By the light of the moon, a group of youths sneak into the woods, where they take mind-altering substances, switch it up romantically, and brush up against creatures from another dimension. "A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream" sees Shakespeare get psychedelic – and the result is a treat in the theatre and on the page.
藉著月光, 一群年輕人溜進了樹叢裡, 在那裡,他們吃下了 會產生幻覺的物品。 將上述情景寫得浪漫些, 再加入碰到一些幻想的怪物。 《仲夏夜之夢》呈現的 是莎士比亞的幻覺—— 不論是在舞台上或書上, 這部作品都是讓人享受的傑作。
First performed in the 1590's, this play is one of Shakespeare’s friskiest works, filled with trickery, madness and magic. Set over the course of one night, Midsummer progresses at a rollicking pace. The plot is structured around patterns of collision and dissolution, where characters from different worlds are thrown together and torn apart. Shakespeare uses these patterns to mock the characters’ self-obsession and question authority with a comic twist.
這齣劇最早是在 1590 年代演出, 它是莎士比亞最歡鬧的作品之一, 充滿了詭計、瘋狂,和魔法。 故事發生在一整個晚上, 《仲夏夜之夢》 以嬉耍的快節奏進行。 劇情圍繞著衝突 以及關係離散的模式, 來自不同世界的角色 被聚在一起,又被分離開來。 莎士比亞用這些模式 來嘲笑角色的自我迷戀, 並用喜劇轉折來質疑當權者。
The action is set in Ancient Greece, but like many of Shakespeare’s plays it reflects his contemporary concerns. The magical setting of the woods at night disrupts the boundaries between separate groups, with bizarre results. Here, the bard plays with the rigid class system of his own time, taking three distinct groups and turning their society upside-down in a world where no mortal is in control.
這情節發生在古希臘, 但和莎士比亞的許多劇作一樣, 它反映出他對時下議題的關心。 晚上樹林裡的魔法場景 瓦解了不同群組間的界線, 產生出怪異的結果。 在這裡,吟遊詩人玩弄 他那個時代的死板階級制度, 在一個凡人沒有控制權的世界中, 將三個不同群組的社會 弄得天翻地覆。
The play opens with young Hermia raging at her father Egeus and Theseus, the King of Athens, who have forbidden her to marry her lover Lysander. Hermia has no interest in her father's choice for her of Demetrius – but her best friend Helena definitely does. Furious at their elders, Hermia and Lysander elope under cover of darkness, with Demetrius in hot pursuit. This is further complicated by Helena’s decision to follow them all into the woods, in the hope of winning Demetrius’ heart.
這部劇作從年輕的赫米婭開始, 她很氣她的父親伊吉斯 以及雅典國王忒修斯, 因為他們禁止她嫁給 她所愛的拉山德。 赫米婭對於她父親為她選的對象 狄米特律斯完全不感興趣—— 但她最好的朋友 海倫娜倒是很感興趣。 赫米婭和拉山德對於 他們的長輩感到很憤怒, 在黑夜的掩護下私奔了, 而狄米特律斯則窮追不捨。 這一切變得更複雜, 因為海倫娜決定 跟隨著他們進入樹林, 希望能贏得狄米特律斯的心。
At this point, the woods are getting crowded, as the lovers are sharing the space with a group of “rude mechanicals”— a troupe of workers drunkenly rehearsing a play, led by the jovial Nick Bottom. Unbeknownst to them, the humans have entered into the world of the fairies.
在這個時點, 樹林裡越來越擁擠了, 愛人們和一群「粗魯工人」 正聚集在同處—— 他們是一群在排演 一齣劇的酒醉工人, 由天性快活的尼克·博特姆領軍。 他們完全不知道, 人類已經進入了精靈的世界。
Despite their magical splendor, Oberon and Titania, the king and queen of the fairies, have their own romantic problems. Furious at his inability to control Titania, the jealous Oberon commands the trickster Puck to squeeze the juice of a magical flower over her eyes. When she wakes up, she’ll fall in love with the first thing she sees. On his mission, Puck gleefully sprinkles the juice over the eyes of the napping Demetrius and Lysander, and transforms Bottom’s head into that of a donkey for good measure.
儘管精靈的國王奧布朗 和皇后提泰妮亞 有魔法般的光彩, 但他們也有自己的愛情問題。 奧布朗對於無法控制提泰妮亞 感到很憤怒,嫉妒之下, 他命令妖精巴克 將一種魔法花朵的汁 擠在她的眼睛上。 當她醒來時,她就會愛上 第一眼看見的東西。 巴克執行任務時, 順便欣喜地將汁灑在午睡中的 狄米特律斯和拉山德的眼睛上, 並將博特姆的頭變成驢子的頭。
As eyes flicker open, a night of chaos commences that includes broken hearts, mistaken identity, and transformations. Out of all the characters, Bottom probably fares the best – when the bewitched Titania lays eyes on him, she calls on her fairies to lavish him with wine and treasures and sweeps the transfigured donkeyman off his feet: “pluck the wings from painted butterflies/ To fan the moonbeams from his sleeping eyes. Nod to him, elves, and do him courtesies.”
隨著眼睛邊眨邊睜開, 混亂的晚上開始了, 有著破碎的心、 搞亂了的身份,還有著變形。 在所有的角色中, 博特姆可能算遭遇最好的—— 當被迷惑的提泰妮亞看見他時, 她召來她的精靈, 慷慨給予他美酒和寶藏, 並讓變身的驢人傾心於她: 「摘下蝴蝶斑斕的彩色翅膀, 扇去他睡眼上的瑩瑩月光。 小精靈們,來,向他點個頭。」
While magic is the catalyst to the action, the play reflects the real drama of the things we do for love – and the nonsensical behavior of the people under its spell. The moon overlooks the action “like a silver bow,” signifying erratic behavior, the dark side of love, and the bewitching allure of a world where the usual rules don’t apply.
雖說魔法是這情節的催化劑, 該劇卻很真實地反映出 我們為了愛會做的事—— 以及在愛的魔咒之下, 人們會做出的無理行為。 月亮「像是銀色的弓」, 俯瞰著這些事情發生, 代表變幻莫測的行為、 愛的黑暗面、 以及一個常規不適用的世界 所帶來的迷人誘惑。
Although the characters eventually come to their senses, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" raises the question of how much agency we have over our own daily lives. But it’s not the more realistically rendered lovers, rulers or workers who have the last word, but the impish Puck who queries whether we can ever truly trust what we see:
雖然角色最後都恢復了理智, 《仲夏夜之夢》帶出了一個問題: 我們對於自己日常的生活 有多少的主控權。 但並不是比較真實的角色 愛人、統治者或工人 來為這齣劇收尾, 而是頑皮的巴克詢問, 我們是否能真正相信 我們所看見的:
If we shadows have offended, Think but this and all is mended: That you have but slumbered here While these visions did appear.
「若我們精靈有所得罪, 只要這麼想,一切好解決, 您不過在這兒打了個瞌睡, 當這些幻象如實顯現。」
And in so doing, he evokes the effect of entering into the magical world of great theatre that plays with the boundary between illusion and reality – and dramatizes the possibility that life is but a dream.
透過這麼做,他帶起了一種效應, 就是進入到偉大劇院的魔法世界, 這個世界玩弄著 虛實之間的界線—— 並演出「人生只是一場夢」的可能性。