Amadeus premiered in London in 1979, on Broadway in 1981 and was later made into an Academy Award-winning film in 1984. It has now been brought to Taipei by the Godot Theater Company (
According to producer Serina Chen (
Amadeus tells the story of the arrival of the young prodigy, Mozart, at the court of Vienna where the court composer is the diligent, courtly Antonio Salieri. Mozart has few social skills and soon rubs many courtiers the wrong way, in particular Salieri, the only person who nonetheless appreciates Mozart genius. Salieri sets out to destroy his rival, but in doing so, in the face of Mozart's towering genius, his mind is thrown off balance even as he succeeds in his designs.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF GODOT THEATER COMPANY
Shaffer described the play as "a fantasia based on fact," and the play is really about the destructive power of jealousy, not a dramatic biography. "The play is not about the 18th century, it is really about human desires," said director Chiang Wei-kuo (
On the technical front, Wang Shih-hsin's (王世信) stage has achieved considerable flexibility with a minimum of resources. "We did not want to follow Broadway in which the stage goes through massive transformations to create the scene," Wang said.
The same kind of conceptual approach was adopted with the costumes, which achieve a courtly richness, but remain true to modern ideas of design. This works surprisingly well without creating the kind of violent incongruity that one gets in many "updated" works.
The crunch comes in the acting. Shaffer's script walks a very fine line between melodrama and tragi-comedy, and poses an enormous challenge on any actor playing either of the two main roles. Unfortunately, Wang Po-sen (
The comic conventions of the Chinese theater, with the broad outlines and ostentatious showmanship, are ill suited to the portrayal of Shaffer's Mozart. Wang struggles valiantly with his part, making up in energy what he lacks in expressiveness, but ultimately he fails to convince us, in his final torment of poverty and rejection, that he is even remotely capable of composing the Requiem.
This is perhaps due to the TV variety show background of many aspiring actors and which shows through the veneer of this essentially Western drama. Certainly the relative lack of a strong ensemble tradition, which is the foundation of both the British and US stage, is lacking in Taiwan, and is the main obstacle to successfully staging "Broadway" drama here. For all that, the relative new comer Tsuo Jun (
Chin Shih-jie (金士傑), who plays Salieri, is the person who holds the play together. As one of Taiwan's finest ensemble actors, he manages to avoid the trap of overplaying the villain and gives Salieri the humanity that is at the heart of the tragedy of Amadeus. Salieri, is not evil, but rather an ordinary man tormented by his lack of genius.
Godot's play, while it attempts to bring something of Broadway to Taipei, suffers from many of the same faults as Salieri -- it is full of good intentions, brings together considerable talent in all aspects of production and performance, but falls short of real dramatic power. All the same, it is this kind of theater, rather than comic romps such as Shaffer's Black Comedy, which Godot has just finished, that Taiwan theater needs. For all the criticism, it must be called a step in the right direction and is a fine production.
What: Amadeus
Who: Godot Theater Company
When & Where: Tonight to Sept. 10, 7:30pm; Sept. 8 and 9, 2:30pm at Dr Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall. The show will tour Taichung, Tainan and Hsinchu through October and November.
Tickets: NT$400 - NT$1,400
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