London: A Theatrical City倫敦：戲劇之城

彼得·阿克羅伊德 蘭秀娟

【導(dǎo)讀】彼得·阿克羅伊德1949年出生于倫敦，畢業(yè)于劍橋大學(xué)克萊爾學(xué)院，是英國(guó)著名小說(shuō)家、評(píng)論家、傳記作家和學(xué)者。阿克羅伊德出版的著作包括：《倫敦大火》（The Great Fire of London，1982）、《奧斯卡·王爾德的最后遺囑》（The Last Testament of Oscar Wilde，1984）等虛構(gòu)作品，《T. S.艾略特》（T. S. Eliot，1984）、《狄更斯》（Dickens，1990）、《托馬斯·莫爾的一生》（The Life of Thomas More，1998）等傳記，以及《倫敦傳》（London： The Biography，2000）、《泰晤士：圣河》（Thames： Sacred River，2007）、《地下倫敦：街道下的秘史》（London Under： The Secret History Beneath the Streets，2011）等非虛構(gòu)作品。本文節(jié)選自《倫敦傳》中介紹倫敦劇院歷史的內(nèi)容，通過(guò)史實(shí)的呈現(xiàn)與生動(dòng)的刻畫(huà)，阿克羅伊德再現(xiàn)了倫敦劇院的興衰及倫敦人的生活圖景，凸顯了劇院這一重要的倫敦文化地標(biāo)。

Evidence for a Roman theatre， south-west of St. Paul’s， is now very clear; it was located little more than 150 feet east of the Mermaid Theatre， which is situated by Puddle Dock1. Further evidence can be found for a theatre at Whitechapel2 in 1567; it was just beyond Aldgate， with a stage some five feet high and a series of galleries.

This was in turn followed by the erection of the Theatre in the fields of Shoreditch. It was constructed of wood and thatch， well enough designed to merit the description of this “gorgeous playing-place erected in the Fields.” Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus and Shakespeare’s Hamlet were performed here. Certainly it must have proved popular because， a year later， another theatre was built two hundred yards away; it was known as “The Curtain” or， latterly， “The Green Curtain” in deference to the colourful sign painted on its exterior. Theatres， like taverns and shops， were well illustrated to catch the attention of the citizens.

These two early theatres set the standard for those more famous playhouses which play so large a part in Elizabethan cultural history. These playhouses were always outside the walls of the city （unlike the “private” theatre of Blackfriars3）， and the two theatres in the northern fields were constructed upon land once belonging to Holywell Priory; as the name suggests， there was a “holy well” in the immediate vicinity. It may be that they were deliberately sited close to the location where sacred plays had once been staged. This might also account for the presence of a theatre in the old priory of the Blackfriars. Londoners have always been aware of the topography of their city and its environs， so that on many occasions and in many contexts the same activity can be observed taking place in the same location. The situation of the twelfth-century “theatrum” is not known， but it is at least reasonable to suggest that it lay where the Rose， the Swan and the Globe eventually emerged in the 1580s and 1590s.

The popularity of Elizabethan drama characterises Londoners who attended it， both in their affection for colourful ritual and in their admiration of magniloquence4. The taste of the crowd for intermittent5 violence was amply satisfied by the plays themselves， while the Londoners’ natural pride in the history of their city was recognised in those dramatic historical pageants which were part of the diet of the playhouses. When Shakespeare places Falstaff6 and his company in East Cheap7， he is invoking the life of the city which existed two centuries before. Spectacle and violence， civic pride and national honour， all found their natural home in the theatres of London.

And yet the more “Cockney8” Londoners did also manage to attend the new plays; they were not necessarily welcomed in the boxes or the pit with the more prosperous citizens， but they took over the gallery from where they could shout insults or pelt fruit upon both stage and respectable audience. Cockney theatre-goers were only one aspect， however， of the generally partisan and inflammatory aspect of the urban audience. “Claques” would attend in order to cry up， or drown out， the latest production; fights would break out among the gentlemen “of quality，” while there were often riots which effectively concluded all theatrical proceedings. Indeed the riots themselves were somewhat theatrical in appearance.

When in the mid-eighteenth century David Garrick proposed to abolish “half-price” seats， for those who entered after the third of five acts （the whole performance beginning at six o’clock in the evening）， the day appointed for that innovation found the Drury Lane Playhouse filled with a silent crowd. P.J. Grosley composed A Tour of London in 1772， and set the scene. As soon as the play commenced there was a “general outcry” with “fisty-cuffs and cudgels，” which led to further violence when the audience “tore up the benches of the pit and galleries” and “demolished the boxes.” The lion， which had decorated the king’s box， was thrown upon the stage among the actors， and the unicorn fell into the orchestra “where it broke the great harpsichord to pieces.” In his London Journal of 19 January 1763， Boswell remarks that “we sallied into the house， planted ourselves in the middle of the pit， and with oaken cudgels in our hands and shrill-sounding cat calls in our pockets， sat ready prepared.”

Such behaviour in the capital’s theatres continued well into the nineteenth century. A German traveller of 1827， Prince Pückler-Muskau， later caricatured by Charles Dickens as Count Smorltork in The Pickwick Papers， reported that “The most striking thing to a foreigner in English theatres is the unheard-of coarseness and brutality of the audiences.” The “Old Price” riots of 18079 lasted for seventy nights， and the private life of Edmund Kean—accused of being both a drunk and an adulterer—led to four nights of violent rioting in the playhouse of Drury Lane.

What was termed “party spirit” did on more than one occasion prompt fights both among the spectators and the players. The presence of foreigners upon the stage was another cause of uproar; when the “Theatre Historique” arrived at Drury Lane from Paris， there was a general rush for the stage. Mobs surrounded the Theatre Royal in the Haymarket， in 1805， when a comedy entitled The Tail-ors caused offence among the fraternity. Professional boxers were brought into the auditorium by rival groups， as early as 1743， in order to slug it out. This was city drama， in every sense. And yet， in the city itself， the real drama was still performed upon the streets.

圣保羅大教堂的西南方曾坐落著一座羅馬時(shí)期的劇院，現(xiàn)在是確鑿無(wú)疑了，它就位于美人魚(yú)劇院東側(cè)僅150英尺的地方，而美人魚(yú)劇院毗鄰水坑碼頭。另有證據(jù)可以表明，白教堂區(qū)曾于1567年建造了一座劇院，它就位于阿爾德門(mén)外，舞臺(tái)高約5英尺，并設(shè)有一系列頂層樓座。

隨后，人們又在肖迪奇區(qū)的田地上建造了劇院。這座劇院由木頭和茅草搭建而成，設(shè)計(jì)精巧，完全稱(chēng)得上“田地上建造的華美游樂(lè)地”。馬洛的《浮士德博士的悲劇》與莎士比亞的《哈姆雷特》皆曾在此上演。這里無(wú)疑是很受歡迎的，因?yàn)橐荒旰?，僅兩百碼外又建起一座劇院。這家劇院便是“幕帷劇院”，也就是后來(lái)的“青幕帷劇院”，這個(gè)名字是為呼應(yīng)劇院外部所繪的彩色標(biāo)記。像酒館和商鋪一樣，劇院也打扮得漂漂亮亮吸引市民前往。

后世一些更著名的劇院都是以這兩座早期劇院為標(biāo)準(zhǔn)建造的，那些劇院在伊麗莎白時(shí)期的文化史上發(fā)揮了相當(dāng)重要的作用。這些劇院常建于城墻外（不同于黑衣修士的“私人”影院），且北部的兩座劇院是在曾隸屬于霍利韋爾修道院的土地上建起來(lái)的。正如“霍利韋爾”（Holywell）這個(gè)名字所呈現(xiàn)的，緊鄰之地有一座“圣泉”（holy well）。人們或許是有意將劇院建址靠近曾上演過(guò)圣劇的地方。這可能也揭示了劇院建于黑衣修士的老修道院中的原因。倫敦人一向熟悉這座城市的地形和環(huán)境，因而在諸多情況下，人們能夠看到在同一個(gè)地方舉行相同的活動(dòng)。12世紀(jì)“劇院”的情況不為人知，但至少可以合理地推測(cè)，即16世紀(jì)80和90年代的玫瑰劇院、天鵝劇院與環(huán)球劇院都是在其舊址上興建的。

伊麗莎白時(shí)期戲劇的流行刻畫(huà)了愛(ài)看戲的倫敦人的特點(diǎn)：他們既鐘情于濃墨重彩的儀式，也著迷于夸夸其談的風(fēng)格。人們對(duì)間歇暴力的嗜好在戲劇里得到了充分的滿(mǎn)足，而倫敦人對(duì)自己城市歷史的那種與生俱來(lái)的自豪感也在那些露天歷史?。▌≡旱墓潭ü?jié)目）中得到了認(rèn)可。當(dāng)莎士比亞將福斯塔夫及其同伴安置在市場(chǎng)東大街時(shí)，他是在喚醒這座城市兩百年前的生活。盛大場(chǎng)面與暴力、城市自豪感與民族榮譽(yù)，這種種都在倫敦的劇院里找到了天然的歸宿。

當(dāng)然，更“地道的”倫敦人也會(huì)設(shè)法觀看新戲;富人出沒(méi)的包廂和池座未必歡迎他們，但他們占據(jù)了頂層樓座，在那里，他們可以對(duì)著戲臺(tái)和體面的觀眾肆意謾罵或扔水果。不過(guò)，愛(ài)看戲的倫敦本地人僅僅體現(xiàn)了這座城市的觀眾中普遍存在的偏狹和煽動(dòng)性的一面。劇院里有“職業(yè)觀眾”，專(zhuān)門(mén)為新戲捧場(chǎng)或喝倒彩;“上等”紳士中間會(huì)爆發(fā)毆斗，還經(jīng)常有騷亂，最終導(dǎo)致所有的戲劇表演中斷。其實(shí)，這些騷亂本身看起來(lái)就頗具戲劇味。

18世紀(jì)中期，大衛(wèi)·加里克建議取消“半價(jià)”座，那原本是為在五幕劇演出三幕后入場(chǎng)的觀眾提供的（整場(chǎng)演出晚上6點(diǎn)開(kāi)始）。這項(xiàng)革新實(shí)施的當(dāng)日，德魯里巷劇場(chǎng)里擠滿(mǎn)了一言不發(fā)的觀眾。P.J.格羅斯雷于1772年創(chuàng)作了《倫敦之旅》，描述了當(dāng)時(shí)的情景。當(dāng)時(shí)，戲一開(kāi)演，就出現(xiàn)了伴隨著“拳腳和棍棒”的“滿(mǎn)堂抗議”，隨后暴力逐漸升級(jí)，觀眾“拆了樂(lè)池和頂層樓座的座椅”，還“毀了包廂”。鑲嵌在國(guó)王包廂上的獅子裝飾被扔到舞臺(tái)上的演員中間，獨(dú)角獸裝飾則掉進(jìn)樂(lè)池，“砸碎了一架很好的撥弦鍵琴”。1763年1月19日出版的《倫敦日?qǐng)?bào)》上，博斯韋爾寫(xiě)道：“我們沖進(jìn)劇院，占據(jù)樂(lè)池中央，手里拎著橡木棍，兜里裝著響哨，一切就緒，坐著等候?！?/p>

倫敦各個(gè)劇院里這樣的行為一直持續(xù)到19世紀(jì)。1827年，一位德國(guó)旅行家普克勒爾-姆斯考王子（后來(lái)查爾斯·狄更斯在《匹克威克外傳》里將其丑化為斯摩托克伯爵）記述道：“對(duì)外國(guó)人來(lái)說(shuō)，英國(guó)劇院里最令人震驚的是觀眾們前所未聞的粗俗和野蠻?！?807年的“原價(jià)”騷亂持續(xù)了70個(gè)夜晚;埃德蒙·基恩的私生活（他被指責(zé)為酒鬼和奸夫）導(dǎo)致了德魯里巷劇場(chǎng)連續(xù)四晚的暴力騷亂。

所謂的“玩樂(lè)精神”不止一次引發(fā)斗毆，不僅觀眾互毆，演員之間也如此。舞臺(tái)上出現(xiàn)外國(guó)人是引起騷動(dòng)的另一個(gè)原因;當(dāng)“歷史劇院”從巴黎來(lái)到德魯里巷時(shí)，觀眾都沖上了舞臺(tái)。1805年，一出名為《裁縫》的喜劇令一眾裁縫不滿(mǎn)，暴徒們便包圍了干草市場(chǎng)的皇家劇院。早在1743年，敵對(duì)團(tuán)體就邀請(qǐng)職業(yè)拳擊手一同看戲，以便隨時(shí)決一死戰(zhàn)。這是不折不扣的城市戲劇。然而，在城中，真正的戲劇仍然在街頭上演。

（譯者單位：中山大學(xué)外國(guó)語(yǔ)學(xué)院）

1水坑碼頭，位于倫敦金融城黑衣修士區(qū)，以前是倫敦一個(gè)碼頭的所在地，現(xiàn)在是一條小街道，也是于2003年關(guān)閉的美人魚(yú)劇院的所在地。? 2英格蘭倫敦東部的一個(gè)區(qū)，位于泰晤士河以北。

3道明會(huì)或宣道兄弟會(huì)，天主教托缽修會(huì)的主要派別之一，會(huì)士均披黑色斗篷，因此被稱(chēng)為“黑衣修士”。

4 magniloquence 夸夸其談，虛夸。? 5 intermittent 間歇的，斷斷續(xù)續(xù)的。? 6 = Sir John Falstaff 約翰·福斯塔夫爵士，莎士比亞《亨利四世》與《溫莎的風(fēng)流娘們》中的人物，嗜酒、好斗，且十分自負(fù)。? 7此處的Cheap與《傲慢與偏見(jiàn)》中的“奇普賽德”（Cheapside）一樣，是橫貫倫敦城的大街。East Cheap即奇普賽德東街，又稱(chēng)市場(chǎng)東大街。? 8 Cockney 倫敦東區(qū)的，倫敦當(dāng)?shù)厝说模ㄓ戎钙胀癖娀蛳聦用癖姡?/p>

9考文特花園劇院（Covent Garden Theatre）被燒毀后，管理層試圖通過(guò)漲價(jià)來(lái)增加收入，以此填補(bǔ)重建的支出，然而這激起了民眾的憤怒，他們持續(xù)擾亂這里的演出，導(dǎo)致所有的演出都被迫中斷。這就是“原價(jià)”騷亂的起因。

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