On Participating Through Absence
For the past nine years, I’ve had the privilege of being a part of the collaborative process of co-directing with my World Wide Lab colleagues. The part I play has … Continue reading
母語，我的神話
“I am losing my myth. “（我失去我的神話。） 一個有印地安血統的演員，演員排戲排到一半，突然蹦出這句話。 那是什麼意思？ I’m losing my language. （我正失去我的語言） 正在加拿大桑德貝（Thunder Bay) 排練的我，正聽著桑德貝的居民告訴我他們的故事。 在地球另一端歐吉布威族（Ojibwe）和桑德貝的居民之間所面臨的困境，是一種在黑與白之間的灰色尷尬旅程，是一種大家都有意見卻又不能說的感覺。 這個尷尬的旅程，好像不久前，在我的家鄉—台灣，也曾出現。當然，我不是說這個旅程現在已經結束。這是文化認同的旅程，它還在進行當中。但是如果延伸到我個人的小故事，這和我從小到大一直不斷地在接受「語言」上的衝擊有關。我小學的時候，老師規定我們不可以說台語，說台語的同學嘴巴會被老師畫紅圈圈。上台北讀書後，學會盡量不要說台語，以免又被同學笑「鄉巴佬」（庄腳俗），會被歧視，或者被劃上政治色彩圈圈。我從來不知道失去母語的意義到底代表什麼，我只知道我不能說，在某些令人的不安的情況下，不可以說母語。 但是現在的台灣，母語活動的推廣盛行。台語、客語、原住民母語等等，所有的語言都可以在國民小學被教導，這是台灣教育亂象下其實很值得驕傲的事情。 我在這裡，聽他們說歐吉布威人小時候都要被送到寄宿學校(residential school )*1進行教育，在這個教育系統裡，他們學著說英語，不可以說母語。有演員告訴我們，這些在寄宿學校受教育的原住民，有了下一代之後，常常希望他們自己的小孩別學族語，這樣才能在社會上生存。 下戲後，這位具有印地安血統的演員說她本來不會說歐吉威語，意外在排練過程中，撿回幾個字，連她自己都覺得驚訝。 然而在排練過程中，因為演出的需要，這些語言一點被一點的喚醒，像是身上沈睡已久的種子甦醒了，發芽了。這些芽冒出來了驚奇，也冒出了恐懼。 這些被壓抑已久的恐懼，像是被喚醒了沈睡已久的種子。我們這次演出要編排的內容，是那些在城市中不能說、在族群中不可說的故事*2。 「你們導完戲就會離開，但是留下來的是我們。」演員眼中透露著些許遲疑。 他們忖度著有多少事情能說，多少事情不能說。 多少事情說出來可以承受得住，多少事情說出來不會嚇到自己？ 原來在身體裡面還記憶著自己未曾忘記，或者是祖先傳承下來的傷痛。 What … Continue reading
Home IS.
2010 was the year when I started off my never-ending film project , “Home is…”, documenting people’s ideas of home in Germany, India, USA, Austria, Italy and Taiwan. It was … Continue reading
Connecting to my roots
We’ve completed our first week together here in Thunder Bay for this new piece. It’s the first time in those eight years that we’ve worked in Canada and as … Continue reading
The Waters of Time
This year the universe is calling me back to nature. Back home. Earlier this summer, my husband and I determined specifically that we would spend at least one week of … Continue reading
On beginning. Again.
Greetings from Thunder Bay, Ontario. The World Wide Lab (WWL), an international collective of directors who create cross cultural work through experimenting with different methods of co-director, is at … Continue reading
Looking Back at WWL 2016
It’s that time of the year again when we look back and wonder: What’s happened this year? What have I done? World Wide Lab has happened AGAIN this year. Apart … Continue reading
Universal Glossary of Trauma – Our Interior Journey in Taipei
The WWL was initially inspired by an experiment we all took part in, either as participants or as witnesses, while attending the Lincoln Center Directors Lab in New York in … Continue reading
Working as an ensemble coordinator I have the opportunity to be a bridge between the actors and the directors. So I can look far and in deeper. Day by day, … Continue reading
Explaining the process of artistic collaboration when there isn’t a shared common language can be as challenging as actually engaging in the work itself. Working with actors already requires finding … Continue reading
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