Mon, Apr 22, 2013 page11

• A play to probe ‘self’ in the information age 探討資訊自我認同　莎妹劇團新作《愛愛》

  • • 
    • 
    • 

  As technology used in 3C (computers, communications and consumer electronics) products progresses and usage of such products increases, computers, smartphones, digital cameras and televisions increasingly dominate every facet of modern living. The small “i” (information) has become our new religion, influencing what we buy, our culture, our values and basically controlling the big “I“ (self). Shakespeare’s Wild Sisters Group’s new production — iI — explores this phenomenon, depicting the latent uneasiness and difficulties of being the big “I” in the information age.

  Shakespeare’s Wild Sisters Group director and veteran scriptwriter Wei Ying-chuan says that the modern self is quite different from the self that was the object of reflective consciousness in classical discourses on identity. As huge advances have been made in the field of information technology, time and space in people’s everyday lives have been compressed and virtualized, she says. “People’s subjectivity is increasingly obscured and our sense of being is weakening.” To represent this sort of fabricated existence, Wei uses a table and two chairs and the cosplay concept of acting within a comic form, reconceptualizing people’s subjectivity and how to allow the big “I” and little “i” that exist within our understanding of self, self-affirmation and identities to coalesce.

  After accumulating years of experience performing at art festivals, the troupe decided that this year, instead of waiting passively to be invited to perform, they would organize their own “City Exchange Program.” Expanding the “one-table-two-chair” format, the group has invited artists working in various fields. internationally and cross-culturally to join them in their performance of iI in the hope of having international exchanges. Shakespeare’s Wild Sisters Group will be performing iI at the Plum Wine Factory at Huashan 1914 Creative Park from May 24 to May 26.

  

  Members of Shakespeare’s Wild Sisters Group rehearse iI. 莎妹劇團團員排練新作《愛愛》

  Photos courtesy of Shakespeare’s Wild Sisters Group
  照片由莎妹劇團提供

  (Liberty Times, Translated by Kyle Jeffcoat)

  隨著3C產品科技的進步與使用，電腦、智慧型手機、數位相機、電視機等全然主宰了現代生活，小我「i」不僅成了新圖騰，有時更似新偶像神祗，左右人們的消費、文化、價值觀，甚至凌駕大我「I」。為了探討這樣的現象，莎妹劇團推出新作《愛愛》，提出資訊時代大我「I」的認同隱憂與困境。

  編導魏瑛娟表示，不同以往古典時代的認同反問自我，因數位科技的發達進步，讓人們生活的時間、空間都被壓縮扁平虛擬化，「人的主體性越見模糊，存在感日趨稀薄。」為了呈現這種虛妄，魏瑛娟現場演出以一桌二椅為形式，加入了cosplay（角色扮演）概念，用喜劇手法重新思考人的主體性與如何作到自我認識、肯定、認同到大小我（iI）的合一。

  

  Members of Shakespeare’s Wild Sisters Group rehearse iI. 莎妹劇團團員排練新作《愛愛》

  Photos courtesy of Shakespeare’s Wild Sisters Group
  照片由莎妹劇團提供

  累積多年藝術節演出交流經驗後，莎妹劇團今年也將從被動等待邀演轉而積極主動擘劃「城市交流計畫」，將《愛愛》的「一桌二椅」形式概念作大，邀請跨領域、跨國際、跨文化的藝術家介入合作，希望可以作到國際交流。莎妹劇團《愛愛》五月二十四日到二十六日演出，地點在華山文創園區烏梅酒廠。

  （自由時報記者趙靜瑜）

  

  A prop from Shakespeare’s Wild Sisters Group’s new play iI. 莎妹劇團新作《愛愛》的道具之一。

  Photos courtesy of Shakespeare’s Wild Sisters Group
  照片：照片由莎妹劇團提供

  For your information

  TODAY’S WORDS 今日單字

  1. dominate v. 主宰；支配 (zhu2 zai3; zhi1 pei4) 例: Apple and Samsung dominate the smartphone market. (蘋果與三星主宰智慧型手機市場。) 2. explore v. 探討；探索 (tan4 tao3; tan4 suo3) 例: The book explores life in Southeast Asia during the two decades of the Vietnam War. (這本書探討越戰二十年中，東南亞的生活狀況。) 3. fabricated adj. 虛妄的；捏造的 (xu1 wang4 de5; nie1 zao4 de5) 例: Most of the news in that newspaper is fabricated. (那份報紙裡面的新聞，大多是捏造的。)
• Most Popular

  • 1

    China reserves offshore airspace for 40 days without explanation: WSJ

  • 2

    Danish envoys’ privileges revoked over naming controversy

  • 3

    Eight million barrels of oil to set sail for Taiwan this month

  • 4

    Foreign exchange reserves fall below US$600 billion

  • 5

    First bluefin tuna of season sells for record NT$10,600 per kg in Pingtung