展演（後）冷戰東歐：《瘋狂森林》，《莫斯科黃金》，《桌子的形狀》

Abstract

這篇論文企圖解讀英國政治劇場於一九九零年代初期興起一陣對於東歐共產政權瓦解，以及冷戰終結的相關議題所進行的戲劇再現的現象。有鑑於這些戲劇再現的獨特性，本篇論文將分別處理卡爾．邱琪兒的《瘋狂森林》（1990），泰利．阿里與霍華．布蘭頓的《莫斯科黃金》（1990），以及大衛．艾德加的《桌子的形狀》（1990）來進行討論。透過仔細研讀與分析，本論文認為這些劇本分別藉由不同的觀點與戲劇手法來呈現共產政權瓦解的政治變遷，以及反省現行失敗的共產主義式社會主義。這些政治劇作家也在劇本中呈現出後冷戰的東歐所面臨的族群衝突與社會危機。這些日益浮現而難解的衝突與危機不僅質疑歐洲共同體的理想，也批判後冷戰情境下毫無疑問地接納自由市場經濟的運作邏輯。藉由對資本主義的批判，劇本反映出這些政治劇作家對英國柴契爾夫人主政的不滿以及他們對左派社會主義一貫的關懷。最後，這些對東歐共產政權瓦解的戲劇再現也反映出這些政治劇作家致力於發揮劇場的文化批判與政治參與。

This thesis intends to examine British theatrical responses to the fall of communism in Eastern Europe and the subsequent end of the Cold War. The theatrical responses were unique because they are immediate responses from acknowledged British political playwrights to deal with the (post-) communist Eastern European politics. Drawing form the particularity mentioned above, this thesis delves into Caryl Churchill’s Mad Forest (1990), Tariq Ali and Howard Brenton’s Moscow Gold (1990), and David Edgar’s The Shape of the Table (1990) to examine their theatrical interpretation of the political events. By closely reading the three plays, this thesis intends to demonstrate that, although from different perspectives and dramaturgical styles, these plays not only portray the revolutions but also assess the failure of the Communist-style socialism. Moreover, these plays explore the post-Cold War state of Eastern Europe. What replaces the Cold War ideological antagonism, as the plays depict, is the surfacing of other chaotic irresoluble tensions, such as nationalism, ethnic conflicts that challenges the completion of Gorbachev’s ideal of Common European Home. Through the characters debating about their post-Cold War future, these plays also reveal the playwrights’ consistent commitment to the desirability of a socialist alternative to the iniquities of Western capitalism. Finally, these immediate theatrical representations demonstrate the playwrights’ protest against Thatcherism and their aspiration to assert the role of theatre as a public forum for political and cultural intervention.