Han Xuan
Love is an eternal topic in stage art. When the stage of the frame theater is gradually broken, in the new performing arts space of immersive viewing, how will drama present love in a more novel way? Starting from October 21st, the ambient musical story drama “True Love Tavern” will have a long-term residency in Damai New Space.
With the increasing number of new performing arts spaces, there are more and more environmental plays, but what exactly do the plays performed in the new spaces rely on to attract audiences? Is it just a question-and-answer interaction between the actors and the audience? In fact, since it is an environmental performance in a new space, it essentially requires that the story of the play, the actors participating in the performance, the style of the music and the venue should be closely integrated to form a unified style. Only in this way can it create an effect that is completely different from conventional theater performances. From this point of view, the completion of “True Love Tavern” deserves recognition.
“True Love Pub” is called “Tavern”. As the name suggests, the venue where the play takes place is a bar. In order to welcome the “opening” of this pub, Damai’s new space has been completely renovated and turned into a bar with a jazz performance area. A table and four chairs are placed in the middle of the bar, which is the main activity area for the actors. Audience seats are scattered in all directions. There are also small tables in front of the audience, and there are sofas in the back row, which together create an immersive atmosphere in the bar.
“True love” is the common theme of the stories that take place in this “tavern”, and it is also the final mystery that the dramatists and even the audience have to solve according to the direction of the plot. There are three main stories that take place here, all of which are true stories from the well-known podcast “Story FM”: the story of sister-brother love connects the clues of the whole drama, and the online dating teenager wearing VR glasses contributes most of the laughs. , a story that took place in old Shanghai and spanned 40 years of waiting demonstrates the purity of love. As the saying goes, different audiences may have different feelings and judgments about these three stories, but the story of online dating boys is more in line with the aura of this venue. Two teenagers who fell in love online decided to meet offline for the first time in a bar. The same bar scene completely removed the “wall” between the audience and the drama. The story full of the flavor of the times also made the audience feel that there was no barrier. , as if they are watching the love of “the people around them”. When the boundaries between the sense of sitting upright and watching the drama and life gradually blur, the audience will have a participatory viewing experience.
What is even more unexpected is the music configuration in “True Love Pub”. All 7 songs used in the play are all works by the jazz singing group Mr. Miss. Jazz obviously fits the bar scene very well. Mr. Miss’s songs have a distinctive jazz style, as well as pop music elements, and are catchy. When used in “True Love Tavern”, the audience can more clearly feel the storytelling of his music works. The play includes both sentimental songs that arouse emotional ups and downs, as well as nonsensical “Why Don’t You Go to Heaven”, all of which are integrated with different love stories in the plot, sometimes making people intoxicated, sometimes making people laugh.
The most commendable aspect of “True Love Tavern” is that the new space and venue for creation and performance are very closely integrated. It also inspires works of the same type. Since they are performed in a new space, creation cannot be separated from the space. Environmental drama does not mean “airborne” a new play in an interactive venue, but needs to be combined with a specific venue to polish the story and design. Music, this may be something that practitioners who create works for the new performing arts space need to seriously consider.
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责编：张晓荣 ]
