SAND AND A DISTANT STAR

distant

star

Sand

and a

在那遙遠的星球，一粒沙

(As my graduation project)

CREDITS

導演 Director / 吳言凜 WU,YEN-LIN

舞台設計 Set Design / 吳亭昀 WU, TING-YUN

服裝設計 Costume Design / 馮元貞 FENG,YUAN-CHEN

燈光設計 Lighting Design / 黃彥勳 HUANG,YEN-HSUN

技術設計 Technology Design / 彭婷羚 PENG,TING-LING

演員 Performers / 蔡思韵 CHOI, SZE-WAN、鍾凱文 CHUNG,KAI-WEN、高凱琳 KAO,KAI-LIN、

陳宗翰 CHEN,TSUNG-HAN、辜靖傑 KU,CHING-CHIEH、林品翰 LIN,PIN-HAN、

黃品媛 HUANG,PIN-YUAN、許琍琍 HSU,LI-LI、王敬 WANG,CHING

舞台監督 Stage Manager / 曾智偉 TSENG,CHIH-WEI

音樂設計 Music Design / 林彥辰 LIN,YEN-CHEN
戲劇顧問 Dramaturgy / 孫唯真 SUN,WEI-CHEN、陳煜典 CHEN,YU-TIEN

劇本改編 Script Collaboration / PikoT、曾建凱 TSENG,CHIEN-KAI

演出時間 Date / December. 23-29 , 2016

演出地點 Venue / 國立台北藝術大學展演藝術中心戲劇廳

TNUA Performing Art Center Experimental Theater, Taipei, Taiwan

PLAYWRIGHT

Stan Lai (1954-)

As a well-known playwright and director, Stan Lai’s story tend to portray people’s emotions on recalling memories of the past and the limitless inquiries of life. Based in Taiwan, Mr. Lai founded Performance Workshop in 1984. His works and the troupe have influenced profoundly in theater of both Taiwan and China. His most famous works includes That Evening, We Performed Crosstalk (1985), Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land (1986), The Village (2008), A Dream Like A Dream (2000-2013), ect.

WHY THIS SCRIPT?

From 2014, there are many significant social incidents occurred in Taiwan: The sunflower student movement, the problem of food management, land justice, old age pension, judicial reforms and the tense relationship between Taiwan and China. In 2015, we encountered the air crash of TransAsia Airways and several vital murder cases. Until 2016, the earthquake happened in Kaohsiung made the whole society in grief. People encountered lots of obstacles and toughness in life. Through this production, we aimed to summon people of their unseen energy and to face the future with enthusiastic determinations.

STORY SYNOPSIS

The story was about a watch vender named Yeh Ying who was adept in astronomy and believed that her husband, Dawei, robbed by aliens 20 years ago, would return to her from the outer space. Yeh Ying’s friend Fan, Old Cian and her daughter Guai-guai planned to give Yeh Ying a drama therapy. By making her hallucination come true, they aimed to change her to face the reality.

On December 25th, the day Dawei preestimated to be back, Old Cian in a space suit with Fan act as an alien, climbed in Yeh Ying’s room, performing as Dawei sent back from space. However, in the room, the freezing pointer of the clock reminded Old Cian of his passed wife which triggered his behavior deviating from the rehearsal. From that moment, Yeh Ying recognized what just happened was a farce, feeling disappointed and later falling asleep on the table alone. There’s a magic moment, like a dream, Dawei came back and waked Yeh Ying up. They had a reunion supper together, and Yeh Ying was intensively excited. Nevertheless, the happiness did not last long since Dawei mentioned his departure again. In a few seconds, Dawei disappeared within a strong glare, leaving Yeh Ying again.

After that day, Yeh Ying was gone, leaving just a few words to Guai-guai. ‘I’m gonna leave, be happy! Mom.’ wrote by Yeh Ying. Another day, Guai-guai received a strange postcard without any date on it. Seeing deeply into the picture of the postcard, there seemed to be a couple in front of a beautiful scenery, like Yeh Ying and Dawei being together forever in a neverland.

ADAPTATION

We adjust the script in two aspects. One is the interpretation of the character Dawei. In the original script, Dawei was described as a mysterious man who present as a shadow. As to our version, we wanted Dawei to be a ‘real’ character played by a specific actor, making Yeh Ying’s expectation seem not only a dream but an authentic reality.

The other, Guai-guai’s boyfriend Kao was a flat character in the original script. We created a bottom line of Guai-guai and Kao’s relationship, making the character rounder and became an echo to all the dreams that achieved in this story.

STORY ANALYZATION

The story, centered on Yeh Ying, is divided into two intertwined narrative lines: Yeh Ying’s encounters as a vendor and her domestic life with her daughter Guai-guai. As the story lines go on, all characters are bonded together due to Yeh Ying and are eventually gathered together in the play-within-play in Scene 11. Although the play-within-play ends in farce, it is their great care that accompany Yeh Ying in the face of Dawei’s “homecoming”, which is significant to her. All characters are also considerably influenced by one another.

The structure of this play per se is dialectics of belief. Through the use of estrangement effect in the beginning, middle, and the end of the play, in which the characters talk directly to the audience, the spectators’ presence therefore become essential to the play structure. The theatrical space itself to this play is this play to the play-within-play. Layers by layers, it then forms a dialectical relationship between imagination and reality. If the theatrical space is real, the performance of the play would be imaginary; but if the spectators projected themselves in the play, believing that it is a reality, the theatrical space would then become hollow in their perception.

Likewise, we can also interpret the relationship between this play and its play-within-play in the same perspective. Were the play-within-play mere acting, it should be imaginary and vacant, whereas the story that all characters live in means reality to them. Viewed from a different angle, the play-within-play is authentic to Old Xian? And Guai guai, as they find meaning in life in it, they story they live in is then meaningless. Through the fictional and emulational nature of theatrical performance, “Sand and a Distant Star” creates a dialectical space for imagination and reality and challenges the audience: What should we believe in?

DESIGN CONCEPT

The story discussed what human believes in their affections, the illusory truth or the reality? My main idea of the set design is to make the stage a passage for dialectics. The scenes sometimes looked situated in the property storage warehouse while sometimes looked situated in the theater. The former space was inactive for the properties to show their theatrical traits while the latter space was active. Through the two different acting spaces, I’d like to invite the audience to think what part of the play was true? To what extent do the audience believe in the story?

ILLUSORY & REALITY

My main idea is to make the stage a passage for dialectics. For the characters in the play, the theatrical space is substantial; however, once they leave the stage, the scenes then becomes pure settings without the presence of the actors. That is, the scenes in the play and the theatrical scenery coexist on stage. Just as Brecht’s “estrangement effect”, I attempt to rouse the audience from the realistic yet imaginary story, inviting them to ponder upon what they should believe in.

PLANETS

The universe submits to law of gravity. Any micro change may have serious impact on the whole macrocosm. In “Sand and a Distant Star”, the relationship among people is just as such. Consequently, I chose to present the transition of scenes in the form of celestial revolution and rotation. Yeh Ying’s room, the center of the system, serves as the energy source for the circulation, while other scenes, comprised of walls and pillars that can be rearranged, revolve around her room. As each scene comes on stage, it is almost like a star in the system is lightened.