Raimund Rosarius – Howling Dogs 狗吠

Playwright/Director

Interview via email June 14, 2017

Photos by Li Li 李莉

KL: Let’s gradually hone in on the details. Start by giving me a background on the Nanluoguxiang Theatre Festival. Explain to me the intentions of a non-profit theatre festival? How long has it been running? Is it patron driven or funded by a government arts body?

RR: We are all idealists and enthusiasts that put art in the centre of all our considerations. Participating in such a non-profit festival you are aiming for getting the money that you invested back, no one can make any profits, however losing money is a constant risk. The financial pressure is enormous. More than any other form of theatre in China we are dependent on ticket sales.

The festival is mainly patron-funded but in recent years more and more artists become the patrons of their own art. That is why so many of us actually earn their living in the movie, television and advertisement industry while acting in a play is a thing of passion. From an actor’s salary, no one can survive in Beijing.

Only due to the generosity of the Austrian Embassy and the Austrian Cultural Forum we are able to grant the actors salaries. This is very important for me as I do not like the idea of extending self-exploitation to other artists. Only a scholarship from the German National Academic Foundation covering daily living costs puts me in a position to work for free.

It is the 8th year of the Nanluoguxiang Theatre Festival now. It was founded by Penghao’s owner Wang Xiang who made his fortune as a dentist and spends most of it as a patron of the performative arts. The ever-increasing rents in China make it more than difficult for the festival to survive. Wang Xiang and his team now put their whole life energy into saving the festival.

Many experimental forms of theatre had no home in China. Wang Xiang, Penghao, and the Nanluoguxiang Theatre Festival brought them into being. From the very start, they also cooperated with international artists, making it the biggest international theatre festival in China. They are the true creators of a theater without borders.

KL:让我们慢慢地雕琢细节。从给我一个南锣鼓巷戏剧节的背景开始。向我解释一下一个非盈利性的戏剧节是怎么回事？它运作了多久？是靠赞助人还是靠政府文艺项目拨款？

RR:我们都是理想主义者和热心要将艺术放在核心位置考虑的人。参加这样一种非盈利的节日你就是在指望收回成本，没人能赚到多的，反而亏本是一个常见的风险。经济上的压力是巨大的。和中国其他任何一种舞台一样，我们是靠卖票。

这个戏剧节主要是靠赞助商基金但是近些年来越来越多的艺术家变成了他们自己的作品的投资商。这就是为什么去做电影、电视和广告的人能靠那个吃饭，而排演戏剧就是一件讲兴趣的事了。靠着当演员的薪资，人是在北京待不下来的。只是靠着奥地利大使馆和奥地利文化论坛的慷慨我们才能保证演员的薪酬。这对我来说至关重要，因为我不喜欢向其他艺术家推广这种自我糟践。只有一个从德国国家学术基金拿到的奖学金能让我干这份收不回本钱的工作。

现在是南锣鼓巷戏剧节的第八年了。它是由蓬蒿剧场的负责人王翔创办，王翔靠当牙医养活自己，而又把大部分积蓄都用来作表演艺术的资助了。中国一直在涨的租金让这个戏剧节办得举步维艰。王翔和他的团队现在是在使出浑身解数来保住这个节日。

许多剧场的实验形式在中国是没有安居之处的。王翔、蓬蒿和南锣鼓巷戏剧节将它们安置在了这里。从最开始它们同样就和国际艺术家合作，将它办成了中国最大的国际戏剧节。它们是戏剧无国界真正的创造者。

KL: Did you specifically choose to work with the Longfu Theatre or did they come to you? How does the relationship work between playwright and theatre?

RR: After the festival had chosen our production we were given a free hand in choosing a theatre. We had been searching for a suitable theatre a long time. We had rather contradictory expectations to the theatre building: We were searching a big stage that would grant enough space for dancing while also creating claustrophobic moments in the stage centre. The play is a lot about contradictions that appear logical the moment they are formulated. Intriguingly, a bigger stage can more vividly create the feeling of being at bay. For aesthetic reasons and because of the multinational nature of our production, this year we are the only production for a big stage within the festival.

When I saw Longfu Theatre for the first time I fell in love with it for another reason. The theatre is an old cinema with an industrial charm, apart from the big stage there are a couple of small cinema halls, the lobby exhibits old projectors and the popcorn machines are really ancient.

This ragtag interior fits the play perfectly. My idea is that the play does not start on the stage but when you enter the lobby of the theatre with the smell of popcorn and decades-old dust heated by projectors over and over again.  

Longfu will be renovated soon and overworked completely. For the atmosphere of the play, we wanted to stage decidedly before the renovation. Our play is the last chance to see this industrial relict in its original form.

From the Subway Station Dongsi (Exit E) it is only 50 metres away, you will enter a Hutong and soon see the round arches of Longfu overseeing its district.

KL:你是特地要选择隆福剧院还是一个偶然的机会呢？剧作家和剧场之间的关系又是怎样运作？

RR: 在戏剧节已经选中我们的作品之后，我们就有选择一个剧院的自由。我们已经寻找一个合适的剧院很久了。我们对剧院建筑有相当矛盾的预设：想找个适合舞蹈的宽大舞台，同时又想它在舞台中央可以适合营造一种幽闭的氛围。这部戏剧在它成型的时候就有许多看似合理的矛盾。诱人的是，一个更大的舞台能更灵活，来制造那种在有狗叫声的感觉。出于审美上的原因和我们作品跨国的性质，今年我们是戏剧节中唯一一个使用大舞台的作品。

当我第一次看见隆福剧场时，我因为其他原因爱上了它。这个剧院是一个有着工业魅力的旧电影院，大舞台之外还有一堆小影厅，休息区展陈着老放映机，连爆米花机器都上了年纪。

这种萧条的内部设计完美契合这部作品。我的意思是戏剧不是在舞台上开始，而是当你进入剧院的休息区，闻到爆米花和几十年的放映机上灰尘被来回加热的味道，就开始了。

隆福将马上被翻新并全然改心革面。因为这出戏的氛围，我们决然需要翻新前的舞台。我们这部剧是看到这种工业遗孀原本模样的最后机会。

从东四地铁站（E出口）只有50米，走进一条胡同，马上就能看到隆福的圆拱在俯瞰这个地区。

KL: What attracted you to the work of Ingeborg Bachmann? It's claimed she was perhaps the first feminist voice in German literature, is this part of her appeal for you? Are you trying to represent feminist voices in China?

RR: It is a shame! Ingeborg Bachmann was the female protagonist of the Group 47 that dominated post-war literature in the German-speaking countries. The men of this group like Günter Grass, Heinrich Böll or Peter Handke are widely known in China. Ingeborg Bachmann though, one of the most important poets of German literature and Austria’s most famous female writer is a household name only to a few experts in China. With events in context of the play, like exhibitions, readings and discussions that all feature Ingeborg Bachmann, we are trying to change this. But that is not the only reason why I appreciate Bachmann as a person. She also was a cosmopolitan figure at an early time living in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and Egypt, incorporating all the different cultures into her work starting from the guts and not as an observer keen to exoticism. She created some universal characters with universal feelings that are like forerunners of a globalized world that at the same time does not lose its regional multicultural heritage.

KL:英格伯格·巴赫曼的作品如何吸引你了？据说她可算是德国文学中的第一种女权声音，是她的这部分吸引你吗？你是想在中国为女权发声吗？

RR:这是个耻辱！英格伯格·巴赫曼曾是统领战后德语文学的47文学社的女性主导者。这个组织的男性成员有君特·格拉斯、海因里希·波尔和彼得·汉德克等，都在中国有些影响。而英格伯格·巴赫曼，最重要的德语诗人之一，同时也是奥地利最著名的女作家，在中国只有几个专家知道。在剧本的事件中，像是展出、阅读和讨论，都有巴赫曼的严重影响，我们在尝试改变这一点。但这不是我欣赏巴赫曼其人的唯一原因。她早年在奥地利、德国、瑞士、意大利和埃及居住时，还是个世界公民，将所有不同的文化融汇到她的作品当中去，受到实质性的影响，而不止步于成为异国情调的敏锐观察者。她创造了一些带着我们通常情感的普适的角色，像是说能在领跑全球化的同时不失去地区性的多文化遗产。

KL: You mentioned that Bachmann’s stories lend themselves to Chinese adaptation, what particular aspects resonate between the German and Chinese? The depth of her characters is highlighted, is it easy to reflect the nuance of the original language in Chinese?

RR: When I read Bachmann’s later stories for the first time I was amazed how Chinese they appeared to me. More Chinese than Austrian or German actually. I went on a quest to find why I have this feeling, and what particularly makes a story “Chinese” to me. That is one reason why I wanted to put them on stage and at the same time bring them into discussion. These stories have never been adapted for stage and are as such not really adequate for it because they are rather static, they illustrate situations rather than telling a story. The depth of her characters is amazing, they are each as complex as Hamlet and Medea with a colorful background and a biography that is as detailed as a poem. Thus I decided to bring these characters together and forge them into a story through the means of a Five-Act Drama. I like to see myself as the midwife of Bachmann’s characters for stage. My play then is very far away from its inspiration but Bachmann’s way of constructing characters influenced me immensely through the whole process of inventing the play.

That I had to write the play from the scratch without employing any of Bachmann’s original words made it easier to transfer them into the Chinese cultural context. However, there are some details that are so different that you cannot completely translate them into the Chinese culture. These missing links are vital spots and in my opinion some of the most interesting moments of the play. We don’t polish these lost-in-translation moments but decidedly use them as material for our play.

KL:你提到说巴赫曼的故事自身就完成了向中文改编，中德之间什么特别的方面产生了共鸣？她创造角色的深度被强调了，还能做到反映中文本族语的细微差别吗？

RR:当我第一次阅读巴赫曼晚期作品的时候，我很惊讶它们看起来怎么这么中国。与其说是德奥，都不如说是中国。我继续摸索着这种感觉产生的原因，和究竟什么让我觉得怎么样一个故事才是“中国”的。这就是我想将它们搬上舞台的一个原因，同时也就是将它们放进了讨论。这些故事从未被剧场改编过，也不特别适合，因为它们是文静的，它们比起讲故事，更像是在展示处境。她角色的深度令人叹为观止，他们就真真如同哈姆雷特和美狄亚一样复杂，只是多了一个现代绚丽的背景，同时又有叙事诗般细节的铺陈。因此我决定将这些角色放到一起，通过一出五幕剧的形式来熔合到一个故事里。我愿意当巴赫曼角色们在舞台上的助产士。我的剧现在实际上离它的启发非常遥远，但是在全剧创作的过程中，巴赫曼构建角色的方式对我有深远的影响。

这样我就得从草稿开始，遣词造句避开巴赫曼原文，倒让转移到中国文化语境下变得简单些。然而，还有许多你无法完全转移到中国文化中的细节。这些遗失的联结是至关重要的地方，在我看来也是全剧中最有趣的部分。我们并不润色这些在翻译中遗失的瞬间，但是坚决地将其用作戏剧的素材。

KL: What can audiences expect? What’s the nature of the story and how will it be presented on the stage?

RR: It truly developed into a suspense drama. We play around a lot with the expectations of the audience. Our producer keeps repeating that what she sees now is a “Hitchcock movie on stage”. When you see our play you will never be sure what happens next. We mix tragic and comic elements, music from all over the world and dance, it shows the whole spectrum of human emotions.    

Not yet one year ago the 21year old Xiao Ruan married a man 40 years older than her, the world famous psychiatrist Qiao Li. Slowly Xiao Ruan begins to realize that her workaholic husband does not seem to care about his own mother at all. So Xiao Ruan decides to help both of them and take care for her stepmother. But when she sees under which terrible circumstances Old Mrs. Qiao lives – in an old hutong flat full of rubbish – Xiao Ruan starts to question what kind of man she has married. Old Mrs. Qiao seems to hallucinate dogs barking at her. She is terribly afraid of these noises. For her own sake and for the sake of Old Mrs. Qiao, Xiao Ruan has to find out what kind of secrets surround her new family. In this quest, she is supported by her older brother Ruan Mading, who recently came back from his studies abroad. Back in Beijing Ruan Mading leads a life no one but Xiao Ruan can understand. From the first moment on he questioned Xiao Ruan’s motivation for marrying Qiao Li. 

KL: 观众能对它有哪些期待？故事的本体是什么，在舞台上又如何呈现？

RR: 它确实成为了一部悬疑剧。我们围绕着观众的期待做了很多。我们的制作人一直在强调她眼前的是一部“在舞台上的希区柯克电影”。当你观看我们的剧时，你将永远确定不了接下来发生什么。我们混合了悲剧和滑稽的元素，音乐来自全世界，而舞蹈更是展示了人类情感的整个谱系。

不到一年前，21岁的小阮嫁给一个老他40岁的男人，世界闻名的精神医生乔力。慢慢小阮开始意识到他的工作狂丈夫一点不关心他的老母亲。所有小阮决定决定帮助他们两个，并去照顾她的婆婆。但是当她看点乔老太住的糟糕环境——一间堆满垃圾的胡同房子——时，小阮开始质疑她到底嫁了一个什么东西。乔老太似乎对狗叫有幻听。她极度恐惧这些声音。为了她自己，也为了乔老太，小阮不得不找出她新嫁入的人家到底有什么秘密。在这种疑虑中她哥哥阮马丁支持着她，阮马丁才留学回来。回到北京之后他过着只有小阮才能理解的日子。从一开始他就追问着小阮嫁给乔力的动机。

KL: Can you tell us a little about the players? Who are they and how have they engaged with this project?

RR: Our actors are highly-skilled professionals that know the ropes of how to thrill, surprise or amuse an audience. Born from 1976 to 1992 they are really diverse ensemble with completely different views on life and on the art of acting. They show immense dedication. We rehearsal full days, till 10 pm, every day, no weekends. Choosing the right actors took us half a year, but I am glad that we invested this time. I have the feeling that we have the perfect ensemble for this play.

KL: 你能告诉我们一些关于演员的信息吗？他们是什么人，又怎么加入了这个项目？

RR: 我们的演员是了解如何让一个观众颤抖、惊喜或是高兴的专家。76年到92年生的不等，他们真是对人生和表演艺术有着截然不同的看法。他们付出了很多。我们整个白天都在排练，到晚上10点结束，全周无休。我们花了半年才选到合适的演员，但是我认为很值得。我觉得我们找到了能最好诠释这部剧的团队。

TICKETS

http://m.damai.cn/ticket/123761.html

Longfu Theatre (Subway Dongsi, Exit E)

23rd 24th 25th JUNE 19:30

票务

http://m.damai.cn/ticket/123761.html

隆福剧院（东四地铁站，E出口）

6月23、24、25日 19点30

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