拉提根之谜（2011）

我是本尼迪克特·康伯巴奇
My name’s Benedict Cumberbatch,
我将带领大家回溯时光
and I’m going to take you back in time.
想象一下开着车徜徉在
Imagine driving around London’s West End
上个世纪四五十年代的伦敦西区
in the ’40s and ’50s.
你肯定看过宣传
You’d almost certainly have seen billboards
泰伦斯·拉提根的戏剧的广♥告♥牌
advertising the plays of Terence Rattigan,
拉提根是”奇巧”戏剧的大♥师♥
the master of the well-crafted play,
他擅长描写上流社会的风情 描写禁忌的性
of upper-class manners and forbidden sexuality –
他在沉默和压抑的年代描绘出一个堕落的世界
a lost world of reticence and repression.
一年多之前
Just over a year ago,
我应邀加入一部
I was asked to take part in a revival of
拉提根戏剧的翻制 《跳舞之后》
a Rattigan play, After The Dance,
排演之前我的一些想法
and I had some preconceived ideas
让我自己很担心
that gave me cause for trepidation,
同样也是所有演员担心的事
as well as the usual actorly concerns –
哦 又要我演这类角色了 精明的上层人士
Oh, a bit typecast for me, you know, class-wise.”
又是上中阶级
“It’s a bit upper-middle class,
我不想演这种角色
stuff I want to get away from.”
从编剧角度考虑 我对(翻拍)他(的作品)有点担心
But, I think I had fears of him, as a writer,
拉提根这个人与21世纪毫无关联
of not having any relevance in the 21st century.
所以我就烦啊 为什么现在要翻制这部剧呢
I was worried about, “Why do this play now?”
但是从观众的角度去考量
But by experiencing an audience reaction to it,
拉提根的观众人数众多 年龄分布广泛 真的很了不起
which varied both in demographic and age remarkably,
你所能想得出来的人
for what you’d imagine
都是拉提根戏剧的观众
a Rattigan audience to be comprised of,
可见他的戏剧的魅力多么大
it just showed how universal his appeal was.
我发现我自己对拉提根的
I found myself at the start
兴趣越来越浓厚了
of a huge upsurge of interest in Rattigan,
现在 在他诞辰百年之际(2011)
and now, in his centenary year,
似乎人们又对他的作品产生了前所未有的热情
it seems that people can’t get enough of him all over again.
但拉提根本人却始终保留着那神秘莫测的形象
But Rattigan himself remains an enigmatic figure –
他是苦恼的同性恋者 有着写商业戏剧的天赋
a troubled homosexual with a gift for commercial theatre,
渴望成为受认可的剧作家
who yearned to be taken seriously as a playwright
但他总觉得自己不被人接受
but who always felt an outsider.
所以泰伦斯·拉提根到底是个怎样的人
So who was Terence Rattigan,
他对现在的我们有什么意义呢
and what does he still have to say to us today?
拉提根之谜
本尼迪克特·康伯巴奇 带您揭秘拉提根
拉提根百年纪念最重要的作品之一
As one of the highlights of Rattigan’s centenary,
他的剧作《满城风雨》
his play Cause Célèbre
正在老维克剧院上演
is being performed here at the Old Vic.
故事讲述了一位上流社会的妇女
It’s the story of an upper-class woman
与她雇佣的
who has a scandalous affair
年轻司机的风流韵事
with the young chauffeur she employs.
把你的帽子给我
Let me take your cap.
谢谢您 小姐
Thank you, miss.
其实 是夫人
By the way, it’s “Mrs”.
照实说是第三次当夫人了
“Mrs” three times over, as it happens.
离婚了?
Divorced?
是的 与第一任离了 第二任死了
Yes, once. Other one died.
现在已经和那个老东西过了七年
And now seven years gone with old Rats –
我的现任丈夫是拉腾伯里先生
Mr Rattenbury, my present one.
我水性杨花 对吗
I’m giving things away, aren’t I?
这部剧的导演
The director of this production
是我的一位朋友 希亚·夏瑞克
is a friend of mine, Thea Sharrock,
她也是我去年的剧《跳舞之后》的导演
who also directed me in After The Dance last year.
我向她请教了她对拉提根在现今大放异彩的看法
I asked her what she thought Rattigan’s appeal is today.
我记得我们第一次讨论《跳舞之后》时
When we first talked about After The Dance ,
我寡言少语 但讲的话都非常尖锐
I was reticent, very irritatingly, I remember.
你是说你当时你喊”不”的时候吗
Do you mean when you said no?
对啊 当我喊”不”的时候
Yeah, when I said no!
我想 嗯 这种带有偏见的问题是
Well, you know, I had, I think, this prejudice.
现在我们在这个和平年代
What would the sympathies be for these characters
应该对这些角色抱有怎样的同情呢
in this privileged world between the wars?
一个现代的观众怎样才能去理解角色呢
How was a modern audience going to be drawn into this?
这么说吧 本质上
Well, isn’t it, essentially,
虽然他常创作的角色是
although the characters that he often writes about,
就拿《跳舞之后》来举例
and After The Dance is a very good example of that,
只是社会上很少的一部分人
are of a very small sliver of society,
他真正感兴趣的是
what he is really interested in
能触动我们的事
is what it is that drives us,
能触痛我们的事
what it is that makes our hearts ache,
能使我们开怀大笑的事
what it is that makes us laugh,
能使我们感到开心
what it is that makes us feel happy
从别人身上得到快乐的事
and take pleasure in other people,
以及我们伤人的本事是多么大
and how we have an amazing capacity to hurt other people.
他总说 这就是我出身的阶级
He always said, “This is the class that I come from,”
他去描绘这些人物
and he wrote about thoes people
因为与别的阶级相比他更了解这些人
because he understood them better,
当然如果你不是那个
but you don’t have to be
阶级的一员也能看懂
a member of the class to understand it,
我认为这就是拉提根戏剧的出色之处了
and that I think is what’s so brilliant about his writing,
但这同样是他长♥期♥被人误解的原因
and why he’s been so misunderstood for so long,
因为人们 比如你 会有这样错误的看法
because people, like you, have made that mistake of going,
难道拉提根不是为了特定的观众
“Well, you know, isn’t it only that he writes about
而去描写特定的人的吗
a certain type of person for a certain type of person?”
当然不是了 根本不是
And the answer is, no, he doesn’t at all.
和我一样 泰伦特·拉提根
Terence Rattigan, like me,
曾在哈罗公学就读
was educated at Harrow public school,
哈罗公学可能对拉提根早期戏剧和剧作的
a place that seems to have played an early role
兴趣的激发培养发挥了重要作用
in nurturing his interest in theatre and playwriting.
也许我对他有限的了解来源于
Perhaps my prejudice of his limited appeal came from
我是从这个有特权阶级的地方知道他的
my introduction to him whilst in this privileged bubble
是私立学校的教育
of private-school education –
并不是因为哈罗浓厚的戏剧气息(而喜欢拉提根的剧作)
not that Harrow is particularly associated with theatre.
许多像前首相啊 政♥治♥家啊 甚至皇室成员 这些人
Many former prime ministers, statesmen, even royalty
(在此求学时)都曾进入这道门
have passed through its doors,
当然还有为数不多的我这样的平民
as well as the odd commoner like me.
拉提根在我65年前在哈罗就学
Rattigan was at Harrow 65 years before me,
但从许多方面来讲 这所学校并没有改变多少
but in many ways, the school hasn’t changed that much –
至少看上去没什么变化
well, at least to look at.
哈罗是一所寄宿制学校 有几幢宿舍楼
Harrow is a boarding school, and there are several houses
是男生们在学期中住的地方
where the boys live during term time.
我以前住的地方叫”公园”
I was at one called The Park,
这也是拉提根以前的宿舍
which was also Rattigan’s old house.
在每年夏天的授奖演讲日
On Speech Day every summer term,
我们会被召集起来
we would all be called together
与宿舍楼合影
for the annual house photograph.
1991年
1991…
91年夏季
Summer of ’91…
91年秋 哦找到了
Autumn of 9… oh right
啊 他就是我 仔细找才找到
Yeah. That’s me. I had to double-check!
看见了吗 金发 我曾是金发的证据
Blond hair, you see? Proof that I was once blond.
看这双大手
And look at those huge hands!
我觉得这手大得可以当板球守门员了
Wicket-keeper’s hands, I think,
可没当成啊
which is what I ended up being.
这是第一年的照片 我在一直到95年
That’s first year, so I go up to ’95.
在此期间头发越来越遭
And then there, hair getting worse…
94年 95年是最后一年
’94, so ’95’s the last year.
在这 我觉得我那时候带着拉提根社团的领带
There we are. I think I’m wearing my Rattigan Society tie.
有那么多的领带值得铭记
So many, many, many ties to remember.
这条是紫色的上面还有白色的老鼠图案
That one was purple with white rats on it.
是我们社团看戏的时候带的
It was our theatre-going society tie,
就是为了纪念伟大的拉提根所以以他来命名的
and named in honour of the great man himself.
糟糕的中分头 就像挂了两块布
And terrible centre parting, replete with curtains.
重新站在这里感觉真奇怪 但很美妙
It’s strange being here. It’s wonderful,
就像哈罗的校歌♥中一句歌♥词一样
but it’s like one of the lyrics in one of the Harrow songs –
每当想到哈罗所在的那座山 你的心灵会震颤
“your heart will thrill at the thought of the Hill”,
真是 真是 太对了 突然一下回忆全都涌了上来
and it’s…it’s…it’s very true. You get a rush of memories.
我想拉提根看到自己的毕业照感受也和我差不多吧
I wonder what Rattigan felt like at the same time.
瞧瞧能不能找到他
Let’s see if we can find him.