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THE BYSTANDER
GAME 一种旁观

Feburary. 12-18, 2023. Baby Grand Theatre, Kingston, ON

In February 2023, Yu Theatre revived the project halted by the pandemic—Hu Xuanyi’s The Bystander Game, winner of the 2016 Global Chinese Youth Playwriting Contest—staging it at the Baby Grand, Kingston Grand Theatre. Set against the backdrop of the Wenchuan earthquake, the play turned its gaze to powerless bystanders in the face of disaster. For the first time, Yu Theatre brought urgent social issues onto the Canadian stage, making theatre a space for both human compassion and social dialogue.

A WeChat post on January 24, 2023, noted:

“The script deals with many themes: the flood of media, the reconstruction of human emotions, the powerlessness of empathy, the erosion of public discourse, and the burial and recovery of truth. With this production, Yu Theatre hopes to present a new Bystander Game for the post-pandemic era.”

 

Staged in the round, with the audience at the center and the stage surrounding them, the production created a “free, exploratory, and ongoing” relationship between audience and performance. Original music heightened the play’s metaphors; live projections broke traditional stage boundaries, presenting first-person perspectives of survivors within a darkened chamber. Subtitles, projected interactively across three screens, shifted with actors’ movements. The auditorium was designed as a “ruin,” filled with scattered mats, inflatable sofas, and makeshift seats, encouraging audiences to sit freely—or even use phone flashlights to pierce the overwhelming silence.

Former members returned to join the production. Bold in form and vision, The Bystander Game not only pushed the boundaries of student theatre but also became part of the Drama Department's academic curriculum. After three performances, the remaining five shows immediately sold out, earning acclaim from faculty as “the most ambitious show.

2023年2月,虞剧社重新启动并在金斯顿市中心的 Kingston Grand Theatre 小剧场(Baby Grand)上演了因疫情而被迫搁置的项目——2016年“全球泛华青年剧本创作竞赛”首奖作品、胡璇艺的《一种旁观》(The Bystander Game)。该作品以汶川大地震为背景,将叙事视角转向灾难面前无力的旁观者。作为一次全新的尝试,这是虞剧社首次将紧迫的社会议题搬上加拿大舞台,让剧场成为一个承载人性关怀与社会讨论的重要空间。

在2023年1月24日的微信推文中,我们写道:

“剧本涉及多种主题,包括泛滥的媒体,人类情感的重建,共情的无力,舆论的走失,真相的淹没和重拾。虞剧社希望通过这次制作,在后疫情时代,带来全新的《一种旁观》。”

 

在舞台形式上,制作采用环形舞台:观众席设于中央,舞台环绕四周,营造出“自由的、探索的、持续进行中的观演关系”。原创音乐以激昂的旋律强化剧本隐喻;即时投影突破传统舞台语言,在特设的暗室里,观众只能通过事件亲历者的“第一人称”视角进入故事,从而凸显个体经验的不可知性。字幕翻译亦首次采用互动式投影——随演员动作而变换位置,并通过三个投影屏幕同时呈现。观众席则被设计成“废墟”:散落的垫子、充气沙发和临时座椅,“无论是随心所欲地席地而坐,还是(鼓励观众)拿出闪光灯去驱散巨大的『沉默』……”(2023年1月30日微信推文)观演关系因此被彻底重塑。

制作同时邀请了已毕业的前社员回归参与。在其先锋性与前瞻性之下,《一种旁观》不仅再次突破了学生戏剧制作的边界,更进入女王大学戏剧学院课堂。演出上演三场后,余下五场即刻售罄,创造了又一次票房佳绩,被学院的教授誉为“The most ambitious show”。虞剧社独特的美学探索与华语戏剧的思想力量,在这一刻得到集中彰显。

Photo by Yifei Zhang

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BRING THIS PRODUCTION TO TORONTO

Take a look at our visual references.

Learn more about our vision: to bring greater impact to works rooted in the Chinese-language world on the global stage.

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Queen's Yu Theatre Society

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