獨幕劇表演

Susan著 小哭譯

獨幕劇，我們已經排練了一個月多了；上周四和周五，終於表演了！！簡直棒極了，觀眾非常地喜歡我們的劇，我們也都很喜歡去表演。我無法描述當我在人們面前表演時所感受到的那種激動與緊張的美妙心情。但是我過一會兒會說說。現在讓我們先談一下後台的情況吧。

星期四，是上演的第一個夜晚。我應該在晚上六點半到校，那是演出開始前的半個小時。幸虧我準時到達，有半個小時的時間用來把所有的道具放在後台並換上演出服。本來時間足足夠，但我還是覺得很緊張。我擔憂着我們這個劇的台詞。我的劇“請結賬”中，很多演員還沒有完全地背下來他們的台詞，在彩排時還停頓很久。如果他們記不住台詞的話，那當他們不得不在這麼多人面前表演時，會怎麼樣呢？

然而，緊張只是我整個感受中的一小部分而已，另外我還有非常非常激動的感覺。“這個表演將會非常地了不起！”我這樣想着。參與一件比僅僅是自己去做的事情更大的活動，感覺很奇妙。當然活動也不是太大，太大了也不好，會讓我們失去這種已經在我們中間發展出來的親密關係。我們劇的演員陣容很小，包括我只有十一個人。在我們排練的過程中，我們之間每個人都變得非常地親密。那種親密在上演的第一晚尤其顯著。我們第一次將要在一起表演。沒有人說話，但是我確信每個人都感受到了一起去努力帶給觀眾們歡聲和笑語的激動之情。這真是一種美妙的感覺。

我們都把道具放在了後台，然後回到我們的房間。我們的劇是那晚三個劇中的最後一個，“壓軸劇”。我們老師說，最好的留到最後。我認為松鼠劇是最好的，但是顯然，大人們都認為我們的是最好的。不得不在那個小白房間（好吧，不小，中等大小）里安靜地等待令人很沮喪，我們無事可做，只是扭動着雙手，複習着我們的台詞，一遍又一遍地複習了一個半小時。最後我們都變得非常地亢奮，可能是因為即緊張又期待吧。我用對每一個人微笑的辦法來處理我的緊張情緒，一遍又一遍地重複着“我們會做得很棒的，你們是最好的演員！”另一個孩子在處理他的緊張情緒時有點困難。隨着夜色加重，每當有人犯錯時，他就厲聲地對待犯錯者。不過後來，當我意識到他只是緊張而已時，我有點替他難過。他應該更正面地處理好他的情緒。

那晚的早些時候，我已經經歷過了在觀眾面前露面。因為我是三個副導演之一（有三個劇，一個劇一個副導演），我必須得和其它兩個副導演一起上台宣布那一晚的演出預告。令我高興的是，我說出了那晚的第一句話“對不起，請大家注意。”計劃中並沒有要我先去說這些，但是因為另外兩個副導演只是站在那裡，什麼也沒做，我就說了。老師給我們寫好了發言稿，但是那話聽起來太正式了，所以我做了一些調整。嘿，這個劇應該是很搞笑的，對嗎？所以我們應該臉上帶着微笑去說話，好像我們是聽眾的朋友一樣。我們不應該只是盯着講稿、用一種單調乏味的語調來發布一個似乎是無比正式地通告（另外兩個正在那樣做）。

然而，我和另外兩個副導演所做的那個小小的預告對於釋放我那積聚起來的能量沒有一點用處。我和其它的人在那個房間裡一起等待着……到點了！該我們了！我們都安靜（也許不是那麼安靜）地走到後台，準備我們表演的布景。前一個表演是關於松鼠的。他們不需要任何布景。我們的劇是關於一個男生和一個女生進行了一系列的相親活動（包括一個自以為是的傻瓜，一個偷餐具的女孩，一個多重人格分裂症的女士，一個害怕紫色、食物以及中間所有東西的傢伙，還有一個老太太），直到最後他們找到了彼此。當我們布置舞台時，我更激動了。我願意以一種好的形象出現在聚光燈下，那一晚，我得到了我所熱愛的東西。

現場表演與拍攝電影非常地不同，和電視上的現場直播也不同。對於媒體、電視和電影，演員沒有現場觀眾。在劇院表演，觀眾就在我的前面，看着我，對我所做的每一個小動作都有反應。我從觀眾那裡得到一個實時的反應，而不是不得不等着，去聽有關我的電影或電視欄目的評論。即刻就得到滿足，這感覺很棒。那一刻，我和劇里的十個人一起，擠在後台的一個小小的區域裡，準備燈一亮就出來，很特別的感覺。我們看着彼此，露出鼓勵的微笑。上演的第一夜……深呼吸，然後……我們來了！

音樂響起來了，燈亮了，魔法開始了。我是服務員，一個小角色，但那是因為我已經是副導演了的緣故。當我們的演員上演了迄今為止他們表演過的最好的演出時，我為他們自豪極了。觀眾一邊笑一邊鼓掌，鼓勵着我們做得更好、再好。那就是我們一直在期待着的時刻。表演一開始，我就不再擔憂了，我讓自己隨着演出這一魔法走，感覺演很真實自然。是的，我有點緊張，但這緊張是好事兒，讓我的腎上腺激素流動，讓我的心跳跳動。我不得不回到後台換上一個老太太的服裝，我簡直花了太長的時間去換衣服了。聽到觀眾們在看到一個駐着拐棍的老太太走向一個小伙子時的笑聲時，就覺得這一切都很值得。我們所有的排練都是值得的。表演非常地成功。

最後，都結束了。馬克，穿着粗麻袋的傢伙，說了最後的台詞，表演就結束了。魔法結束了。站在聚光燈下面這麼久，我覺得臉頰很燙。我發誓，那一定是一個加熱浴霸，不是一個普通的聚光燈。我的緊張與激動消失了，取而代之的是一種驕傲的感覺。我不再亢奮了。那晚回家時，我已經等不及第二天了。星期五，我們還要再演一次！

星期五與星期四幾乎是一模一樣的，不同的是更多的觀眾是我們的同齡人。星期四幾乎都是家長在看，星期五幾乎都是學生在看。還是覺得這個劇跟表演魔法似的，但基本不害怕了（第一次表演時我真的是有一點害怕）。到了演出結束的時候，我們都很傷心於不得不走。我們已經在整個月的排練中成了朋友，而我們要不得不分開了。當然，我們在學校還會看見彼此，但是我們卻不會有在一起做獨幕劇時的那種團隊意識了（嘿，這提醒了我“早餐俱樂部”！你看過那個電影嗎？）。克拉林老師太好了！她給我們每一個人都發了一袋糖果帶回家，袋子裡面裝滿了糖果和別的小東西，每一個東西都代表着劇中的一個人物。**我們的一個演員感動得簡直要哭起來了。我們都傷心於彼此即將分開，但也非常非常地高興於我們演得這麼地好。

在獨幕劇中表演是一個極為特別的經歷。我真高興於我選擇了它、也被它所選擇了。我希望明年我還能夠留在這個學校、再演一遍。關於自己，有一件事兒我一直沒有意識到，就是原來自己有多麼地喜歡在現場觀眾面前進行表演。可能，我應該考慮一下，如同做電影一樣地，某天也做做戲劇！而現在……好吧，我絕對是將要參與接下來的歌劇表演活動！

**有點不好意思地說，我已經吃完了幾乎所有可吃的糖果。袋子中唯一還留着的是一個可愛的塑料小豬存錢罐，一塊粗麻袋片，還有兩個糖豆兒。

【小哭介紹背景】真的是為Susan感到自豪！周五看完她的表演，我在微信上發感慨，說是才發現自己生了一個才女！那一周是第一個小學期的結束周，方方面面都在催賬和匯報，Susan忙得不亦樂乎，她忙、累，並快樂着！！！我是全力以赴地配合着她，卻偏偏趕上了小寶出水痘以及他們班的郊遊志願者活動，真是大家一起忙。趕上周五一早還有尼爾.舒斯特曼大作家的見面會，我是頭一次見識到Susan凌晨二點半還在趕作業、頭一次見識到她能夠早晨五點就爬起來寫作業！雖說不在同一天，可是連續這樣的生活，她能夠快樂地撐過來，我真的是對她刮目相看了。原來，她比我以為的上進多了！原來，她是一個為了理想和目標可以吃苦的人！原來，她是一個真的能夠負得起責任的人！其實，我對她的劇演得有多成功沒有什麼感覺，來的都是親友團，哪個會給喝倒彩？！哪個在表演有出彩的地方會不鼓掌？！我真的對她所說的“了不起”和“非常成功”沒有強烈的感覺，可是我對她在出場時，能夠從容鎮定地臨場發揮，主動開口，禮貌地請觀眾安靜下來，印象異常地深刻！這並不是我心目中的那個孩子，這是我理想中的孩子啊！我為她感到自豪，因為她能夠在台上保持冷靜，能夠知道自己當時的位置，哪怕僅僅是這一點，我也看好她的前途！何況她還提到在等待期間，如何處理焦慮情緒一事兒，我不得不對她刮目相看！

而看完她的文章，發現她和劇組成員之間已經結下了深情厚誼後，我非常地驚喜！其實做為家長，我多少都有點擔心，一個本來並沒有什麼、可是她自己卻以為是個啥的副導演，會導致她和演員們有隔閡。但現在看來，我的擔心是多餘的。這是一個和她平時的朋友圈子相當不同的圈子，這個劇組成員都是自己報名要演劇的，相對來講都是積極主動、熱情外向、願意表達的一群孩子，我很高興她能夠又有一個新的朋友圈子了。就算是這個獨幕劇結束了，秋季的表演落幕了，可是春季的歌劇面試馬上就要開始了，而歌劇會有一、二百名成員，分成三個劇後每一個劇也要幾十人的，我相信Susan會在歌劇的活動中體驗到新的內容，豐富起她那正在豐富着的人生。

她說也有她需要提高的地方，就是她要學會表達負面的意思。比如，在排練時，當大家過於吵鬧、亂成一團時，她要能夠對一些人說“不”，要樹立權威，維持秩序。嗯，這一點，可能是她的性格弱點，就算是她意識到了問題，也未必能夠解決得了。但是，我在這裡還是願意看到她積極地去調整自己，適應新的角色。聽Susan講，歌劇的音響控制非常地重要，老師需要找到一個絕對放心的同學去操作，這活兒大概也是副導演才可以去做的。所以，在歌劇中，她可能只能二選一，要麼表演，要麼幕後。目前她決定選幕後，這是她自己的選擇。

她們的戲劇老師真是一個有心的人，她給孩子們的袋子裡裝的東西雖然不貴重，可是情誼卻很深。那天晚上我們一家人坐下來觀看袋子裡的小禮物時，Susan給我們一一道來，哪一樣東西代表着哪一個演員，真是如數家珍哪。我想，Susan這輩子都會記得這個獨幕劇，也會記得這個端莊優雅的克拉林老師，以及那個盛着滿滿愛心和情誼的小小禮物袋的……

附上英文原文：

1-Act Plays Performance

1-Acts. We’ve been rehersing for more than a month, and finally, last Thursday and Friday, we performed!! It was amazing, the audience enjoyed the plays a lot, and we all enjoyed performing them. I can’t describe that wonderful feeling of excitement and nervousness that I get when I performed in from of people. But I’ll get to that later. First, let’s talk about all the backstage stuff.

Thurday. Our opening night. I was supposed to get to the school at 6:30, half an hour before the show starts. Fortunately, I was on time, and I had half an hour to but all my props backstage and change into my costume. That was more than enough time, but I still felt very nervous. I was also concerned about the lines for my play. A lot of people in my play, “Check Please”, didn’t have their lines fully memorized and still hesitated a lot during the dress rehersal. And if they couldn’t remember their lines then, what would happen when they would have to act in front of dozens of people?

However, that nervousness was just a small part of my feelings. I also felt really, really excited. This is going to be great! I thought. It felt amazing to be part of something larger than myself, yet not too large that we would all loose the closeness that we have developed between us. The cast for our play was small, just eleven people, including myself, and we have all grown very close to eachother during the course of our rehersals. And that closeness was extrememly evident that night, our opening night, the first time we were going to perform with eachother. Nobody said anything, but I was sure we all felt the excitement of working together to bring to our audience laughter and joy. It was a wonderful feeling.

We all put our props backstage and went back to our room. Our play was going to be the last one our of all three plays that night, the “grand finale”. Save the best for last, our teacher said. I thought the squirrle play was the best, but apparently, the adults thought ours was the best. It was frustrating, having to wait quietly in that small (okay, not small, medium-sized) white room, with nothing to do but wring our hands and go over our lines over and over again, for an hour and a half. We all became very hyper, probably because of the combination of nervousness and anticipation. I delt with my nervousness by smiling at everyone and repeating over and over again “We’re going to do great, you guys are the best cast ever!” Another kid delt with his nervousness a bit differently. As the night wore on, he started snapping at everyone whenever he or she made a mistake. “NO! You can’t do that!” “Hey! Get back in here, they’ll see you!” I was annoyed at him at first, but then, after I realized he was just nervous, I kind of felt sorry for him. He should deal with his emotions more possitively.

I had already experienced a taste of being in front of that night’s audience earlier. Since I was one of the three AD’s (there were three, one for each play), I had to go up and make the announcements about how that night was going to go, along with the other AD’s. To my delight, I got to say the first line of the entire night: “Excuse me, can we have your attention please?” I wasn’t planning on saying that first, but since the other two just stood there and didn’t do anything, I said it. The teachers gave us a script of what to say, but the words all sounded really formal, so I changed them up a bit. Hey, the play was supposed to be fun, right? So we should talk with a smile on our face and act like we were the audiences’ friends instead of staring at the script and talking really formally in a monotonous voice (which was what the other two were doing).

However, that little speech I gave with the other AD’s earlier did nothing to release my pent up energy. I waited with the others in that room, until…FINALLY! It was time! We all quietly (or not so quietly) went backstage and set up our stage for our performance. The performance earlier was about squirrles. They didn’t need any scenery. Our play is about a guy and a girl that went through a series a blind dates (including a self centered idiot, a girl who stole the silverware, a schizoprenic-multipersonalitied lady, a guy who’s afraid of purple and food and everything in between, and an old lady) until they finally found eachother. As we set up, my excitement built up. I love being under the spotlight, in a good way, and that night, I got what I loved.

Performing live is very different from filming a movie. It’s different from going on TV live. With media and televisions and movies, the actors don’t have a live audience. With plays in theater, the auidience is right in front of me, watching me, reacting to every little thing I do. I get an instant reaction from the audiences, instead of having to wait to hear reviews about my movie or TV show. Instant gratification. It felt great. That moment, with all ten of us squeezed into a tiny area backstage, ready to step out the instant the light turns on, was special. We all looked at eachother and gave encouraging smiles. Opening night. Take a deep breath. And…. we’re on!

The music started playing, the lights came on, and the magic started. I was the waitress, a small role, but that was because I was already assistant director. I felt extremely proud for our actors as they put on the best show that they’ve done so far. The audienced laughed and clapped, encouraging us to do better and better. That was the moment we’ve all been waiting for. Once the play had started, I thought no more about my worries, and just let myself flow with the magic. It felt natural, it felt right. Yes, I was nervous, but it was a good kind of nervousness that got my andrenaline flowing and my heart pounding. I had to go backstage and change into an old lady costume, and I almost took too long changing. It was all worth it, though, hearing the audience’s laughter as they saw an old lady in a walker go up to Guy. All of our rehersals were worth it. The play was a success.

Finally, everything was over. Mark, the guy in the burlap sack, said the last line, and the play was over. The magic was over. My cheeks felt hot from standing under the spotlight for so long. I swear, that must’ve been a heat lamp, not a normal spotlight. My nervousness and excitement was gone, replaced by a feeling of pride. I wasn’t as hyper anymore. When I got home that night, I couldn’t wait for the next day, Friday, when we would act again!

Friday was almost the same as Thursday, other than the fact that more people my age came. Thurday was mostly parents. Friday was mostly kids. The play stil felt just as magical to act out, and less scary (for I was indeed a little scared that first time). By the end of the play, all of us were sad we had to go. We had became friends during that whole month of rehersals, and we had to part ways. Sure, we would still see each other in school, but we won’t have that same sense of teamwork as we did during the 1-Acts (hey, this reminds me of “The Breakfast Club”! Have you watched that movie?). Ms. Clarin was so sweet! She gave us all a goodie bag to take home, filled with candy and other small items that each represented a character in the play.** One of our actors almost cried because she was so moved by the gesture. We were all sad to part with eachother, yet also very, very happy about how well we did with the play.

Acting in the 1-Acts had been a most spetacular journey. I’m really glad I chose and got chosen to participate in it. I wish I could still stay in this school next year and act in it again. Something I did not realize about myself is how much I enjoy acting in front of a live audience. Maybe I’ll consider doing theater as well as movie production someday! As for now….well, I’m definitely going to participate in the musical!

**I’m sort of ashamed to say that I’ve eaten most of the edible treats already. The only things remaining from the bag is a cute plastic piggy bank, a piece of a burlap sack, and two smarties.