by Xingjian Gao
While the characters are built up in the traditional manner, the audience, in a typical Gao Xingjian manner, also gets to know the truth of their private selves through their monologues, comprising dream sequences, hallucinations, and memory flashes. These lapses into the subconscious punctuate the realistic setting and situations and resonate with a disharmony that characterizes the world of the play. The characters’ self-examinations are unprovoked and are mostly unrelated to the action—as if the play willingly and deliberately suspends itself, forfeiting its illusion of reality and forcing the actors to neutralize their roles under the watchful eyes of the audience. During these monologues, the actors speak in the second or third person to carry out an “indifferent observation” of the characters they are portraying. Despite its realistic subject matter and characters, Weekend Quartet purposely flaunts its mechanical nature and achieves an artificiality which, coupled with the seemingly contradictory demand for real-life emotions, approximates the playwright’s concept of a modern dramatic performance.
Annotation
[0-1]Gao Xingjian 高行健, “Lun wenxue xiezuo”<論文學寫作>(On Writing Literature), in his Meiyou zhuyi《沒有主義》(None-ism) (Hong Kong: Cosmos Books Ltd., 1996), p. 57.
[0-2]Gao Xingjian 高行健, “Lun wenxue xiezuo”<論文學寫作>(On Writing Literature), in his Meiyou zhuyi《沒有主義》(None-ism) (Hong Kong: Cosmos Books Ltd., 1996), p. 59.
[0-3]Gao Xingjian, “Geri huanghua”<隔日黃花>(Day-old Yellow Blossoms), in his Bi’an《彼岸》(The Other Shore) (Taipei: Dijiao Chubanshe 帝教出版社, 1995), pp. 86-87.
[0-4]Zhao Yiheng 趙毅衡, “Gao Xingjian chuangzuolun”<高行健創作論>(On Gao Xingjian’s Creative Writing), unpublished manuscript, p. 34.
[0-5]Gao Xingjian, “Bali suibi”<巴黎隨筆>(Random Thoughts in Paris), Guangchang《廣場》, Feb. 1991, p. 14.
[0-6]Zhao, p. 43.
[0-7]Gao Xingjian, “Chidaole de xiandaizhuyi yu dangjin Zhongguo wenxue”<遲到了的現代主義與當今中國文學>(The Late Arrival of Modernism and Contemporary Chinese Literature), in Meiyou zhuyi, p. 102. First appeared in Wenxue pinglun《文學評論》, No. 3, 1988.
[0-8]Gao Xingjian, “Ling yizhong xiju”<另一種戲劇>(Another Kind of Drama), in Meiyou zhuyi, p. 191.
[0-9]Gao Xingjian, “Wo zhuzhang yizhong lengde wenxue”<我主張一種冷的文學>(I Advocate “Cold Literature”), in Meiyou zhuyi, pp. 18-20. Also in Zhongshi wanbao《中時晚報》, 12 Aug. 1990.
[0-10]Gao Xingjian, “Lun wenxue xiezuo”<論文學寫作>, p. 54.
[0-11]Gao Xingjian, “Wo zhuzhang yizhong lengde wenxue”<我主張一種冷的文學>, p. 20.
[0-12]Gao Xingjian, “Meiyou zhuyi”<沒有主義>, in Meiyou zhuyi, pp. 8-17.
[0-13]Gao Xingjian, “Meiyou zhuyi”<沒有主義>, in Meiyou zhuyi, p. 9.
[0-14]Gao Xingjian, “Lun wenxue xiezuo”<論文學寫作>, pp. 34-35.
[0-15]Gao Xingjian, “Ping Faguo guanyu dangdai yishu de lunzhan”<評法國關於當代藝術的論戰>(The Controversy on Contemporary Art in France), in Meiyou zhuyi, p. 281.
[0-16]Zhao, p. 72.
[0-17]Gao Xingjian, “Chidaole de xiandaizhuyi yu dangjin Zhongguo wenxue”<遲到了的現代主義與當今中國文學>, p. 104.
[0-18]Gao Xingjian, “Chidaole de xiandaizhuyi yu dangjin Zhongguo wenxue”<遲到了的現代主義與當今中國文學>, p. 105.
[0-19]Gao Xingjian, “Wo zhuzhang yizhong lengde wenxue”<我主張一種冷的文學>, p. 20.
[0-20]Gao Xingjian, “Juzuofa yu zhongxing yanyuan”<劇作法與中性演員>(Dramaturgy and the Neutral Actor), in Meiyou zhuyi, p. 254.
[0-21]Gao Xingjian, “Yao shenmoyang de xiju”<要甚麼樣的戲劇>(The Kind of Drama I Prefer), Lianhe wenxue《聯合文學》, No. 41, 1988, p. 133.
[0-22]Gao Xingjian, “Yao shenmoyang de xiju”<要甚麼樣的戲劇>(The Kind of Drama I Prefer), Lianhe wenxue《聯合文學》, No. 41, 1988, pp. 136-37.
[0-23]Gao Xingjian, “Wode xiju he wode yaoshi”<我的戲劇和我的鑰匙>(My Plays and the Key to My Writing), in Meiyou zhuyi, p. 238.
[0-24]Gao Xingjian, “Wode xiju he wode yaoshi”<我的戲劇和我的鑰匙>(My Plays and the Key to My Writing), in Meiyou zhuyi, p. 238.
[0-25]Gao Xingjian, “Meiyou zhuyi”<沒有主義>, p. 14.
[0-26]Gao Xingjian, “Wenxue yu lingxue: Guanyu ‘Lingshan’”<文學與靈學・關於《靈山》>(Literature and Spiritualism, About Spiritual Mountain), in Meiyou zhuyi, pp. 174-75.
[0-27]Gao Xingjian, “Juzuofa yu zhongxing yanyuan”<劇作法與中性演員>, pp. 262-63.
[0-28]Gao Xingjian, “Ling yizhong xiju”<另一種戲劇>, p. 191.
[0-29]Gao Xingjian, “Wenxue yu lingxue: Guanyu ‘Lingshan’”〈文學與靈學・關於《靈山》>, p. 175.
[0-30]Gao Xingjian, “Guanyu Bi’an”<關於《彼岸》>(On The Other Shore), in Bi’an《彼岸》, pp. 68-69.
[0-31]Gao Xingjian, “Wenxue yu lingxue: Guanyu ‘Lingshan’”〈文學與靈學・關於《靈山》>, p. 175.
[0-32]Gao Xingjian, “Wenxue yu lingxue: Guanyu ‘Lingshan’”〈文學與靈學・關於《靈山》>, p. 174.
[0-33]Gao Xingjian, “Liuwang shi women huode shenme?”<流亡使我們獲得什麼>(What Have We Gained from Being in Exile?), in Meiyou zhuyi, p. 128.
[0-34]Gao Xingjian, “Guanyu Bi’an”<關於《彼岸》>, p. 69.
[0-35]Gao Xingjian, “Guojia shenhua yu geren diankuang”<國家神話與個人癲狂>(National Mythology and Personal Lunacy), Ming Pao Monthly《明報月刊》, Aug. 1993, p. 117.
[0-36]Zhao, p. 88.
[0-37]Gao Xingjian, “Guanyu Bi’an”<關於《彼岸》>, p. 69.
[0-38]Gao Xingjian, “Bi’an daoyan houji”<《彼岸》導演後記>(Written After Directing The Other Shore), in Meiyou zhuyi, p. 225.
[0-39]Gao Xingjian, “Meiyou zhuyi”<沒有主義>, p. 13.
[0-40]Kong Jiesheng 孔捷生, Xiao wutai he da shijie: Yu lu Fa dalu zuojia Gao Xingjian duitan”<小舞台和大世界: 與旅法大陸作家高行健對談> (Small Stage and Big World: Dialogue with the Dramatist Gao Xingjiang, a Chinese Expatriate in France), Minzhu Zhongguo《民主中國》, No. 16, July 1993, p. 86.
[0-41]Gao Xingjian, “Duihua yu fanjie daobiaoyan tan”<《對話與反詰》導表演談>(On Directing and Acting in Dialogue and Rebuttal), in Meiyou zhuyi, p. 208.
[0-42]Gao Xingjian, “Duihua yu fanjie daobiaoyan tan”<《對話與反詰》導表演談>(On Directing and Acting in Dialogue and Rebuttal), in Meiyou zhuyi, p. 194.
[0-43]Gao Xingjian, “Meiyou zhuyi”<沒有主義>, p. 13.
[0-44]Gao Xingjian, “Duihua yu fanjie daobiaoyan tan”<《對話與反詰》導表演談>, p. 196.
[0-45]Kong Jiesheng, “Xiao wutai he da shijie: Yu lu Fa dalu zuojia Gao Xingjian duitan”<小舞台和大世界: 與旅法大陸作家高行健對談> , p. 86.
[0-46]Gao Xingjian, “Ling yizhong xiju”<另一種戲劇>, p. 191.
[0-47]Gao Xingjian, “Ling yizhong xiju”<另一種戲劇>, p. 191. ….
The Other Shore
Time: The time cannot be defined or stated precisely.
Location: From the real world to the nonexistent other shore.
Characters:
(The play can be performed in a theatre, a living room, a rehearsal room, an empty warehouse, a gymnasium, the hall of a temple, a circus tent, or any empty space as long as the necessary lighting and sound equipment can be properly installed. Lighting can be dispensed with if the play is performed during the day. The actors may be among the audience, or the audience among the actors. The two situations are the same and will not make any difference to the play. )
The Other Shore. The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Hong Kong. Directed by Gao Xingjian. 1995.
The Other Shore. The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Hong Kong. Directed by Gao Xingjian. 1995.
Actor playing with ropes:
Here’s a rope. Let’s play a game, but we’ve go
t to be serious, as if we’re children playing their game. Our play starts with a game.
Okay, I want you to take hold of this end of the rope. You see, this way a relationship is established between us. Before that you were you and I was I, but with this rope between us we’re tied to each other and it becomes you and I.
Let’s try running in opposite directions. See, now you’re pulling me, but then again I’m also holding you back, like two locusts tied to the same string, neither of us can get away from each other. Of course, we’re also like husband and wife. (Pauses.) But that’s not a good metaphor. If I were to pull the rope real hard towards me, then we’d have to see who’s stronger. The stronger one pulls and the weaker is being pulled. It becomes a tug-of-war, a competition of strength, and there’ll be a winner and a loser, victory and defeat.
Now if I carry this rope on my back like this and pull even harder, you’ll be like a dead dog; likewise if you manage to gain control of this rope, I’ll be like a horse or a cow, and you’ll be able to drive me around like cattle. In other words, you’ll be running the show. So you see, our relationship is not at all constant, it’s not at all unchanging.
Or we can establish an even more complex relationship. For instance if you revolve around me, I’ll be the centre of your orbit, and you’ll become my satellite. But if you don’t wish to revolve around me, I can rotate on my own, thinking that all of you are revolving around me. Are you revolving or am I the one who’s revolving? I could be revolving around you or you could be revolving around me. Who knows? Perhaps we’re both turning at the same time, or maybe we’re both revolving around other people, or maybe those other people are revolving around us both or maybe all of us are revolving around God—maybe there isn’t a God after all, maybe there’s only a universe rotating by itself like a millstone—now we’re touching on philosophy. Never mind, we’ll leave philosophy to the philosophers, let’s just continue to play our game.
Everyone of you can pick up a rope and play different kinds of games, the possibilities are endless. Playing with ropes is such a game, that it can be a manifestation of all kinds of interpersonal relationships.
(The actors each choose a partner to play the game, using a piece of rope. They can switch partners or briefly make contact with other pairs of players, but the contacts are soon broken. The game becomes increasingly lively, tense, and exciting, accompanied by all kinds of salutations and screams.)
Actor playing with ropes:
Okay everybody, let’s knock it off for a moment. Let’s make this game bigger and more complex. Now I want all of you to hold on to one end of your rope and give me the other end. This way you’ll be able to establish all kinds of relationships with me, some tense, some lax, some distant, and some close, and soon your individual attitudes will have a strong impact on me. Society is complex and ever-changing, we’re constantly pulling and being pulled. (Pauses.) Just like a fly that’s fallen into a spider’s web. (Pauses.) Or just like a spider. (Pauses.)
The rope is like our hands. (He lets go one rope and his partner also lets go. The rope falls on the ground.) Or like an extended antenna. (He lets go another and his partner follows.) Or like the language we use, for instance when we say “Good Morning” or “How are you!” (Another rope falls to the ground.) Or perhaps it’s like looking at each other, (Replaces another rope.) or like the thoughts in our minds. (His back is against his current partner, but the two sides are still communicating.) Either you’re thinking of her, or she’s thinking of someone else. (He brushes past her shoulders. She and someone else are gazing into each other’s eyes.) In this way the rope is pulling all of us, binding us together.
We look—
(The actors are communicating with one another through pieces of imaginary ropes.)
We observe—
We stare—
Then there’s temptation and attraction—
Orders and obedience—
(In the following, the performance is accompanied by all kinds of sighs and screams but without resorting to the use of language.)
Conflicts—
Intimacy—
Exclusion—
Entanglement—
Abandonment—
Emulation—
Evasion—
Repulsion—
Pursuit—
Encirclement—
Congregation—
Fragmentation—
Dismiss!
At ease!
Now there is a river in front of us, not a piece of rope.
Let’s cross the river and try to reach the other shore.
Actors:
(One after another.) Yes, to the other shore! To the other shore!
The other shore! To the other shore! To the other shore! The other shore!
Oh—Oh—Oh
The water in the river is so clear!
So cool!
Watch out, the stones are killing my feet!
How nice!
(Gradually there comes the sound of running water.)
My skirt’s soaking wet!
Is the river deep?
Let’s swim across to the other shore!
Don’t go by yourself!
Look at the water spray, how it sparkles in the sunshine!
What fun, just like a waterfall.
A dam, a river flowing gently down the dam.
Form a line in the middle of the river.
Further down the water’s dark blue, it’s got to be really deep there.
I’ve got some fish wriggling between my legs…
So exciting!
I’m going to fall.
Don’t worry, hold on to me.
There’s an eddy over there—
Look after one another, hold hands.
To the rapid waters.
To the other shore!
No one can see the other shore.
Cut the poetry crap! I’m falling.
Hold tight, one after another now.
Over there the water is deep blue…
Aahh! The water’s over my waist all of a sudden!
I’m getting dizzy.
Close your eyes for a while.
Look in front of you, look ahead, keep your eyes open!
All looking at the other shore.
How come I can’t see it?
We’ll drown, all of us.
We’ll all be fish food.
If we’re going to die, let’s die together.
Girls, stop blabbing, try to concentrate.
The current is very strong, tread in the shallows, try going up stream!
I can’t make it across, I’m sure I can’t make it.
Where’s the other shore?
Sometimes it’s dark, sometimes it’s bright.
Are there lights on the other shore?
There are flowers, lots of flowers on the other shore, it’s a world of flowers.
I’m afraid I can’t make it, please don’t leave me behind. (Sobs.)
Can you feel it? We’re drifting in the river.
Like corks on a string.
And like water weed.
Why are we going to the other shore? I really don’t understand.
Right, why do we want to go to the other shore?
The other shore is the other shore, you’ll never reach it.
But you still want to go, to see what it’s like over there.
I can’t see anything.
No oasis, and no light.
In total darkness.
It’s like this…
No, I can’t make it.
We haven’t been there before.We must get there. But why?
To make a long-time wish come true, the other shore, the other shore.
No, I can’t make it, I want to go home!
None of us can.
Can’t go back at all.
O—!
Who is it?
Don’t know.
(Silence, only the sound of water gurgling.)
Was someb
ody screaming? Did you hear it?
You must have heard it, but nobody answered.
(Silence. Sound of sobbing.)
This is a ditch of dead water.
There’s only oblivion.
(Bewildered, the Crowd slowly walk out of the dead water. Music is faintly heard. The Crowd gradually reach the shore and lie down totally exhausted on the ground. Woman appears in darkness. Like a strand of light mist, she walks around to inspect the people who have lost their memories. She drifts among them, touching and waking them up one by one. They lazily open their eyes and look up, turning their bodies and staring at her. They try to speak but in vain.)
Woman:
(Raises her hand.) Look here, this is a hand.
(The Crowd utter muddled sounds from their throat.)
Woman:
This is a hand.
Crowd:
(Still mumbling.) Th…The…This…ee…ha…han…hand.
Woman:
Hand—
Crowd:
Hand—band—sand—hand—
Woman:
This is a foot.
Crowd:
Th…Th…This…ee…fo…foo…foot.
Woman:
(Pointing to her eye.) Eye.
Crowd:
Ee…ee…eye…eye…
Woman:
(Gesturing.) Your eyes are looking at your foot!
Crowd:
(Totally confused.) Eyes…cook…cook your…own…coot…
