Rehearsing Othello on Zoom云上排練《奧賽羅》

霍莉·威廉姆斯 譯/李香愛

Remarkably， many young people have already managed to shine despite the gloom of Covid-19. Forging a career in theatre is never easy—but the pandemic has revealed both grit and positivity among emerging artists turning a dire situation into an opportunity.

Shakira Newton， 24， is in her final year at East 15 drama school in Essex. While she admits that performing Shakespeare via Zoom or while wearing a mask has been “pretty bizarre”， it hasn’t put her off a career in theatre. Instead， she says， Covid has just brought home the importance of “having a Plan B， C， D， and E…”

Luckily， Newton already has a few of those covered. She writes as well as acts， and during lockdown， her first play got a rehearsed reading online from Wildcard Theatre Company， attracting feedback from industry professionals as well as friends and family. It was an opportunity she’d probably never have got in normal times， she recognises.

Newton also produced a podcast， Getting Creative， for the National Youth Theatre （NYT）， interviewing people in the creative industries. And as the founder of Rush， a showcase for young black talent—which Newton launched with NYT in 2019 after being dismayed by the lack of diversity at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival—she started streamed that online too， via Facebook.

The digital Rush showcases in March and October got a fantastic response—“much bigger than if we did it in person. So we managed to find some good in all of this，” Newton says.

She’s not the only one finding openings online. During lockdown， Tiajna Amayo was working for the Girl Guides—and writing her first web series， Conspiracy， during lunchtimes. The 24-year-old from Brixton is also a member of NYT， and they shared it via their Instagram account. It attracted over 10 thousand views—and has led to meetings with Urban Myth Films， who make shows such as Merlin.

“Having a project stops you from going crazy in lockdown，” says Amayo. “Writing Conspiracy was the therapy I needed. And it was nice working with other young actors who felt the same： still trying to be creative and get that content out there.”

Amayo is now part of the NYT’s Rep Company1， a free alternative to drama school. She’s been in socially distanced rehearsals for Othello， which have now had to move online in line with new restrictions. But such processes haven’t dimmed her enthusiasm for a career in theatre.

“I think it’s done the opposite，” she says. “Obviously it’s scary to see all the theatres locked down， but a lot of things are still happening， so it’s not putting me off.”

The same goes for Josh Collins， in his third year studying Production Arts at Guildhall School in London. If studying Shakespeare is tough via Zoom， you might think backstage and technical courses would be virtually impossible—but for Collins， it’s opened his eyes to different ways to make work.

“We’ve been broadcasting all our shows live online. It’s not the same， but there are a lot of good learning opportunities： incredibly useful skills we can transfer into film and TV，” he says.

Live streaming can mean new audiences： an Opera Triple Bill streamed by Guildhall in November attracted 3，500 views; the auditorium capacity is just over 300.

“It’s a massive increase， which is great，” says Collins， who production managed the show. “The other great thing is it’s free. A lot of young people probably wouldn’t choose to go and watch an opera， but if it’s free they might tune in and change their minds. It’s never going to replace live shows， but it’s nice to make it a bit more inclusive.”

For many performers， third-year showcases are how they get an agent. Olivia Beardsley and Isaac Stanmore are working actors. Knowing the importance of that first step on the ladder， they set up Showcase 2020： an online portal where agents and casting dir-ectors can watch hundreds of graduates. “We had so many people saying ‘I can’t believe this didn’t exist before’，” says Stanmore.

Two young graduates， Liam Gartland and Alice Croft， had a similar brainwave. While both had first jobs lined up before they graduated （from Guildford School of Acting and ArtsEd respectively）， their tours were inevitably cancelled. Nonetheless， they felt like the lucky ones.

“So many of our friends didn’t even get to finish their final year or get an agent. We felt it was our job to make that happen， and get people networking，” says the 22-year-old Gartland.

So they set up The Grad Fest： a two-week， online summer fringe festival showcasing over 300 graduates. Cabarets， plays and industry Q&As were streamed via Instagram， Zoom and YouTube. The company was even founded digitally： Gartland， based in London， and Croft， living in Lincoln， connected via social media and worked together for months before meeting in person.

Fired up by the success of the festival， they went on to stage a live， full-length musical at London’s Garden Theatre as well as many more online events. From one showcase for agents， 13 out of the 17 performers got representation as a result.

“That was a highlight for us，” says Gartland. “It’s a bit of hope for graduates. If we can give someone their first credit， that could get them in the door for a hundred other things.”

But founding The Grad Fest has also been transformative for their own car-eers. Gartland now wants be a theatre producer. And while the 23-year-old Croft declares stagily that performing is “her destiny”， founding a company reminded her what other skills she has. “I love being a leader， I adore directing， I adore graphic design， and I adore creating websites， so why wouldn’t I want to do all those things？”

“It’s important that in the meantime we stay active，” says Croft， “that we’re doing our research： what’s going down well on YouTube？ We haven’t ventured on to TikTok yet—that’ll be next.”

“The best type of theatre is live， in a theatre—but it’s not the only type of theatre. It’s important that we keep up with the times， turning those negatives into positives！” Croft laughs. Hers is a fiercely determined optimism， but one many young people seem to share—and which can’t help but inspire confidence in the next generation.

盡管籠罩在新冠肺炎的陰影下，值得注意的是，很多年輕人已經做得有聲有色。從事戲劇行業從來都不容易，但疫情展現了新興藝術家化危為機的勇氣和樂觀。

24歲的莎基拉·牛頓正在埃塞克斯大學的東十五戲劇學院上最后一個學年。雖然她承認通過Zoom或者戴著口罩表演莎士比亞戲劇“相當怪異”，但這沒有消減她從事戲劇行業的興趣。相反地，她說新冠肺炎正好使她意識到“有備選計劃二、三、四、五……”的重要性。

幸運的是，牛頓已經做好了幾個計劃。除了表演，她還寫作。在防疫封鎖期間，她的第一個劇本獲得了外卡戲劇公司的網上劇本朗讀機會，吸引了業內專業人士以及親朋好友的反饋。她承認，這個機會是她在正常時期可能永遠都得不到的。

牛頓還為英國國家青年劇團（NYT）錄制播客《獲得創意》，采訪從事創意產業的人。在對愛丁堡邊緣藝術節缺乏多樣性大失所望后，牛頓和NYT在2019年創辦了“沖”，一個讓有天分的年輕黑人展現才藝的表演活動。作為“沖”的創辦人，她還開始通過臉書線上播出這些表演。

3月和10月舉辦的“沖”數字式表演活動獲得了極好的反響，牛頓說：“假如我們舉辦現場活動，反響不會這么大。所以說我們還是設法在所有這些不利環境下找到了些好處。”

她不是唯一一個在網上找到成功機會的人。防疫封鎖期間，蒂亞娜·阿馬約為女童子軍工作，并且在午餐時間撰寫她的第一部網絡系列劇《陰謀》。這個來自布里克斯頓的24歲女孩也是NYT的一員，他們通過照片墻賬號分享這部劇作。《陰謀》吸引了超過1萬的瀏覽量，并促成了與都市神話電影公司的會面，該公司制作了《梅林》等劇。

“戲劇創作可以防止在封鎖期間抓狂。”阿馬約說道，“寫作《陰謀》是我需要的良藥，而且和其他想法一致的年輕演員一起工作是件很美好的事，大家的想法都是：仍然努力保持創造力并將之表達出來。”

阿馬約現在是NYT旗下定目劇團的一員，定目劇團是另一種戲劇學校，可免費學習。她一直以保持社交距離的方式排練《奧賽羅》，現在依照新規定，不得不改在網上排練。但是這樣的歷程并沒有消減她要從事戲劇工作的熱情。

“我認為正相反。”她說，“看到所有的劇院關閉顯然是可怕的，但很多事情依然在繼續，所以不會打消我的熱情。”

喬希·柯林斯也是一樣的情況。他在倫敦市政廳音樂及戲劇學院上三年級，學習影視制作藝術。如果說通過Zoom學習莎士比亞很難，你可能會認為學習幕后和技術課程幾乎是不可能的。但對柯林斯來說，這讓他看到了不同的工作方式。

他說：“我們一直在網上直播所有的演出。雖然不一樣，但卻有很多很好的學習機會：學習可以運用到電影和電視中的非常有用的技術。”

直播可以帶來新的觀眾：市政廳音樂及戲劇學院在2020年11月直播的一場三聯歌劇吸引了3500人次觀看，而劇院觀眾席僅可容納300多人。

“這增加量是巨大的，真是太好了。”制作了這場演出的柯林斯說道，“另外一個好處是它是免費的。很多年輕人或許不會去看歌劇，但如果是免費的，他們也許會收看并改變想法。直播永遠不會取代現場演出，但是能把受眾范圍擴大一點兒也是很好的。”

對很多演員來說，三年級的演出是他們找到經紀人的渠道。奧利維婭·比爾茲利和艾薩克·斯坦莫爾是職業演員。他們清楚走上職業階梯第一步的重要性，所以建立了門戶網站“演出2020”。在這里經紀人和選角指導可以觀看數百個畢業生表演。斯坦莫爾說：“我們聽到很多人說‘真不敢相信這樣的事以前竟然沒有’。”

兩個年輕的畢業生利亞姆·加特蘭和愛麗絲·克羅夫特也有相似的靈感。雖然兩個人畢業前都找好了第一份工作（他們分別畢業于吉爾福德表演藝術學院和倫敦藝術教育學院），但是他們的巡回演出還是不可避免地取消了。雖然如此，他們還是覺得自己是幸運的。

“我們的很多朋友甚至都沒讀完最后一學年，也沒找到經紀人。我們覺得，讓這些都實現、讓人們建立工作關系網是我們的職責。”22歲的加特蘭說道。

因此他們創辦了“畢業生節”：一個長達兩周的網上夏季邊緣藝術節，展示了300多名畢業生的表演。歌舞表演、戲劇和行業問答都通過照片墻、Zoom和優兔播出。甚至這家公司也是以數字化方式成立的：加特蘭住在倫敦，而克羅夫特生活在林肯，他們通過社交媒體聯系，一起工作了幾個月后才見面。

在藝術節的成功激勵下，他們接著舉辦了更多的線上活動，還在倫敦的花園劇院現場直播了一場足本音樂劇。在一場面向經紀人的表演活動中，17個表演者里有13個找到了經紀人。

“對我們來說這是最激動人心的。”加特蘭說，“這讓畢業生有了點兒希望。如果我們能讓某人得到初步認可，那就可能將他們領進門，從而得到多多的機會。”

但是創辦畢業生節也轉變了他們自己的職業選擇。加特蘭現在想成為劇院制片人。23歲的克羅夫特用演戲的腔調宣稱表演是“她的宿命”，而創辦公司提醒了她自己還有其他技能。“我愛做領導，我熱愛導演，我熱愛平面設計，我還熱愛創建網站，所以為什么我不做所有這些事呢？”

“重要的是，我們同時要保持積極主動。”克羅夫特說，“我們在做調查：優兔網站上什么受歡迎？我們還沒有進軍抖音國際版，這將是我們的下一步。”

“戲劇的最好形式是在劇院里現場演出，但這不是戲劇的唯一形式。重要的是，我們要跟上時代，把弊轉為利！”克羅夫特笑著說道。她這種想法透著極其堅定的樂觀主義，而很多年輕人好像也有同樣的想法，這肯定會激發下一代的信心。

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎者）