学文网编译/ 张晨娄
编者按：随着北京2008年奥运会的临近，民众越来越关心“中国”品牌的树立，学习英语的热情也被点燃。越来越多的外宣干部和业内同行向我们表达了期待看到双语栏目的愿望。因此，我们自2006年第1期起开办了《双语视窗》栏目以满足广大读者的需求。
看看周围的媒体，在《北京青年报》、《参考消息》、《国门时报》上有许多精粹的小短文，像一只只啄木鸟，善意地提醒了中国人习以为常的行为背后“尚未和国际接轨”的细节，读后让人回味不已。在获得借鉴意义的同时，也带来更深入的思考。我们效仿中英文对照的版面形式，旨在通过外国友人的视角来看中国，从中折射出东西方观念、习俗的异同。通过一篇篇这样的文章，让读者在领略异域文化的同时，也能达到学习英语的目的。
我相信没有比通过戏剧来学习语言和文化更好的方法了。事实上，西方文明的里程碑――从古希腊到当下纽约百老汇和伦敦西区上演的热门剧目，都是通过剧作家的语言来进行诠释的。没有莎士比亚，英语将失去很多优美的词汇、习语和日常交流工具。这就好比如果没有尤金奥尼尔、田纳西威廉斯、阿瑟米勒和大卫马麦特，现代美国英语也会逊色不少。
在我拥有的各种职业头衔中――美国作家、记者、剧作家、演员、导演和教育家，最终赋予我机会将我的理念付诸实践的是成为北京外国语大学新闻和戏剧专业教授。
近年来，在36所顶尖的中国高校里，用英语表演莎士比亚戏剧的兴趣正开始萌芽，而北外则是这众多高校中的先锋。对这一潮流起到很大推动作用的是由香港中文大学举办的“中国高校莎士比亚戏剧节”，到现在已经举办三年了。
我老早就想在劳伦斯奥利维尔（已故美国20世纪最伟大的莎翁剧演员）在1965年对莎士比亚剧作《奥赛罗》做出的“传统”而现代的诠释的基础上进一步升华，使其进入既富感染力又符合戏剧逻辑表述的境界。总而言之，我想将它上升到一种具有极度的毁灭性和无限的浪漫性的混合体：纯洁的爱情和失去理智的嫉妒产生的极端对比。这被很多人视为异端邪说。
在我35年的戏剧生涯里，我一直对《奥赛罗》一剧的第五幕第二场（奥赛罗在黛斯德莫娜死后所作的“这就是原因”祷告）情有独钟。它也是该剧的高潮，在我看来，这是莎士比亚作品中最完美的部分。我一直怀着一个梦想，如果我有机会，我将在舞台上诠释这一幕剧。完全没有料到的是，这一切梦圆中国，我和中国学生演员一起用“伊丽莎白时代的五行格律诗”来表演英语剧目，不仅如此，还是用母语外的第二语言来表现。
在戏剧情节的设计方面，我们作了大胆的尝试。我们设计了奥赛罗从雪白圣洁的床上抱起刚被他杀死的黛斯德莫娜，走向舞台的台口并且优雅地将她放在地板上，以达到黛斯德莫娜面向观众的同时奥赛罗说出“现在，你看上去什么样啊”的独白。有些人可能认为把这一幕安排在“地面上”并不合逻辑。但是，要知道，这是莎士比亚戏剧，莎翁比任何人都懂得“直接对话”对观众产生的震慑力。事实上，我们的这一设计达到了很好的演出效果。不仅如此，我们还设计了奥赛罗自刎后躺在黛斯德莫娜前方，他们的脸交叠在一起，嘴唇近乎就要贴在一起，而女仆艾米莉的尸体继续往前延伸。在舞台最终暗下来之前，用一束强光照亮舞台，给整台剧增添了一幅艺术性的构***。
在忠实于标准剧本以及故事发生年代的基础上，我们同时发挥了创造性，为此也不可避免地要承担巨大风险。可喜的是，我们成功了：我们进入了“中国高校莎士比亚戏剧节”的决赛并将于今年五月下旬前往香港现场表演该剧。说实话，现在我的感觉更多的是松了一口气，而不是当初知道结果时的兴奋。如果我们录制的去年十二月末在北外上演《奥赛罗》的DVD在预赛中没有被选中，没有使我们成为12个参加决赛的队伍，那我真是恨不得挖个地洞钻进去。毕竟，在这次的选拔中，我的竞争对手是在这之前基本上没有戏剧导演经验的中国教授，并且他们是在用非母语工作。
我为我们的这些学生演员而感到无比自豪，他们让我震撼。要知道哪怕是以英语为母语的演员尚且要花费数年去学习表演莎士比亚戏剧，很多人在尝试过后最终也没能在这方面有所建树。而这些中国大学生仅仅用了两个半月的时间就成功地做到了！他们演得如此地打动人，使我即便在看他们彩排的时候都激动得浑身热流涌动。他们无畏，有敏锐的洞察力，表演让人信服，这最终让我实现了我毕生的夙愿：在舞台上诠释一个不一样的“奥赛罗”。
我们是否能在香港凭借《奥赛罗》一剧获胜，对此我也没有把握。但我知道我们的学生演员――奥赛罗（崔新钰扮演）、黛斯德莫娜（李晶扮演）和艾米莉（梁幸仪扮演）――都是非常优秀的演员，他们有获胜的实力。然而，对我自己而言，我不知道我的这种自我放任、不拘一格的舞台表演风格是否足够优秀，从而赢得香港戏剧节或其他同类比赛的胜利。
如果我们获胜，奖励是非常丰厚的：三位演员将赴伦敦并且获得全程的莎士比亚戏剧之旅。我这个导演能跟在他们后面就好了。
（作者是美国著名的作家、电影剧本作家和新闻记者，现任北京外国语大学英语学院国际新闻与传播系教授。）
原文： I believe there are few better ways to learn a language and a culture than through its drama. Indeed, western civilization’s cultural milestone’s, from ancient Greece to the current hit shows on New York’s Broadway and London’s West End, are most often denoted through the language of its playwrights. Without Shakespeare, the English language would be poorer by thousands of words, idioms, and routine tools of discourse. Without Eugene O Neill, Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller and David Mamet, much the same would be true of contemporary American English.
Of the several different hats I wear professionally-American author, journalist, screenwriter, actor, director and educator―it is as a professor of journalism and drama at Beijing Foreign Studies University that I was given the opportunity to finally put my belief to the test. There is a burgeoning interest in performing English language Shakespeare at some 3 dozen major Chinese universities; BFSU (Beiwai) is among this vanguard. The catalyst for the trend is the Chinese Universities Shakespeare Festival hosted by the Chinese University of Hong Kong, now in its third year of existence.
I have long wanted to take Laurence Olivier’s definitive 1965traditional’ modern interpretation of William Shakespeare’sOthello, the Moor of Venice,to what I believe is its next emotionally, theatrically logical expression (the now deceased Sir Laurence Olivier is considered the 20th century’s greatest Shakespearean actor). In sum, I wanted to take it to a higher level of both enraged lethality and tenderly romantic ambiguity: the polar extremes between pure love and mind-breaking sexual jealousy, a notion that is considered heretical by many.
In my almost 35-year history with the play, the absolute murderous resolve of Othello’sIt is the causeinvocation in Desdemona’s bed-chamber death scene Act V, Scene II, the deadly climax of what I believe is Shakespeare’s most perfect play. I had a dream of how I would like to do the show if I ever again got the opportunity. Little did I know it would come in China with Chinese student actors performing English Elizabethan English in iambic pentameter, no less as a second language!
We have Othello carry the dead Desdemona in his arms from the white-on-white sanctity of the killing-bed to the apron of the stage and lay her gently on the floor, in effect giving her to the audience while he does his “Now, how dost thou look now soliloquy”. One would think it not logical or seemly to place such a treasure upon the ground; but, because it is Shakespeare, who knew the power of direct address’ upon an audience, it works. Even more so when Othello soon dies from his self-inflicted wound stretched out along the apron in an extension of the line with Desdemona’s body, their faces over-lapping, and their lips almost touching―with the maid-servant Emilia’s body extending the line further still, but upstage a pace, adding a richly layered tableau before the stage goes to black.
We took big risks creatively, although staying faithful to the standard script, and period. And we did not lose; we made the finals and will present the scene live in Hong Kong in late May. In truth, I am far more relieved than I am excited at making the finals. I would have had to dig a very deep hole and get into it still shoveling if the DVD of our live performance at Beiwai in late December had not been chosen as one of the 12 finalists, after all, my competitors are primarily Chinese professors directing live theatre for the first time, and doing it in a second language.
But I am exceedingly proud of our student actors; they astonished me. It takes years for native English speaking actors to learn how to perform Shakespeare; most whom try are never successful at it. These Chinese university students did it in about two-and-a-half months! And they did it in such a way that my spine would tingle even during rehearsals. They were fearless, intuitive and trusting, which allowed us to realize my longtime goal of staging a different “Othello” .
I have not a clue if we will stage a winning “Othello” in Hong Kong. I do know our student actors―Othello (Cui Xinyu), Desdemona (Li Jing) and Emilia (Liang Xingyi)―are polished enough to win it all. However, I do not know if my self-indulgent staging convictions are good and true enough to win in Hong Kong, or anywhere else for that matter.
The prize is quite nice if we do win, a trip to London and the full Shakespeare tour this summer for the three actors; the director gets to tag along.省略）
责编：周瑾
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