A Study on the Performance Text of 4 Chairs Theatre’s OKAY MY DEAR SISTERS

• Main Authors: WU, YING-CHEN, 吳盈蓁
• Other Authors: CHAO, YU-LING
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2019
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/xds853

碩士 === 國立臺灣藝術大學 === 戲劇學系 === 107 === “Classics Retold Series” has been presented by 4 Chairs Theatre since 2015, which includes Anton Chekhov’s The Three Sisters and Henrik Ibsen’s Ghosts. Take The Three Sisters as an example. The playwright, Li-Ying Chen renames the play to OK, My Dear Sisters, and transforms the three sisters and the brother from Russian countryside to a family with declining financial situation in Yuanlin, a little town in Taiwan. The play describes the relationship and interaction between its family members, showing the tricky family crisis. Facing family members and guests, Yen-Chu has to cope with various situations and presents “himself” differently. For instance, in a family gathering, he has to strengthen his masculine characteristics as the only son. Therefore, there exists close and interweaving connections between the symbolism and culture of performance texts and everyday life. Starting out from Pavis’s point of views on interdisciplinarity in theatre studies (2001), this dissertation intergrades Goffman’s theory on The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (1992) and Kowzan’s theory of “13 signs in theatre”(1992), in order to analyze the performance text of OK, My Dear Sisters. Firstly, the researcher focuses on the role, Yen-Chu, the only son of Liao family, how he presents himself and responds to “front and back stage” situation differently. Secondly, the researcher continues to explore the actor’s performance text with Kowzan’s 13 signs in theatre, such as actors’ “words,” “tones,” “gestures,” “movements,” “mimes,” “make-ups,” “hair styles,” as well as the “costumes” and “props” in the following parts. The literature review of this dissertation first explores the historical contexts of interdisciplinarity in theatre studies, then moves on to semiology, signs in theatre, and the development of masculinity in Taiwanese society. Through analyzing changes of Yen-Chu’s “front”, as recorded in 2018’s promotion film, the researcher discovers that with the help of contemporary technology, the seeming “backstage” image never exists and as a matter of fact, it is “front” presentation. The following sections of the play are analyzed: Yen-Chu’s “backstage”, Yen-Chu’s shifting between “front” and “backstage” and Yen-Chu’s “self-presentation” under different circumstances. This research discovers: 1. Developing interdisciplinary research method on OK, My Dear Sisters. 2. Analyzing Yen-Chu’s “self-presentation” in “front” and “backstage” —Yen-Chu’s shifting between different “front” in promotion film, Yen-Chu’s “backstage” secrets, Yen-Chu’s shifting between “front” and “backstage” and Yen-Chu’s different “self-presentation”. The researcher applies interdisciplinary approach on analyzing theatrical performance text. This research aims to not only bridge the gap of theatre arts and social science but also expand the possibilities of interdisciplinarity research in theatre.