論沃騰貝克後設劇作中戲中戲之力量及第三空間 - 政大學術集成

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(1)國立政治大學英國語文學系碩士論文. 指導教授：姜翠芬教授 Advisor：Tsui-fen Jiang. 政治大論沃騰貝克後設劇作中戲中戲之力量及第三空間立. ‧ 國. 學. The Power of the Inner Play and the Thirdspace in. ‧. Timberlake Wertenbaker’s Metadramatic Plays. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. 研究生：賴佩吟撰 Name：Pei-yin Lai 中華民國 102 年 12 月 December 2013. v.

(2) The Power of the Inner Play and the Thirdspace in Timberlake Wertenbaker’s Metadramatic Plays. 立. 政治大 A Master Thesis. ‧ 國. 學. Presented to Department of English,. Nat. n. al. er. io. sit. y. ‧. National Chengchi University. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts. by Pei-yin Lai December 2013.

(3) To Tsui-fen Jiang 獻給我的恩師姜翠芬教授. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v.

(4) Acknowledgement I would like to dedicate this thesis to my advisor, Professor Tsui-fen Jiang, chair of Department of English, National Chengchi University, for her guidance and patience that support me through my journey of pursuing master degree. Professor Jiang is not only an outstanding scholar but also a mentor to me. My dissertation would not have been possible without Professor Jiang’s help.. 政治大. My gratitude also goes to the committee members Professor Yin-i Chen and Professor. 立. Yi-chin Shih, whose attainments and precious suggestion helped me in improving the quality. ‧ 國. 學. of my dissertation in every way.. I would also like to express my thanks to the secretary of Department of English, Betty,. ‧. as well as my classmates, Rebecca and Amy. Their selfless support and company braced me. y. Nat. io. sit. up greatly whenever I was in dismay.. n. al. er. Lastly, I would like to attribute the completion of my dissertation to my parents, my. i n U. v. brothers, James and Anny. It is your love and encouragement that made everything possible.. Ch. engchi. Thank you for having faith in me. I love you.. iv.

(5) Table of Contents. Acknowledgement ........................................................................................................ iv Chinese Abstract ..........................................................................................................vii English Abstract ......................................................................................................... viii Chapter. 政治大 Literature Review............................................................................................... 9 立. 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................ 1. Contribution ..................................................................................................... 11. ‧ 國. 學. Methodological Approach ................................................................................ 13. ‧. Organization ..................................................................................................... 16. sit. y. Nat. 2. Our Country’s Good and After Darwin as Twentieth-Century Metadramatic. io. er. Plays……………………………………………………………………........ 19 The Ceremony within the Play ........................................................................ 20. al. n. v i n Role Playing within the RoleC........................................................................... 21 hengchi U Literary and Real-Life Reference and Self Reference ..................................... 23 The Play within the Play .................................................................................. 25 The Blurring Boundary in Our Country’s Good .............................................. 30 The Blurring Boundary in After Darwin.......................................................... 39 Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 53. 3. The Inner Play: The Key to the Thirdspace ..................................................... 55 Henri Lefebvre’s Spatial Triad ......................................................................... 56 Michel Foucault’s Heterotopia and bell hooks’ Marginality ........................... 59 The Thirdspace and Thirding-as-Othering ....................................................... 61 v.

(6) The Thirdspace in Our Country’s Good ........................................................... 65 The Thirdspace in After Darwin ...................................................................... 72 Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 79 4. Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 81 Works Cited.................................................................................................................. 87 Works Consulted .......................................................................................................... 91. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. vi. i n U. v.

(7) 國立政治大學英國語文學系碩士班碩士論文提要. 論文名稱：論沃騰貝克後設劇作中戲中戲之力量及第三空間. 指導教授：姜翠芬教授. ‧ 國. ‧. 論文提要內容：. 學. 研究生：賴佩吟. 立. 政治大. y. Nat. sit. 自文藝復興起，後設戲劇及後設戲劇手法即被廣泛運用於劇場實踐，以增強劇情及. n. al. er. io. 支援角色的行動。然而，在經歷長時間的演變之後，後設戲劇出現了戲中戲(內戲)的強. i n U. v. 化，及內外戲間界線模糊的變化。內外戲間界線的模糊不僅突顯現代後設戲劇不同於傳. Ch. engchi. 統後設戲劇清楚區分內外戲、定義內戲為次要輔劇外，更削弱劇中排斥持續變動、無法定義的概念的二元對立系統。戲中戲(內戲)的實踐削弱了沃騰貝克《吾國至上》及《達爾文之後》劇中的二元對立，並開啟了「生三」(thirding)重建的過程建構新的關係及觀點以挑戰既有的框架。「生三成異」(thirding-as-Othering)不僅增進了劇中的「可再譯性」 (retranslatability)及「多音」(polyphony)，更確保在自由的第三空間，與霸權力量的辯論得以持續進行。. vii.

(8) Abstract. Since the Renaissance, metadrama and metadramatic devices have been widely used to bolster the plot and support characters’ actions in theatrical practices. Nevertheless, the structure of metadrama went through a drastic transformation over time which resulted in the elevation of the power of the inner play and the blurring boundary between the inner and the. 政治大. outer play in the twentieth-century metadramatic plays. The blurring boundary between the. 立. inner and the outer play not only distinguishes the modern metadrama from the traditional. ‧ 國. 學. one which defines the inner and the outer play with a distinct line and subordinates the play within the play as a supportive device but also conduces to the breakdown of binary. ‧. opposition that excludes shifting and indefinable ideas. With the practice of the inner play, the. y. Nat. io. sit. binary confrontations in Timberlake Wertenbaker’s Our Country’s Good and After Darwin. n. al. er. are undermined and the thirding, or reconstructing process is launched to create new. i n U. v. relationships and perspectives to challenge the existed norms. Through thirding-as-Othering,. Ch. engchi. the retranslatability as well as the polyphony in the plays are enhanced to ensure the ongoing debate against the hegemonic power in the liberating Thirdspace.. viii.

(9) The Power of the Inner Play and the Thirdspace in Timberlake Wertenbaker’s Metadramatic Plays. Chapter One: Introduction In western literature, the issue of reality and illusion has always been a recurring disputation since Socrates (469-399 B.C.). In The Republic, Plato exerted Socrates’ telling about the famous Allegory of the Cave1 to discuss the substance of reality and illusion. In theatre, the definition of reality and illusion has also been held. 治政 up for examination through theme, performance, and 大structural arrangement, 立. especially in metadramatic plays. When it comes to metadrama2, the controversy of. ‧ 國. 學. reality and illusion remains to perplex both readers and audience in theatre. In Drama,. ‧. Metadrama and Perception, Richard Hornby argues, “no form of drama of theatre is. sit. y. Nat. any closer or farther from life than any other, in any way that truly matters. No plays,. n. al. er. io. however ‘realistic,’ reflect life directly; all plays, however ‘unrealistic,’ are. i n U. v. semiological devices for categorizing and measuring life indirectly” (14) and Jan. Ch. engchi. Mukarovsky also assumes that “all literature, no matter how realistic, reflects no particular reality, but instead reflects reality as a whole” (19). Therefore, while reading metadramatic plays, the polar definition of realistic and unrealistic principles 1. The Allegory of the Cave was written in The Republic (380 B.C.) by Plato (424-348 B.C.) to. discuss the importance of truth and education through fictional dialogue between Socrates and Glaucon. The story portrays the process of a group of cave-dwelling people being revealed to and enlightened by the sun, instead of fire, as the source of reality and every visible thing. 2. In the broad sense, “metadrama can be defined as drama about drama; it occurs whenever the. subject of the play turns out to be, in some sense, drama itself” (Hornby 31). “The metadrama experience for the audience is one of the unease, a dislocation of perception. … At times, metadrama can yield the most exquisite aesthetic insight, which theorists have spoken of as ‘estrangement’ or ‘alienation.’ This ‘seeing double’ is the true resource of the significance of metadrama” (Hornby 32). 1.

(10) are no longer reliable; people tend not to categorize drama by realistic doctrines so as to avoid falling into the plight of binary opposition. In the last five centuries, metadrama has been through a structural reformation since its very first appearance in 1497, and its structure has transformed from an independent outer play equipped with the supportive inner play3 to both the inner and outer plays interacting and conversing with each other. In twentieth-century metadramatic theatre, the inner play no longer functions as a supportive device but stands in an equal position to the outer play.. 治政 In addition to the elevation of the inner play, 大 Hornby points out the boundary 立. between the inner and outer plays is emphasized because “a play within a play of …. ‧ 國. 學. metadramatic requires that the outer play have characters and plot; that these in turn. ‧. must acknowledge the existence of the inner play; and that they acknowledge it as a. sit. y. Nat. performance. In other words, there must be two sharply distinguishable layers of. n. al. er. io. performance” (35). However, metatheatrical performances and theories have evolved. i n U. v. from dualistic orientation to a more flexible ground where boundaries between binary. Ch. engchi. confrontations pass into thin and permeable membrane-like matters that allow thoughts, words, and characters to move between the inner and outer plays. The difference between us and previous age is the additional element of breakdown between the layers of the plays within the plays. In the past, the inner plays and outer plays were clearly distinguishable, and one could 3. Hornby generally categorizes the play within the play into two kinds: one, “the ‘inset’ type, the. inner play is secondary, a performance set apart from the main action, like The Mouse Trap in Shakespeare’s Hamlet; in the other, the ‘framed’ type, the inner play is primary, with outer play a framing device, like the Sly episode in Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew” (33). Therefore, the inner play is the play within the play which included by and happens posterior to the outer play. 2.

(11) always tell which of the two was primary. In the twentieth century we find the same characters moving between inner and outer play, the boundaries between inner and outer play becoming blurred and sometimes disappearing, and even confusion as to whether the inner or outer play is the main or “real” one. (Hornby 47) The elevation of inner play not only ensures structural flexibility and commutability in metadramatic plays; moreover, the inner play itself also transcends from a passive to aggressive position, functioning as a trigger for interactions between polarities by. 治政 breaking its one directional confrontation and, consequently, 大 enhances the openness of 立. twentieth century drama. In order to further dissect the influence caused by the. ‧ 國. 學. elecation of the inner play and the transformation due to the blurring boundary. ‧. between the inner and the outer play, I would look into the features of modern. sit. y. Nat. metadramatic plays and analyze Timberlake Wertenbaker’s Our Country’s Good4 and. n. al. er. io. After Darwin,5 two twentieth-century metadramatic plays, to examine the power of the inner play in the following chapters.. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. As a twentieth-century playwright, Wertenbaker, though prolific6, does not 4. Our Country’s Good was written in 1988 by Timberlake Wertenbaker, adapted from Thomas. Keneally’s novel, The Playmaker. Our Country’s Good was first performed at the Royal Court Theatre, London, on 10 September 1988. 5. After Darwin was written in 1998 by Timberlake Wertenbaker, based on the voyage of H.M.S.. Beagle in 1831 and the anecdotes between Captain FitzRoy and Darwin. After Darwin was first performed at the Hampstead Theatre, London, on 8 July 1998. 6. The oeuvre of Timberlake Wertenbaker contains twenty three plays: This Is No Place for. Tallulah Bankhead (1978), The Third (1980), Second Sentence (1980), Case To Answer (1980), Breaking Through (1980), New Anatomies (1981), Inside Out (1982), Home Leave (1982), Abel’s Sister (1984), The Grace Of Mary Traverse (1985), Our Country’s Good (1988), The Love Of Nightingale (1988), Three Birds Alighting On A Field (1991), The Break Of Day (1995), After Darwin (1998), Dianeira (1999), The Ash Girl (2000), Credible Witness (2001), Galelio’S Daughter (2004), Divine 3.

(12) merely define herself as a playwright; she has also extended her field to mass media and translation, expecting that more and more people could have easier access to drama. In light of the significance and popularity of Wertenbaker’s plays, her works are extensively discussed. Wertenbaker is convinced of the flexibility of history and the imperativeness of all the neglected voices to be heard by the public. According to her own lecture, Dancing with History at the end of the twentieth century, it seems, history is not progressive, it is not certain, and I would suggest that it is no longer. 治政 even a narrative. . . . It is more complex,大 several models can exist at once, 立. different voices tell different stories and enquire in different places.. ‧ 國. 學. (Wertenbaker, “Dancing” 20). ‧. In Timberlake Wertenbaker’s metadramatic plays, the amalgamation of reality,. sit. y. Nat. illusion, and reconstruction of meanings lucidly embodies Wertenbaker’s belief in the. n. al. er. io. fluidity of historical discourse. She has made adaptations based on existing works,. i n U. v. including myth, novels and historical events. Wertenbaker’s works present whole new. Ch. engchi. aspects distinguishable from the original works by revealing the hidden voices. Those minorities who are silenced are usually subjugated because of race, status, and mostly, gender. Therefore, some critics consider Wertenbaker a feminist writer for her plenteous descriptions of persecuted female characters, yet instead of being one, Intervention (2006), Jenufa (2007), Arden City (2008),and The Line (2009); thirteen translations: False Admission (1983) by Pierre Marivaux, Successful Strategies (1983) by Pierre Marivaux, Mephisto (1986) by Ariane Mnouchkine, Leocadia (1987) by Jean Anouilh, La Dispute (1987) by Pierre Marivaux, Pelleas and Melisande (1989) by Maurice Maeterlinck, The Thebans (1992)by Sophocles, Hecuba (1994) by Euripides, Filumena (1998) by Eduardo de Filippo, Hippolytus (2009) by Euripides, Phedre (2009) by Jean Racine, Elektra (2010) by Sophocles, and Britannicus (2011) by Jean Racine; one screen play, The Children (1990); and one television play, Do Not Disturb (1991). 4.

(13) Wertenbaker sees herself a translator of culture7 for her writing, not confined to a single concern, presents the multi-aspects of life, society, and culture through drama in a macroscopic perspective. Hornby also suggests that people should relate drama to reality under drama/culture complex8 to interpret life; moreover, instead of reaffirming the social order, the artist holds it up for clear examination. Wertenbaker’s effort in re-interpreting differences and otherness allows her to write beyond the fetter of history, ideology and binary oppositions. Just as in Our Country’s Good and After Darwin, two typical metadramatic plays, the audience will perceive how characters of. 治政 inner and outer plays gradually interact and reciprocally 大 affect each other, and create 立. the space for translatability.. ‧ 國. 學. In Our Country’s Good and After Darwin, Wertenbaker utilizes different. ‧. methods to display the breakdown of binary opposition. Instead of accentuating the. sit. y. Nat. demarcation between the inner and outer plays, she uses the practice of inner play to. n. al. er. io. tear down the wall that distinguishes the borderline between the inner and outer plays,. i n U. v. honestly reflecting the traits of twentieth-century metadramatic play as Hornby has mentioned above.. 7. Ch. engchi. Aram A. Yengoyan theorized that: “Usually cultural translations have been done through a. frame which either stresses differences or serves as a means in which the ‘other’ is portrayed in categories which are understandable to a Western audience” (25). In an interview of outstanding temporary female playwrights, Wertenbaker also proclaimed “I was trying to get at something that was very immediate. I didn’t have a conclusion or a simple line for others to see, I was just exploring as I was writing:…the fatigue at the end of the century, the breakdown of a lot of ideals, particularly for women,…[and] what sort of future we are providing for others” (Stephenson 144). 8. Hornby argues that “a play does not reflect life; it reflects itself” (17); he also believes that a. play relates to other plays as a system, while this system simultaneously relates to other systems, such as literature, painting, all kinds of art forms, and culture in general. “Culture, as it centers on drama in this way, I shall refer to as the drama/culture complex” (17). 5.

(14) Before further looking into the innovative genes of the inner play, I will briefly introduce the synopsis of Our Country’s Good and After Darwin. In Our Country’s Good, an unnamed Aboriginal Australian prologues the arrival of the British fleet, who later dies from smallpox in the last scene. To govern the convicts in the colony, Captain Philips suggests putting on a play to educate the uncivilized, illiterate outcasts. In order to impress Philips, Ralph takes the position as the director to supervise the convicts to do George Farquhar’s comedy, The Recruiting Officer.9 Although the officers doubt and debate over the merits of theatre, Captain Philips determines the. 治政 rehearsal should continue. After each rehearsal, the大 convicts begin to communicate, 立. cooperate and learn to compromise for the play as a team. All the convicts are full of. ‧ 國. 學. hope because of the upcoming performance. The play ends right before the show is. ‧. about to go on.. sit. y. Nat. Wertenbaker’s another metadramatic play, After Darwin, describes Darwin’s. n. al. er. io. journey of exploration on H.M.S. Beagle with FitzRoy before he published his. 9. Ch. i n U. v. The Irish dramatist George Farquhar (1677-1707) was famous for his contribution to. engchi. Restoration Comedy. The Recruiting Officer (1706) comprises two main story lines based on two couples: Captain Plume and Sylvia, as well as Worthy, a local gentleman, and Melinda, Sylvia’s cousin. The story begins with Captain Plume recruiting new officers in the town of Shrewsberry. Plume and his Sergeant, Kite recruit Sylvia who is in disguise as Jack Wilful by abduction and they also conspire to recruit Bullock by framing Jack Wilful to spend a night with Bullock’s sister Rose. Although Willful (Sylvia) later was put on trial for ravishing Rose, she eventually gets acquitted of all charges. As for Melinda, after receiving a great fortune from inheritance, she changes her mind to encourage Captain Brazen instead of marrying her fiancé Worthy until she is tricked by Kite and Plume through fortunetelling. In the end, Plume leaves the army to marry Sylvia, Melinda accepts Worthy’s courtship, and Brazen gets the recruits from Plume as a compensation for losing a rich marriage with Melida. In 1955, Bertolt Brecht adapted The Recruiting Officer into Trumpets and Drums, and Thomas Keneally wrote a novel, The Playmaker (1987) that contains The Recruiting Officer as the inner play, while Timberlake Wertenbaker adapted Keneally’s novel into the play Our Country’s Good (1988). Both The Playmaker and Our Country’s Good debate about the nature and merits of punishment and theatre. 6.

(15) earthshaking theory of evolution. The play begins with FitzRoy’s devastating monologue before committing suicide, and returns to the very beginning of the journey in the next scene. Later the journey turns out to parallel a play rehearsal in a modern theatre in which actors, Tom and Ian, play the roles of Darwin and FitzRoy. In the cabin, FitzRoy is trying to persuade Darwin from publishing the theory while in the twentieth-century theater Ian is trying to convince Tom to reject the offer from Hollywood. In order to survive and ensure the play, Ian later sabotages Tom’s opportunity by accusing him as HIV positive gay. In the last scene, FitzRoy, Darwin,. 治政 Lawrence, and Millie are all in the same room. Without 大 communication, seemingly 立. irrelevant soliloquies floating in the air intercrossing with each other convey a trace of. ‧ 國. 學. mournful regret from FitzRoy beseeching for a more tolerant, lenient space.. ‧. According to Paul M. Shafer, “Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection offers. sit. y. Nat. the tools to break free from the present impasse in order to rebuild philosophy and. n. al. er. io. regain the love of wisdom” (1).. i n U. v. In Our Country’s Good, the outer play is intensified by the practice of the inner. Ch. engchi. play, yet the whole play ends in an atmosphere of ongoing suspension. On the other hand, the inner and outer plays in After Darwin gradually blend into one another and end with a surreal denouement. Although dissimilar methods are employed, under the influence of the inner play, both metadramatic plays reveal identical symptoms in its language—appropriate the inner play lines in the outer play conversation. In the two-act play, Our Country’s Good, the parallel arrangement and recurrent themes in the corresponding scenes manifest the transformation in characters as well as collapsing symmetries through comparisons between Act I and Act II. All the 7.

(16) transformations commence after the first rehearsal of the inner play in the last scene of Act I. In Act II, the inner play starts to show its effect on the lives and daily conversations of the characters. The lines of the inner play are used to communicate in the outer play and the affected inner play couple—Ralph and Mary, in Our Country’s Good, gradually start to grow on one another. Formerly existing confrontations of gender, social status, discipline, and language in Act I begin to lessen with dissolving hostility. On the other hand, in After Darwin, different from the parallel structure in Our Country’s Good, the reconciliation of the binary conflicts goes into effect by. 治政 degrees: time frames of the inner and outer plays overlap 大 with each other; lines are 立 shared by both the inner and outer plays; and the boundary between the characters. ‧ 國. 學. from the inner and the outer play gradually disappears. These reconciliations comprise. ‧. a closing scene that openly contains all the ideas without judgment or categorization.. sit. y. Nat. At the beginning, the plot proceeds with a distinct demarcation between two different. n. al. er. io. worlds; however, the separate worlds of H.M.S. Beagle10 in 1831 and actors in. i n U. v. twentieth-century theatre, scene after scene, gradually merged as one.. Ch. engchi. In the last scene in Act I of After Darwin, two plays, inner and outer, halve Scene Twelve. The playwright of the inner play, Lawrence, and the director of the inner play, Millie, interrupt the play, as FitzRoy starts to persuade Darwin out of his sprouting idea about evolution, from the angle of stage supervisor. From this scene onwards, characters and lines of two different worlds, in the nineteenth century and in. 10. Setting out from Plymouth, England, the voyage of H.M.S. (Her Majesty’s Ship) Beagle. began on 27 December 1831, sailing to explore the coasts of southern hemisphere. For almost five years, Darwin enhanced his research by on land geological measurement and materials collecting while FitzRoy trying to civilize the barbarian and chart the coasts. 8.

(17) the twentieth-century theatre, are free to move between the inner and outer plays. With regard to the commonness of Wertenbaker’s two metadramatic plays, the characters in Our Country’s Good and After Darwin both show the influence of the inner play through language: in the outer play, some characters use lines of the inner play to converse with other characters even when they are not rehearsing; meanwhile, some conversations are shared by different interlocutors in both inner and outer plays. Because of the role playing within the role, characters are unshackled from the bias and stereotypical restraints of their identities and allowed to build new connections or. 治政 voice out what used to be oppressed in the liberating 大field of the Thirdspace. 立. 11. With. all the transformation triggered by the inner play, I argue that in Wertenbaker’s Our. ‧ 國. 學. Country’s Good and After Darwin, it is the practice of the inner play that launches the. ‧. conversation between drama and life, illusion and reality, and this conversation blurs. sit. y. Nat. the boundaries of confronting thoughts and positions so as to create a Thirdspace. n. al. er. io. where conflicts are allowed to collide, reduce, blend, and reserve; moreover, it is. i n U. v. where possibilities as well as new perspectives are formed during the process of. Ch. subversive thirding-as-Othering.. engchi. Literature Review Timberlake Wertenbaker (1951— ) is known for her multicultural background12 11. According to Edward W. Soja: “In its broadest sense, Thirdspace is a purposefully tentative. and flexible term that attempts to capture what is actually a constantly shifting and changing milieu of ideas” (2). 12. Lael Louisiana Timberlake Wertenbaker was born in New York and grew up in Basque. Country, France. In the early 80s, Wertenbaker moved to London and devoted herself to her writing career till today. In an interview, Wertenbaker declared that “I feel I am an American but not completely…I grew up in Europe so I am not an expatriate. Really, that’s just narrow nationalism and I 9.

(18) and devotion to theatre. Her unique perspective and writing talent have won her many awards, especially Our Country’s Good.13 Wertenbaker has increasingly received attention since she published her first play in 1987. Critics tend to analyze the fluidity of ideology, identity, as well as meanings in her plays, while the audience and readers are often mesmerized by the energy and compatibility of various themes and implications conveyed through her adeptness in language and plot arrangement. Sara Freeman further points out that Wertenbaker is welcomed with her great skill with language and deft interaction with historical, mythical,. 治政 and literary sources, as well as on her thematic 大 concern with the ability of 立 art to transform life, the role of speech and silence in liberation and. ‧ 國. 學. oppression, and the fluidity of sex and gender roles. (Literary). ‧. From the spectacle of history and translation, many excellent researchers such. sit. y. Nat. as Maya E. Roth, Sara Freeman, Kate Bligh, and Jay M. Gipson-King dedicate. n. al. er. io. themselves to the openness and recreating translatability in Wertenbaker’s plays. For. i n U. v. instance, Jay M. Gipson-King has compared the fracturing history in The Grace of. Ch. engchi. Mary Traverse, Love of the Nightingale as well as After Darwin and analyzed how Wertenbaker rewrote and endowed history with alternative options. Kate Bligh has focused on how Wertenbaker fractures conventional structure of drama and renders openness to Our Country’s Good by taking “an oppositional approach to the philosopher-critic’s requirement for a precise beginning, middle, and end and (only) don’t know why people can’t accept that you can have several cultures. The whole thing about being a writer is that you can have a floating identity anyway” (de Vries). 13. Our Country’s Good has won Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright (1988),. Laurence Olivier/BBC Award for Best New Play (1988), and Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best New Foreign Play (1990). 10.

(19) one climax—instead shaping a beginning that is an ending, a fractured middle and (at least) four endings that culminate… rather ambiguous beginning” (177). Maya E. Roth, on the other hand, regards Wertenbaker as a translator, and develops her criticism on how “identity, culture, and history register as dynamic powerful formations in fascinating collision with plural sources and complex meanings-in-translation, activating polyphonic interactive exchange with artists and audiences, alike” (157). As Sara Freeman argues “Wertenbaker’s play moves after Darwin and after tragedy in all these senses: it follows in time, it imitates structures, it. 治政 The power of translation pursues and critiques, it repurposes” (Tragedy 204).大立. originates from the possibility of re-imagining, or reconstructing, which could. ‧ 國. 學. allowed traditional history to be reinterpreted for new possible meanings. Shih. ‧. Yi-chin also argued the significance of bestowing new meaning by rewriting history. sit. y. Nat. in her dissertation History and Gender in Timberlake Wertenbaker’s Plays. In terms of. n. al. er. io. gender, she examined seven history plays by Wertenbaker to validate the assertion that. i n U. v. “both narrative nature of history and social formation of gender are constructed and. Ch. engchi. should be re-read to offer new vision” (vi). However, there is still a lot of room for the dominant role of the inner play and the interplay between the inner and outer plays to be further explored.. Contribution The critics mentioned above tend to analyze Wertenbaker’s plays with thematic focus while paying less attention to the importance of structural arrangement. The concept of spatial praxis not only enhances the analysis of transformation in 11.

(20) Wertenbaker’s theatre from the thematic point of view, but could also help to clarify how the structural arrangement imposes clouts in the process of reconstructing. In order to further explore the source of reconstruction, I would focus my research on examining the significance of the inner play in creating the Thirdspace where the othering and the reconstructing process are proved to be possible. There are three conditions for the inner play to function as the key to escape fixed binary opposition and launch the conversation by transforming the textual world into a Thirdspace where meanings and new visions are free to develop. Firstly, because the inner play. 治政 creates the possibility to transcend the shackle of perceived/material world in the 大立. outer play, the limitation of illusion and reality is undermined through the practice of. ‧ 國. 學. theatre. Secondly, instead of being the audience, the actors of the outer play have a. ‧. chance to experience a whole new perspective and realize how it feels to think. sit. y. Nat. without the influence from their social status and background. Thirdly, through role. n. al. er. io. playing, the inner play becomes a space of imagination where everyone is free to be. i n U. v. anyone s/he desires to be. Hierarchy and social conventions no longer exist in the. Ch. engchi. sovereignty of theatre. With the subversive power of the inner play, dualism is undermined for creativity to flourish, and with the fluidity of the actors’ journey in and out of the inner and outer plays, these two metadramatic plays offer new visionary Thirdspaces. In light of the transformation brought by of the inner play and the openness of the Thirdspace which encourages new perspectives, I will employ Henri Lefebvre and Edward W. Soja’s theories to look into the traits of Thirdspace, the process of thirding-as-Othering, which formed after the intervention of the inner play to support and illustrate the transformation of metadramatic play. 12.

(21) From the process of the inner play leading to the formation of Thirdspace in the outer play, I suggest that a metadramatic play may also create a Thirdspace in audiences’ minds where Wertenbaker not only vitalizes historical narratives, but also provides illuminating thoughts for approaching the future. The relationship between the inner and outer plays is the microcosm of theatre and life. The outer play not only symbolizes life but also represents a space where ideology and dualism dominate as superior systems. However, Wertenbaker reflects the real life through the practice of the inner play to adumbrate the apertures and breaches in hierarchy, class, gender,. 治政 ideology etc. By swinging via the apertures and breaches, 大 a replica of life which 立. contains “shifting and changing milieu of ideas” (Soja, Thirdspace 2), hence takes. ‧ 國. 學. shape to inspire the audience with its openness and subversiveness. To sum up, the. ‧. notion and the practice of the inner play, which the aforementioned critics neglected, I. sit. y. Nat. argue, is the agent to launch dynamic conversations between history and society and. n. al. er. io. the prerequisite to deconstruct the binary structure and restraints from patriarchal. i n U. v. norms. With the aid of the inner play, Wertenbaker is able to do justice to the. Ch. engchi. unprivileged, present the silenced voices overwhelmed by the hegemonic power and inspire the audience with new perspectives formed during the thirding process in the Thirdspace.. Methodological Approach In order to further delve into the significance as well as the function of the inner play, I will reinforce my analysis with the aid of critical studies in metadrama by theatre scholar Richard Hornby, the concept of an-Other from French theorist Henri 13.

(22) Lefebvre, and Thirdspace from spatial theorist Edward W. Soja. In metadrama, drama about drama, blurring boundaries between the inner and outer plays has influenced the development of theatrical theory in the twentieth century. Hornby argues that traditional dualistic realism is insufficient for defining and categorizing life, and of course, insufficient for playwrights such as Wertenbaker who treats theatre as an “embodied ‘translation zone’14 for history and cross-culture exchange—in action” (Roth 173). Drama is a system that relates to other plays and systems such as politics, other genres of literature, and art—culture— as an organism. Conventional taxonomy. 治政 would function far from enough to define it. Although 大Lefebvre acknowledges that 立 binary opposition has the “magic power to turn obscurity into transparency”. ‧ 國. 學. (Production 39), that is to say, the power to decrypt, the convenience and arbitrariness. ‧. of dualism is unreliable for Il y a toujours l’Autre,15 ‘there is always the Other’ (4) in. sit. y. Nat. the production of space.. n. al. er. io. Therefore, I will draw on Lefebvre to see how the Thirdspace is formed through. i n U. v. the interplay of metadramatic plays. In The Production of Space, Lefebvre proposes a. Ch. engchi. triad of cohesive spatial praxis to demonstrate and define representational space as “the dominated - and hence passively experienced -space which the imagination seeks to change and appropriate. It overlays physical space, making symbolic use of its objects” (39). Wertenbaker, in her metadramatic plays, wields the fictitious inner play as her tool to change the outer play, presenting the possibility of interpretability not. 14. Emily Apter argues in her Translation Zone (2006) that translation is “the primary mode of. communication in our constantly mediated, globalizing world” (qtd. in Roth 173). 15. Quoted from La présence et l'absence: Contribution á la théorie des représentations. Paris:. Casterman, 1980. 143. 14.

(23) only in the colonial history but also in the lived space that carries the historical memory within its culture. On the other hand, Soja encapsulates Lefebvre’s central idea in his Critique of Everyday Life and La présence et l'absence that he [Lefebvre] tried to avoid the rigidity of categorical equivalence (body=hot=periphery, mind=cold=center), for this reeked of what he saw as the deadening of dialectical reasoning in conceptual dualisms, in the construction of compelling binary oppositions that are categorically closed. 治政 to new, unanticipated possibilities. Two 大 terms are never enough, he would 立 repeatedly write. Il y a toujours l’Autre. There is always the Other, a third. ‧ 國. 學. term that disrupts, disorders, and begins to reconstitute the conventional. ‧. binary opposition into an-Other that comprehends but is more than just the. sit. y. Nat. sum of two parts. (Thirdspace 30-31). n. al. er. io. With great distrust of dualism, Soja inherits and advances Lefebvre’s idea of. i n U. v. Autre/Other with the concept of “trialectics”16 and “thirding-as-Othering” to discuss. Ch. engchi. the substance of the mysterious Other. He sets forth the concept of the Thirdspace and defines that Thirdspace is a contradictory and ambiguous. It has restricting as well as liberating aspects. It arouses a space of radical openness, a space of resistance and permanent struggle, a space of various representations, which can be analyzed in binary terms but where there is always a third 16. The term is coined by Soja to indicate Lefebvre’s theory of transdisciplinary triple dialectic in. space: “the perceived—conceived—lived triad (in spatial terms: spatial practice, representations of space, representational spaces)” (Lefebvre, The Production of Space 40). 15.

(24) additional dimension, an other space as Foucault called it in his heterotopology, which also has to be studied. Thirdspace is a meeting point, a hybrid place, where one can move beyond the existing borders. It is also a place of the marginal women and men, where old connections can be disturbed and new one emerge. A Thirdspace consciousness of the precondition to building a community of resistance to all forms of hegemonic power. (Soja, Communicating 56) When it comes to the space in theatre, Lefebvre’s and Soja’s perspectives of space. 治政 and metaphilosophy justly offer incisive edges to excavate 大 into the Thirdspace of 立 metatheatre and enter a creative process of restructuring. Drawing on Hornby’s,. ‧ 國. 學. Lefebvre’s and Soja’s theories of breaking binary opposition as well as encouraging. ‧. new opinions which constantly questions and debate, I believe the audience will be. sit. y. Nat. able to see how new discourse is formed to challenge the authoritative texts in Our. n. al. er. io. Country’s Good and After Darwin.. Organization. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. This thesis comprises four chapters. Chapter One contains the characteristic of dynamic mobility in Timberlake Wertenbaker, a translator of culture, to understand the source as well as the background of her power in reconstruction and an overall introduction of how the inner play procures the formation of the Thirdspace. Proceeding from the introductory chapter, in Chapter Two, the interrelationship and function of metatheatrical device will be examined with the help of Hornby’s analysis in metadrama so as to recognize the role of Wertenbaker’s plays in metadramatic 16.

(25) history, and how the blurring boundary causes the transformation of the characters in Wertenbaker’s structural constructions in Our Country’s Good and After Darwin. In Chapter Three, the otherness and subversiveness of the play will be the center of discussion for it is the otherness that allows history to be rewritten and provides new visions. Other than focusing on the possibility of translation and re-examination, I will look into the spatial theories of Lefebvre and Soja to illustrate the significance of Otherness, the formation of representational space, and the traits of Thirdspace to probe into how new perspectives that constitute unceasing dissent are formed outside. 治政 of the system of binary opposition. In the fourth chapter, 大 I will present a general 立. overview of my argument commencing with the inner play as the premise to the. ‧ 國. 學. formation of the Thirdspace and its qualities of being an agent to launch. ‧. transformation in the textual world. The thirding process which guarantees new. sit. y. Nat. perspectives and the openness of the Thirdspace will be reaffirmed to declare it. n. al. er. io. significance in constructing the ceaseless challenge against all the hegemonic power.. Ch. engchi. 17. i n U. v.

(26) 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. 18. i n U. v.

(27) Chapter Two: Our Country’s Good & After Darwin as Twentieth-Century Metadramatic Plays. From a historical perspective, metadrama has existed in different forms in the plays since the Renaissance. Although Renaissance metadramatic plays and twentieth-century metadramatic plays share some common characteristics, the breakdown of the layer that differentiates the inner play from the outer play notably distinguishes twentieth-century metadramatic plays from the Renaissance ones. Both. 治政 Our Country’s Good and After Darwin by Wertenbaker 大 exemplify this characteristic 立. of the breakdown. However, before examining the latent twentieth-century. ‧ 國. 學. metadramatic nature in both plays, it is necessary to first understand the development. ‧. and change of metadramatic devices. I will discuss the interrelationship and function. sit. y. Nat. of metatheatrical device with the help of Richard Hornby’s analysis in metadrama so. n. al. er. io. as to recognize the role of Wertenbaker’s plays in metadramatic history in the. i n U. v. following paragraphs. The history of metadrama will become the foundation that. Ch. engchi. helps us to understand the significance of the blurring boundary in modern metadramatic plays. The blurring boundary between the inner and the outer play not only distinguishes the twentieth-century metadramatic plays from the Renaissance ones but also marks the elevation of the subordinate inner play which undermines the conflicting ideas in the play and procures transformation in the characters of the outer play. In Richard Hornby’s Drama, Metadrama, and Perception, metadramatic devices are characterized into five types: the play within the play, the ceremony 19.

(28) within the play, role playing within the role, literary and real-life reference within the play and self-reference. Since all these types of metadrama are rarely independently used without concurring or mixing with one another, I will introduce the characteristics of each type starting from the second type “the ceremony within the play,” and canvass the first type “the play within the play” last so as to coherently continue my discussion of the metadramatic nature and significance in Wertenbaker’s Our Country’s Good and After Darwin.. 治政 The Ceremony within the Play 大立. The second metadramatic device—the ceremony within the play—always. ‧ 國. 學. reflects the culture and belief of the play’s contemporary world. Instead of pursuing. ‧. the purpose of pleasure or practical utility, ceremonies are always performed to. sit. y. Nat. present special meanings in the process of changing.. n. al. er. io. Ceremonies always convey meaning. They contain encoded signs by which. i n U. v. their society understands both external world around them, and the. Ch. engchi. emotional world within. Since their purpose is always to provide an order, the pattern or form is always of the highest importance. (Hornby 51) The pattern and form of the ceremony assure its independence in the play. A lot similar to the play within the play, the ceremony within the play involves a formal performance that is related to the surrounding action. Ceremonies are ubiquitous within the play at all time such as “feasts, balls, pageants, tournaments, games, rituals, trials, inquests, processions, executions, funerals, coronations, initiations,” etc (49). For instance, wedding in William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, funeral, 20.

(29) fencing match and drinking party in Hamlet, banquets in Macbeth and ball as well as duel in Romeo and Juliet are all ceremonies that the audience is familiar with in the plays. However, sometimes the implicative quality of ceremony makes categorizing ceremonies within the play difficult. For example, Othello’s murder of Desdemona carries sacramental element in its ritual action yet the frame of ceremony is not clearly defined for its deep entanglement with the plot. Compared with theatre, ceremony is also a cultural medium that assists people in understanding the world; nevertheless, the pith of theatre and ceremony is very different. Ceremony is a social device to. 治政 reaffirm order and “an artificial turning point that will 大stand for the slow, gradual, but 立 very important process of becoming a learned person” (52). For instance, graduation. ‧ 國. 學. ceremony gives symbolic meaning to the educational process and embodies the. ‧. importance of constant cultural internalization. The form and pattern of ceremony. sit. y. Nat. often change in different times and cultures but its mechanism always remains the. n. al. er. io. same. On the other hand, theatre is a tolerant space which coveys various motifs and. i n U. v. arguments that reflect, question and even challenge the society via performing art and. Ch. engchi. stage. Theatre shows its concern through emphasis on the plot which presents the process of change. Although ceremony and theatre are essentially different, theatre celebrates the process and collaborates with ceremony to symbolize the consummation of change. In brief, “the widespread association of theatre with ceremony is not because they are one and the same, but rather because theatre is metaceremony” (55).. Role Playing within the Role 21.

(30) The third type of metadrama is role playing within the role, which happens when a character takes on another role that differs from his/her original self in the play. Role playing within the role is widely used and usually synchronizes with the play within the play and ceremony within the play whenever the character of the outer play also appears as a role in the inner play. For instance, in Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream and Wertenbaker’s Our Country’s Good, the menials of the former and the convicts of the latter not only are characters in the outer play but also play parts in the inner play. Role playing within the role is also considered as an excellent way to. 治政 reveal “a role that is closer to character’s true self…by 大showing not only who 立. character is, but what he wants to be” (Hornby 67). For example, Hamlet’s feigned. ‧ 國. 學. madness in Hamlet, Viola’s masculinity in The Twelfth Night, Lieutenant Ralph’s. ‧. outburst desire and Sideway’s eloquence in Our Country’s Good are all pretensions. sit. y. Nat. that suggest the real self beneath their everyday personalities. Due to the ambiguity. n. al. er. io. and estrangement in role playing within the role, it adds “fascination in having the. i n U. v. roles performed by actors…[and] a third metadramatic layer to the audience’s. Ch. engchi. experience” (Hornby 68). When actor takes on different roles, the variation usually unsettles the audience’s experiences in identifying with the character. Questions of human identity are hence raised with role playing within the role. There are three types of role playing within the role—voluntary, involuntary, and allegorical. According to Hornby, Voluntary role playing is the most straightforward kind; a character consciously and willingly takes on a role different from his ordinary self in order to achieve some clear goal…. Involuntary role playing within the role 22.

(31) may be caused by factors outside the character, or caused by some inner weakness, or, quite commonly, caused by some combination of outer and inner factors…. Allegorical role playing within the role arises whenever the play’s situation, action, or imagery contrive to relate a character to some well-known literary or historical figure. (73-74) All these types of role playing within the role are commonly employed in plays, just like the ceremony within the play. In modern drama, great deals of plays incline to discuss the issue of identity, often in the manner of transforming from voluntary to. 治政 involuntary role playing. The actor seems to incessantly 大 play different roles but 立. eventually fails to find his/her true identity. In Our Country’s Good and After Darwin,. ‧ 國. 學. most characters start with voluntary role playing, and excavate another aspect of. ‧. themselves through role playing within his/her own role. To capsule the educational. sit. y. Nat. functions of aforementioned metadramatic devices, the ceremony within the play is a. n. al. er. io. device to explore social systems as well as cultural influence while role playing. i n U. v. within the role a device for the individual to explore one’s own identity.. Ch. engchi. Literary and Real-life Reference within the Play and Self-reference Literary and real-life reference within the play and self-reference are the fourth and fifth types of metadramatic devices which occur when the character calls attention to other literary work(s), reality or personal experience to generate metadramatic effects. Most literary and real-life reference in the play can hardly produce metadramatic impacts or Brechtian alienation effect. When the character refers to other literary work(s), the imaginary world of the main play is supposed to be 23.

(32) “disrupted by a reminder of its relation, as a literary construct, to another literary work or works” (Hornby 88), yet for most of the time, the literary reference is either too obscure or too well-known to assert interruption. The audience may not notice the allusion if the reference is too obscure. The audience may just take the well-known literary reference for granted, such as Bible stories, myth and wide-spread folklore, because these literary works have been profoundly rooted in our culture and blended into our life so well that sometimes they become clichés. Therefore, when the literary reference is too obscure or well-known, the application of literary reference produces. 治政 no disruption and estrangement for the audience. Real-life 大 reference is a lot like 立. literary reference. It “includes allusions to real persons, living or dead; real places;. ‧ 國. 學. real objects; real events…. [However,] much real-life reference is…not metadramatic”. ‧. (95). The proportion of the metadramatic impact produced by real-life reference. sit. y. Nat. immensely depends on how well the audience recognizes the reference; therefore, the. n. al. er. io. metadramatic impact often varies with time and from one individual to another.. i n U. v. Although literary and real-life reference seems to play less important roles in. Ch. engchi. metadrama, the application is somehow the evidence of a healthy theatre for these references require more sensitive and penetrating audience who has long-term theatre going experience. Self-reference, contrary to literary and real-life reference within the play, is highly metadramatic. When the actor directly addresses to the audience and adumbrate the approaching events, the audience will be pulled out of the virtual world of dramatic illusions and become conscious about the play. Self-reference is rarely used in metadrama compared to the other four types, but it usually appears in tandem 24.

(33) with the play within the play in history and sometimes in parody and burlesque. Shakespeare used it in both Antony and Cleopatra and Jilius Caesar while in modern era, many plays adopt self-reference to cause the alienation effect, such as Bertolt Brecht’s The Good Woman of Setzuan. The action of a character addressing to the audience brings immediate and direct metadramatic impact that fulfills Brechtian didactic purpose efficiently. The self-reference “always has the effect of challenging, in a sudden and drastic manner, the complacencies of the audience’s world view” (Hornby 117).. 立. 政治大. The Play within the Play. ‧ 國. 學. Having introduced four types of metadramatic device, I now come to the most. ‧. important type of metadramatic device—the play within the play. By definition, the. sit. y. Nat. play within the play is a play that includes one or more independent theatrical. n. al. er. io. performances in its plot, with or without the participation of play characters.. i n U. v. Compared with the aforementioned metadramatic devices, “the play within the play. Ch. engchi. was a device for exploring existential concerns, and the ceremony within the play is a device for exploring social concerns, role playing within the role is a device for exploring concerns for the individual” (Hornby 85). The play within the play has been found to be applied to theatrical practice since 1497, and was widely used in Renaissance drama. There are two main types of the play within the play: the “inset” and the “framed” type. In the inset type, “the inner play is secondary, a performance set apart from the main action, like the Mousetrap, the most known paradigm of inset play in the Renaissance, in Shakespeare’s Hamlet” (Hornby 33). On the other hand, in 25.

(34) the framed type, “the inner play is primary, with the outer play a framing device, like the Sly episode in Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew” (33). Although other metadramatic devices, such as chorus and prologues, were used in classic Greek and Roman drama, they barely had metadramatic effect or estrangement. The earliest play within the play was found in English playwright Henry Medwell’s Fulgens and Lucres (1497);17 since then, this metadramatic device has existed for over five hundred years. The use of the play within the play began to prevail in the Renaissance. The play within the play reached its heyday with William. 治政 Shakespeare’s plays as its most noted representative. 大After the Renaissance, the play 立. within the play became a fairly common device employed in theatre, which contracts. ‧ 國. 學. either the outer or framing play to help the audience to “see double” (Hornby 35).. ‧. The practice of the play within the play also prevailed in Continental theater. sit. y. Nat. during the Renaissance; however, after the Renaissance, this metatheatrical device. n. al. er. io. went out of fashion. In the neoclassic period and the romantic period, the use of the. i n U. v. play within the play had largely decreased in theatre. This reduction was believed to. Ch. engchi. “coincide with drastic innovations in staging techniques… [and]…the social and philosophical concerns of the era” (Hornby 38). From the mid-seventeenth century to the romantic era in the late eighteenth century, the play within the play was scarcely employed. When realism replaced romanticism, the play within the play hit its bottom in theatrical practice. The use of the play within the play went downhill from the 17. Fulgens and Lucres (1497) was written by Henry Medwell and it has been considered as “the. first use of the play within the play” (Nelson 8). Lucres, the daughter of Roman senator Fulgens, chooses the poor but decent plebeian over the wealthy patrician as her husband. For the first time, a subplot of servants wooing a maid proceeding simultaneously with the main plot set the precedent of the play within the play for future dramatic practice. 26.

(35) Renaissance to realism in the mid nineteenth-century. Not until the appearance of August Strindberg and Anton Chekhov was the play within the play revived in theatre. August Strindberg’s A Dream Play (1902) and Anton Chekhov’s The Sea Gull (1896) are held up “as prototypes for much of twentieth-century metadrama” (Hornby 41) with its dream-like quality. The salience of its vague outer frame has further disseminated under the influence of German expressionism and French surrealism in the twentieth century. In the later appearance of the theater of the absurd, “the frame of the inner play is even less clearly defined. 治政 than with expressionism or surrealism” (41). The structure 大 of the play within the play 立 no longer merely serves as a supporting device to bolster the outer play but offers an. ‧ 國. 學. angle for the playwright to examine the function of theatre and the artist in the play.. ‧. In the 1920s, Luigi Pirandello drew the attention from the function of the. sit. y. Nat. theatre more to the illusion in theatre itself. In Six Character in Search of an Author,. n. al. er. io. Pirandello showed no distinction between reality and illusion. At the beginning, the. i n U. v. six characters of the inner play show up in the rehearsal held by the staff and actors in. Ch. engchi. the outer play, and at the end of the play, the death of one of the six characters—the Boy—from the inner play breaks the boundary between the inner and outer play. Furthermore, Pirandello’s originality in narrative also brought him the reputation of “the first playwright to amalgamate the framed and inset type of play within the play” (Hornby 43). Besides the inset and framed type of the play within the play, another important type of the play within the play is the epic style of theatre which is found in performance only. Hornby takes the Russian director Eugene Vakhtangov’s 27.

(36) production of Carlos Gozzi’s Turandot in 1922 for instance, the director displayed visual doubleness on stage in order to create ostraneniye, which means “making strange”. The epic theatre is later established with the confirmation of Bertolt Brecht’s famous theatrical theory—alienation effect (Verfremdungseffekt).18 In epic theatre, various interpolations such as songs, slides, interludes are applied to create defamiliarization that detaches the audience from emotional involvement to the play. By employing defamiliarizing devices within the play, epic theatre provides an efficient way for the audience to reconsider the issues that they used to ignore.. 治政 After the development for over five hundred 大 years, the play within the play has 立. evolved from an antithetic structure of the inner and the outer play with clear and. ‧ 國. 學. well-defined boundary to an artistic form in which the inner and the outer play mingle. ‧. together that generates space for enhancing fluidity and translatability. The play. sit. y. Nat. within the play increases the layer and flexibility of the play; nevertheless, the. n. al. er. io. playwrights often utilize more than one metadramatic device and combine different. i n U. v. varieties to build a tolerant world for multi-interpretation. Both Our Country’s Good. Ch. engchi. and After Darwin possess multiple metadramatic devices. Among all the metadramatic devices, the play within the play functions as an essential element that accentuates the modernity of the play. In what follows, I would like to identify the metadramatic qualities in Wertenbaker’s Our Country’s Good and After Darwin to. 18. Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956), the German dramatist, developed a dramatic theory “alienation. effect” (Verfremdungseffekt) under the influence of the Russian formalist concept of ‘defamiliarization.’ In its English translation, estrangement, defamiliarization or alienation effect “is used by the dramatist to make familiar aspects of the present social reality seem strange, so as to prevent the emotional identification or involvement of the audience with characters and their actions in a play” (Abrams 6). Brecht also established the ‘epic theatre’ as the combination of his theory and theatrical practice. 28.

(37) analyze how the inner play helps to trigger the conversation and guarantees the subversiveness of the play when Wertenbaker reinterprets historical events. In Our Country’s Good and After Darwin, the audience will see how modern metadrama distinguishes itself from the traditional metadrama in the Renaissance with its blurring boundary between the inner and the outer plays. According to Hornby, In the past, the inner plays and outer plays were clearly distinguishable, and one could always tell which of the two was primary. In the twentieth century we find the same characters moving between inner and outer play,. 治政 the boundaries between inner and outer play 大becoming blurred and 立. sometimes disappearing, and even confusion as to whether the inner or. ‧ 國. 學. outer play is the main or “real” one. (47). ‧. The confusion in identifying the main play caused by the blurring boundary. sit. y. Nat. symbolizes the elevation of the inner play which creates a well-matched strength to. n. al. er. io. undermine the structural primacy of the outer play. No longer playing the assistant. i n U. v. role, the inner play unsettles the inherent structure and tints the play with. Ch. engchi. unpredictability. The advancement of the inner play endues itself with the power to breach through the constraint of the boundary between the inner and the outer play and exerts its influence over the outer play. The plot, character, theme and even lines of the inner play can be appropriated to affect the outer play. Due to the blurring boundary, intervention of the inner play unsettles the structure of norms and binary relationships in hierarchy, gender, identity and faith through the interaction and conversation between characters. To extend the question and deliberation for the audience, Wertenbaker concludes both plays with open endings, a paradoxical 29.

(38) denouement that comprises beginning and end, to consummate the estrangement by encouraging the audience to interpret and construct their own version of what with their understanding.. The Blurring Boundary in Our Country’s Good As a twentieth-century metadrama, Our Country’s Good presents the blurring boundary between the inner and the outer play as well as the transformation of characters. With the blurring boundary, the plot, character and lines of the inner play,. 治政 The Recruiting Officer, are able to cross the wall between 大 the inner and the outer play, 立 wield its clout over the outer play and procure transformation in the characters. When. ‧ 國. 學. the audience juxtaposes two acts, they are able to see how the intervention of the inner. ‧. play at the end of Act One procures the transformation of the characters in Act Two.. sit. y. Nat. The parallel layout of Our Country’s Good succinctly displays the process of. n. al. er. io. changing after the inner play exerts its influence in Act Two. The last scene of Act. i n U. v. One, scene eleven: “The First Rehearsal” is the turning point of the whole play. Act. Ch. engchi. One gives an account of the setting, characters’ personalities, as well as theme and ends in scene eleven—“The First Rehearsal” (Wertenbaker, Our 226-39)—the commencement of the inner play; while in Act Two, a series of transformations in characters are revealed along with the influence of the inner play. The first rehearsal at the end of Act One represents the beginning of a series of transformations in characters’ perceptions, relationships and self-recognitions in Act Two. The first example is the transformation of Robert Sideway, a convict who plays Worthy, and Liz Morden, who plays Melinda, in the inner play. Through the rehearsal, 30.

(39) the inner play endows them with a righteous excuse to act, to voice and to be heard. In Act one scene five and Act Two scene five, the former scene is the audition that grants the convicts an opportunity to participate and create for the first time, while the latter shows how the convicts attempt to dissent via the inner play. In the audition, Lieutenant Ralph interviews the convicts to cast the roles for the inner play, and all the convicts show their willingness to partake in the performance. For the convicts, joining the play can either help them reminisce the glory of Drury Lane Theatre in London or distract them from their fear for momentary death. Later in Act Two, scene. 治政 five, “The Second Rehearsal” (Wertenbaker, Our 249-53), 大 Sideway, Worthy in the 立. inner play, and Liz, Melinda, show intention to rebel and try to proceed the rehearsal. ‧ 國. 學. when Major Ross interrupts and sabotages the rehearsal by humiliating every convict. ‧. on the scene regardless of Lieutenant Ralph’s protest.. sit. y. Nat. Major Ross first picks on Sideway and forces him to take off his shirt and. n. al. er. io. reveal all the hideous scars from lashes in front of everyone. After Major Ross. i n U. v. mocking at Sideway’s incontinence caused by the torture, Major Ross compels Dabby. Ch. engchi. Bryant, the pander, to go on all fours wagging and barking like a dog to recreate the scene of how she discards her dignity begging for food on the ship. Mary Brenham is the next: ROSS. …Where’s your tattoo, Brenham? Show us. I can’t see it. Show us. Mary tries to obey, lifting her skirt a little. If you can’t manage, I’ll help you. (Mary lifts her skirt a little bit higher.) I can’t see it. But Sideway turns to Liz and starts acting, boldly, across the room, 31.

(40) across everyone. SIDEWAY. ‘What pleasures I may receive abroad are indeed uncertain; but this I am sure of, I shall meet with less cruelty among the most barbarous nations than I have found at home.’ LIZ. ‘Come , Sir, you and I have been jangling a great while; I fancy if we made up our accounts, we should the sooner come to an agreement.’ SIDEWAY. ‘Sure, Madam, you won’t dispute your being in my debt – my fears, sighs, vows promises, assiduities, anxieties, jealousies, have run for. 治政 a whole year, without any payment.’ 大立. CAMPBELL. Mmhem, good, that. Sighs, vows, promises, hehem,mmm.. ‧ 國. 學. Anxieties.. ‧. ROSS. Captain Campbell, start Arscott’s punishment.. sit. y. Nat. Campbell goes.. n. al. er. io. LIZ. ‘A year! Oh Mr Worthy, what you owe to me is not to be paid under a. i n U. v. seven years’ servitude. How did you use me the year before – ’. Ch. engchi. The shouts of Arscott are heard.. ‘How did you use me the year before –’ She loses her lines. Sideway tries to prompt her. SIDEWAY. ‘When taking advantage – ’ LIZ. ‘When taking advantage of my innocence and necessity – ’ But she stops and drops down, defeated. Silence, except for the beating and Arscott’s cries. (Wertenbaker, Our 251-53) Right before Major Ross lifts Mary’s skirt to show her tattoo of ignominy at her 32.

(41) private parts, Sideway turns to Liz and stars acting in an abrupt and bold manner. Sideway refuses to remain silent and let Major Ross have his own way but stands out and tries to employ the rehearsal to divert everyone’s attention and undermines Major Ross’s predominance. Sideway and Liz are both silenced convicts who have no right or courage to voice out for themselves; however, in the second rehearsal, they gain the power to speak in front of the tyrant. Although Sideway and Liz fail to change or at least distract Major Ross with their own words in the end, the inner play emboldens the oppressed and revives their dignity as well as courage which have been tramped for their whole lives.. 立. 政治大. In addition to awaking the courage in the oppressed, the inner play also. ‧ 國. 學. functions as a medium to express one’s true intention and repressed aspiration.. ‧. Sideway has been proved to be an awful actor for overdoing exaggerated movements. sit. y. Nat. and affectionate skills in the first audition and the first rehearsal. He refuses to be. n. al. er. io. ‘natural’ on stage and mistakes grandiose flourishes and affectation for convincing. i n U. v. acting skills. Despite being an untalented actor, Sideway demonstrates his. Ch. engchi. genuineness and clemency for others in the second rehearsal. When he is absorbed in rescuing other convicts from Major Ross’s malicious spite, he forgets about all the flourishes, fake emotions as well as unnatural acting, and confidently displays his bravery and concerns for others. The carnivalesque19 of theatre, tolerance for temporary anarchy, remits Sideway’s rebellion and undermines the wall that is. 19. Carnivalesque is coined by Mikhail Bakhtin to refer to a state of “becoming, change and. renewal that is hostile to all that was immortalized and completed.” It origins from the concept of carnival which “celebrated temporary liberation from the prevailing truth and from the established order; it marked the suspension of all hierarchical rank, privileges, norms, and prohibitions” (686) . 33.

(42) constructed by hierarchy. Another example of transformation in characters in Our Country’s Good demonstrates not only how the lines of the inner play are exploited as a medium to express one’s intention but also how the blurring boundary causes emotional involvement between characters. In scene nine of Act One and scene nine of Act Two, the former scene dramatically contrasts the latter with Lieutenant Ralph’s transformation. In Act One, scene nine “Ralph Clark Tries to Kiss His Dear Wife’s Picture” (Wertenbaker, Our 220-24), Lieutenant Ralph reveres his wife as a. 治政 sacrosanct being whose picture can only be kissed and 大worshipped on Sabbath with 立. kneels down. Lieutenant Ralph has been known as a chaste person who has never laid. ‧ 國. 學. a finger on any woman convict during the voyage. However, in Act Two, scene nine,. ‧. “A Love Scene,” Lieutenant Ralph runs into Mary rehearsing on her own by chance. sit. y. Nat. and joins her to rehearse the play. The love scene between the roles they play turns out. n. al. er. io. to be the prologue of their romantic involvement. After a few kisses, Lieutenant Ralph. i n U. v. confides his intention in developing intimate relationship with Mary. During the. Ch. engchi. rehearsal, the lines of the inner play functions as a catalyst, or a pretext for Lieutenant Ralph to proposition Mary. At the beginning of Act Two, scene nine, Mary is at the beach rehearsing the line of The Recruiting Officer as Silvia, and later Lieutenant Ralph comes on and joins the practice. As Lieutenant Ralph listening to Mary reading the line with strong emotion, he kisses Mary as Captain Plume, the character Lieutenant Ralph plays in The Recruiting Officer. Although they are acting and pretending to be Captain Plume and Silvia—virtual couple in the play, the bond and affection between Captain Plume 34.

(43) and Silvia gradually infect Lieutenant Ralph and Mary as the rehearsal proceeds. While Mary is reading the line, she displays an independent and courageous image that deeply attracts Captain Plume played by Lieutenant Ralph. After the second kiss, Lieutenant Ralph’s admiration and desire for Mary become more and more irrepressible. His response “‘…Will you lodge at my quarters in the meantime? You shall have part of my bed.’ Silvia. Mary,” (Wertenbaker, Our 266) reveals his adoration and lust for Mary which have grown so strong that he calls out Mary’s real name after Silvia. By this time, Mary is still so involved in the rehearsal and worries. 治政 about whether her performance is convincing enough 大or not. She does not seem to 立. discern Lieutenant Ralph’s transformation and asks Lieutenant Ralph to rehearse the. ‧ 國. 學. same part again. After Lieutenant Ralph repeating the line “‘What you please as to. ‧. that. – Will you lodge at my quarters in the meantime? You shall have part of my bed.’. sit. y. Nat. Mary!” (267), role playing for the inner play has drawn out Ralph’s admiration for. n. al. er. io. Mary and actualized the made-believe affection into solid action.. i n U. v. Lines of the inner play here function as an aphrodisiac catalyst that unshackles. Ch. engchi. Lieutenant Ralph’s desire and passion which have been repressed for all his life; however, his proposition to Mary appears to drastically and somewhat ironically contrast with his abstinence throughout his cruise and life in Australia after leaving his wife, Betsey Alicia. In Act One, scene nine “Ralph Clark Tries to Kiss His Dear Wife’s Picture” (Wertenbaker, Our 220-24), Lieutenant Ralph shows supreme veneration for his wife and consecrates Alicia as a goddess-like being whose picture can only be worshiped with kisses at midnight, the Sabbath. Yet during the waiting, Lieutenant Ralph shows strong anxiety to kiss Alicia’s picture. He keeps checking his 35.