当代美国生态戏剧:回顾与思考

Contemporary American Ecotheater:Retrospections and Reflections

美国生态戏剧历经50多年的探索已渐趋成熟,其发展过程并行两条路径:一条是对生态戏剧的理论探索和批评研究,另一条是生态戏剧的文本创作和剧场实践。简要梳理美国生态戏剧理论探索的重要时间节点,可以厘清生态戏剧概念的演进及内涵的发展。美国生态戏剧在文本创作和剧场实践方面已将生态议题从背景隐喻转向主题探讨,并呈现多元化、多样性的特征;表演形式逐渐从剧场镜框式向“特定场所”的沉浸式表演转变,这一转变拉近了观众与演员及生态情境的距离,让观众从被动观看变成肉身参与。据此,美国生态戏剧的当代价值在于:它让观众与当今紧急且重要的生态议题相遇,有了这场相遇,才有介入社会现实的可能;其观演关系的变化使得戏剧表演不再是单纯的再现,而是具有了事件性特征,这就意味着观众的参与,包括观看、倾听、回应,都是一种责任,观众有责任与艺术家一起努力让戏剧发生,从而在知识、思想和意识层面对参与者产生转变性的力量。

American ecotheater has gradually matured after more than 50 years of exploration.There are two parallel paths in its development.One involves the theoretical exploration and criticism of ecological drama,and the other involves literary creation and theatrical practices.A brief review of the timeline of the theoretical exploration of American ecotheater can help clarify its conceptual evolution and connotation development.The ecological issues in American ecotheatrical practices have shifted from minor concern to major themes characterized by a variety of topics and dimensions.The ways of performing have transformed from the traditional stage performance to the“site‑specific”immersive one,which shortens the distance between spectators and performers,as well as between spectators and ecological situations,and thus changes the status of spectators from passive observation to active engagement.Therefore,the significant values of contemporary American ecotheater lie in two aspects.One is that it activates the encounter between the spectators and the current important and urgent ecological issues,with which it is possible to deal with the social issues.The other is that the theatrical performances are more characterized with eventfulness than representativeness due to the change in the spectator‑performer relationship,which indicates that the spectators should shoulder the responsibility of joining in the efforts of the artists to make the play happen so as to produce the transformative power in the participators intellectually,mentally and ideologically.