얀 라우어스(Jan Lauwers) 공연의 탈서사적 특징들 -<이사벨라의 방(Isabella's Room)>, <랍스터 가게(The Lobster Shop)>, <사슴의 집(Deer House)>을 중심으로-

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the characteristics of post-epic theatre in the Belgian theatre director Jan Lauwers’ trilogy titled in “Happy Face/Sad Face”: <Isabella’s Room>(2004), <The Lobster Shop>(2006) and <Deer House>(2008). I regard that it played a very important junction for him to create his own theatrical style compared to earlier years. From this period, Lauwers has tried to create his original plays in order to concentrate the story of our era and has showed to combine a variety of media such as dance, installation, video, singing etc. In this context, I would like to study his own theatricality from the three perspectives of dramaturgy, directing and acting largely based on Hans-Thies Lehmann’s theory of post-epic theatre, who pointed out the significance of Lauwer’s theatrical leading role very early. First, from the dramaturgical point of view, we need to pay attention to the theme of translunary death; where the living and the dead coexist on the stage. In fact, death is the theme that Lauwers has been struggling to research for quite long time. In his trilogy, the dead never exits the stage. The dead, who is not a representative tragic character, even meddles the things among or with the living and provide comments to people. As a consequence, it happens to reduce a dramaturgical strong tension, leads depreciation of suspense and produces humanism in a way. This approach helps to create his unique comical theatrical atmosphere even though he deals with the contemporary tragic issues such as war, horror and death. Second, from the directing point of view, it is worth to take a look at the polyphonic strategy in terms to applying various media. Among all the things, the arts of dancing and singing in chorus are actively applied in Lauwer’s trilogy. The dance is used in individual and microscopic way, on the other hand, singing shows collective and is a macroscopic quality. The dance is the representing media to show Lauwer’s simultaneous microscopic mise-en-scene. While main plot takes place around the center-stage, actors perform a dance around the off-centered stage. Instead of exiting from the stage during the performance, the actors would continue dance -sometimes more like movements- around the off-centered stage. This not only describes the narrative, but also shows how each character is engaged to the main plot or incident, and how they look into it as a character. Its simultaneous microscopic mise-en-scene intends to function such as: showing a variety moments of lives, amplifying some moments or incidents, revealing character’s emotion, creating illusionary theatrical atmosphere and so on. Meanwhile, singing simple lyrics and tunes are an example of the media to stimulate the audiences’ catharsis. As the simple melody lingers in the audiences’ mind, it ends up delivering a theatrical message or theme after the performance. This message would be transferred from the singing in chorus functions as a sort of leitmotive in order to make an impression to the audience. This not only richens their emotion but also creates an illusionary effect. Third, from the acting perspective, I’d like to point out the “detachment” aesthetic which Lehmann has pointed out. The actors never go deep into the drama by consistently doing recognize a theatrical illusion. The audience happens to pay attention to their presence through the actor’s deliberate gesture, business, movement, rhythm, language, dance etc. The actors are against forming closed action by speaking in various languages or by revealing deliberately stage directions or acts, and by creating expressive mise-en-scene with multiple media. As a consequent, the stage can be transformed to not a metaphoric but a metonymic place. These actions are the ultimate intention for a direct effect to the audience. So to speak, Lauwers uses the anti-illusionary theatrical method: the scenes of fantastic death, interruption of singing and dance, speaking many kinds of languages, acting in detachment-status and so on. These strategies function to make cracks in spectators’ desire who has a desire to construct a linear narrative. I’d like to say that it is the numerous potentiality to let the reality penetrate though and collide the reality with a fiction. By doing so, it induces for spectators to see the reality in the fiction. As Lehmann says, “when theatre presents itself as a sketch and not as a finished painting, the spectators are given the chance to feel their own presence, to reflect on it, and to contribute to the unfinished character themselves”. In this sense the spectators can perform an objective criticism on our society and world in Lauwer’s theatre because there are a number of gaps and cracks in his theatrical illusion where reality can penetrate. This is also the point that we can find out the artists’ responsibility in this era of our being.