賴聲川早期的「開放式集體即興創作」：《變奏巴哈》個案研究

The Experiments of the “Collective Improvisation” in the Early Creative Period of Stanley Lai: The Case of Bach Variations

「集體即興創作」原為一九六○至七○年代歐美前衛劇場甚為風行的一種新穎創作方式，在一九八○年代臺灣歸國學人移植引進之後，許多實驗劇場紛紛嘗試以此為創發新劇的叩門磚。其中賴聲川的「表演工作坊」自創立以來，完全以「集體即興創作」起家，至今已是國內首屈一指的職業劇團，而賴聲川本人儼然已成為集體即興在臺灣的代表性人物。縱觀賴聲川剛回國的前三年，他所採取的是相當自由、放任的即興創作。以《我們都是這樣長大的》、《摘星》與《變奏巴哈》這三齣戲為例，在前段作業時刻意不訂下明確結構，亦不預設任何戲劇形式和立場，單純地從一個概念（concept）或主題（theme）出發，讓參與者共同腦力激盪，在排練場一同逐步建構表演文本，再由導演針對即興出來的素材逐步進行刪減、拼貼、組合等精緻化作業，最終完成精彩的作品。賴氏早期這樣的工作方式原非他個人獨創，這套模式可溯源自約瑟夫．柴金（Joseph Chaikin）所領導的「開放劇場」（The Open Theater）和深受其影響的雪雲．史卓克（Shireen Strooker）所屬的荷蘭「阿姆斯特丹工作劇團」（Amsterdam Werkteater）。而在賴聲川早期的創作生涯中，《變奏巴哈》（1985）被視為其最具實驗性，也是極富藝術性的作品。本文的研究重心有二：（一）分析賴聲川是如何以「巴哈賦格」的作曲概念為創作起始點，為《變奏巴哈》創造出一個「非敘事性」（non-narrative）、音樂性濃厚的新型戲劇文體，挖掘集體創作的模式異於傳統編劇的特殊之處；（二）本劇主題探討生命是一首變奏的巴哈，無常的人生是無法如數學般、理性工整的巴哈音樂所能比擬的，而賴聲川又是如何尋覓一個演出形式來將此主題概念具象化呢？上述問題皆反映了導演在創發《變奏巴哈》這一類抽象、隱晦的集體即興作品時，所面臨的最大挑戰，也是本文的研究焦點所在。

“Collective improvisation,” a collaborative method from the 1960-1970’s western avant-garde theaters, was implanted to Taiwan in the 1980’s by those who had studied abroad, and then utilized by numerous theaters in experimental new productions. The “Performance Workshop Theatre,” directed by Stan Lai, which applied these methods in productions, is now a leading theater company, with Lai the method’s most representative figure in Taiwan. Soon after returning from abroad, Lai adopted a relatively open, permissive, improvisational method. In three productions from his first creative period, The Days We Were, Reaching for the Stars, and Bach Variations, he avoided preconceptualized structure or theatrical form, and sprang simply from a single concept or theme, allowing all participants to contribute to build up the performance text. Afterwards, with the abundant performing segments generated from collaboration and improvisation, the director gradually either cut, collaged or combined them with brilliant results in the completed piece. This production method is not Lai’s own creation, however, as it can be traced back to “The Open Theater” led by Joseph Chaikin and his direct follower, Shireen Strooker, with whom Lai collaborated, from “Amsterdam Werkteater.” Bach Variations (1985), has long been regarded the most experimental and artistic production among all of Lai’s early works. The core research issue lies in these points: First, how Lai utilizes the composition concept of Bach’s Fugue as a starting point to create a non-narrative, extremely musical style of performance text for this play. Secondly, how the director searched for this concept’s ideal performing style, to objectify the theme: full of impermanence, life resembles variations of Bach’s Fugue, but is unlike Bach’s mathematical, rational and neat music. These serious challenges for the director of creations like Bach Variations, inspired by this kind of abstract and obscure method of improvisation, stand as the main focus of this paper.