971年的作品，就充滿了這種火花四射的沉默。在一家最近被命名為哈羅德.品特劇院的倫敦劇院里，由天才的伊恩.瑞克森執導的《昔日》，魅力不減當年。
At a remote farmhouse on the English seaside, Anna pays an unexpected visit to Kate and her husband Deeley, seemingly to reminisce about all of those adventures they shared in London 20 years ago. But memory can be a funny thing, full of selfish needs and manipulative fictions. These three figures seem to know each other intimately, but it is not clear what history they actually share. Their recollections overlap but also confuse and compete with each other. To heighten the sense that this is a play about the power and frailty of perception, Kristin Scott Thomas and Lia Williams switch roles for different performances, though Rufus Sewell stays anchored as Deeley.
在英國海濱一間偏遠的家舍，女主人凱特和丈夫迪利迎來了一個意外訪客：安娜；勾起了三人20年前在倫敦嬉游冒險的回憶。但是記憶這個惡作劇鬼，滿是自私自利的念頭和操縱人心的捏造。三人似乎曾經過從甚密；然而卻無法言明究意有何共同經歷。他們的記憶彼此重疊，卻又各執一詞，讓人費解。克里斯汀.斯考特.托馬斯和利婭.威廉姆斯在不同場次的演出中會互換角色，以凸顯該劇的主題：感覺的威力與脆弱；不過迪利一角，始終由魯弗斯扮演。
“What silence!” declares Anna. “Is it always as silent?” She has just finished rhapsodising about their young, romantic lives in the big city, only to be greeted by an inhospitable wall of quiet. Anna's memories are so colourful, so vivacious, but the Kate she describes is nothing like the quietly intense woman on stage. Undeterred, Anna manically lobs yet more memories as if they are weapons. Kate consistently tries to perch on the sofa behind her husband, turning him into a shield. Deeley, meanwhile, is both spectator and provocateur, stoking the evening with his own memories. As the lone man in the room, he enjoys a unique power. He clings to it, sensing that he is always on the verge of being the odd one out.
“多么安靜啊！”安娜感嘆，“這安靜一直如斯嗎？”這時她剛剛吟誦完他們年輕時在倫敦的浪漫生活，回應她的卻是一堵不甚友善的沉默之墻。安娜的記憶繽紛絢爛，栩栩如生；她描述的凱特一點也不像舞臺上這個神經質般緊張安靜的女人。然而安娜毫不氣餒，她像投射武器一般急急匆匆地扔出更多的記憶；凱特總想躲在丈夫身后的沙發上，仿佛他是一個盾牌。迪利既是旁觀者又是破壞者，用自己的記憶為這個夜晚煽風點火。作為屋里唯一的男人，他仿佛擁有有了某種特別的力量—他感覺自己將要成為被踢出局的格格不入者時，便緊緊攀附著這種力量。
This is a strange play, puzzling and haunting. It works as well as it does thanks not only to Pinter's text, but also to superb interpretation on stage. Mr Sewell stomps and sputters as the charismatic and slightly insecure Deeley, though he might be a touch too handsome—his face too chiselled—for the role. Ms Williams makes for a nervously effervescent Anna. But it is Ms Scott Thomas who steals the show. Her enormous hooded grey eyes shine and then brood; the drama ricochets off her impressive cheekbones. In either role, she is compelling enough to command even the small gestures, such as when she picks at her toes after a bath, or languorously drapes a foot over a bed. Her silence, far from empty, is seductive and mysterious.
這出古怪的戲劇，莫明其妙卻引人入勝。這不僅歸功于品特的劇本，也要歸功于舞臺上演員出色的演繹。西維爾在舞臺上不停哚腳，喋喋不休，正是那個氣勢逼人卻又有輕微不安全感的丈夫。不過對迪利這個角色而言，他實在太英俊了些，臉龐也太輪廓分明了些。威廉姆斯塑造的極富生氣的安娜也很成功。然而斯考特.托馬斯的表演奪人心魄。她陰影深重的灰眼睛里光芒閃爍，旋即陷入沉思；所有的戲劇性都匯聚到她高聳的顴骨上。無論是安娜或是凱特一角，都被她詮釋得天衣無縫。無論是洗澡后撥弄腳趾，或懶洋洋地把腳搭在床上；這些微小的動作在她做來卻讓人目不轉睛，心馳神往。她的沉默遠非虛無，卻是風情萬種，神秘莫測。
