Time: 2:30 p.m., December 17, 2006
Place: Cheng Kung Hall of National Cheng Kung University
Director: Lee, Tsung-Hsi
L'homme a voulu monter vers les étoiles
Écrire son histoire
Dans le verre ou dans la Pierre
－ Notre Dame de Paris
Try one’s best to draw the scene to the past and tell affecting stories with skills. This is what the audience would find from “Goodbye! Moon of Kaohsiung Harbor”, “Hear Tide”, “Scènes de la viee Bohème” and “PostMan”. Since it becomes a tide that pop music draws materials from classic songs, classic dramas have been played in succession. It seems that a wind of reminiscence has been spread over in the theaters of Taiwan.
What makes difference is, the effect brought by the creative script of “PostMan” in the drama's sinking era seems to have overridden the force of experimental innovation. After the Little Theater Movement declined in 1980s, the drama circle experienced a period of “all flowers in bloom” and some groups that deeply root themselves in the field of drama have become eminent out of a lot of troupes. The needs of audience finally subdue the creators and prevent them from climbing toward the unreachable ideals any more.
“PostMan” is a very kind performance. Seen from the ages of audience, the play is aimed at a definite audience group. The youth enjoy the hot atmosphere, and experts understand the hidden meaning.
Script
To say the funniness of this play, the first half is quite successful. The affairs of the time being are combined well with the gut, plus some hints foreshadowing later development of the story. The funny drama actions pack the serious background of the era. A tree of sole trunk is boring, while excessive branches will loosen the structure. The first half presents a tree in leafy profusion, a story consisting of complicated elements, worthy of expectation.
Relatively, in the second half of this play, the trunk restrains the development of branches and the story is focused on a single matter, that is, how postman He-Ping sends the eighteen letters to the daughter one by one. To match with the situation, the letters do not indicate the importance of a mother on the growth of a daughter, but seems like candies used by a helpless single father to comfort his daughter.
In the structure of script, the head is some heavier than the foot, and it is difficult to find where is the climax this play. Therefore, the audience must seek fun from the branches, which reduces the strength of the trunk. It is estimated that the purpose of the second half lies in sensibility and expression of emotion. It is a pity that, after the rest between the two halves, the guts of the first half are decrypted too easily, reducing the audience’s expectation on the story and the tension of this play.
Director
The first half is performed with a rapid progress, and the imagination of postman He-Ping is the section I favor the most. From this short section we can see that the director is acquainted with theater language and mise-en-scene. The distinct presentation of projected film shows the delicate thinking and skills of the director. Unfortunately, it seems that he is a little inexperienced in handling older roles and events of longer history. This is the biggest weakness of this play.
However, it is quite successful in the aspect of appetency. To pick out bones from inside an egg, it is a little weak in depth and it seems that the point of itch is not reached.
Actors
Though there are not many senior actors in Southern Taiwan, the performance of the actors and actresses in this play can brighten your eyes. I believe that this should be attributed to the director. Actors of same competence can not meet the director’s expectation so precisely in another group.
The He-Ping of 23 years, the He-Ping of 40 years, the squad leader in the army and Chen, Ming-Hung are the most eye-catching roles, but with the increase of years and experiences, the older He-Ping does not show significantly difference in wisdom or behavior. Though the superposition method of “role and his avatars” is used many times, the several He-Pings do not look like a same role.
The shaping of female roles falls into the old pattern: young women smiles lovely, middle-age women endure all kinds of hardships, and old women are cheerless. Obviously, the female roles in this play look flat and thin.
Design
Three-dimensional space is used skillfully on the stage, but it is a pity that the ladder, indicating a bridge of communication, does not function all the time. The design of background curtain is quite special: it will not usurp the roles of other important devices at ordinary times, but play an important role when holding a ball or projecting a film.
The lights are used properly, improving the effect of the drama in several scenes. The ball and the ending are the scenes that deeply impress me. Comparatively, the costume design is not good. The best design is the postman's uniform, but I am just impressed by this uniform only after seeing this play.
During the process of enjoying it, I can’t help remind myself of some films like “Forrest Gump” and “The Kid”. It seems that this play is not created based on the feeling of postman's hard work, but is a topic selected by the script writer. The personal character of director is strong and leads the actors to professionalism. The director's style dominates the actors' personalities.
In addition to the easiness to understand their works, the reasons why Taiwan Drama Performance can become eminent under the unfavorable macro-environment lie in that, they do not make experiments and play deep theory without explicit purposes, and they make the audience feel they are a group of human kindness by paying attention to details. For example, the stamps attached on the postcards, the temporary post office outside the theater, and the evacuation service at the washroom during the break, all these considerations of details are elements for their success.
