舞台喜劇實驗

One Home . Six Characters . An Experiment in Comedy.

飯，從「食」從「反」。難道屋企開飯註定反枱？陳詠燊以電影《飯戲攻心》挑戰喜劇劇本定型，用 幾場句句有骨的餐桌大戰做實驗，哄笑整喊無數觀眾，更登上香港歷來華語電影票房亞軍，還準備登 上藝術節舞台再做劇本實驗。

There are times when people flip their lids and spill the beans over the course of a meal. And especially so during family dinners. In the script of Table for Six, Sunny Chan challenges many comedy stereotypes, and brings the audiences to laughter and tears with the bitter, witty banter flying across the table during the dinner scenes. The film that now ranks second in the history of the Hong Kong box office is ready to be presented on the stage of the Hong Kong Arts Festival in a new experiment.

今次實驗室換了人： 周國賢、 廖子妤、梁仲恆及舞台劇演員 黃呈欣與胡麗英，還有留守的 陳湛文。跨媒界的化學作用教 人期待。

舞台版故事基調跟電影版相 若： 大佬念念不忘的前度，竟 然成了二佬新歡，大佬不甘示 弱，帶來一個叫阿 Meow 的女 仔； 醉心電競三佬與 Josephine 有一段姊弟戀。照辦煮碗，餐 飯唔慌好食。陳詠燊深明改編 非搬戲過台，花盡心思改造劇 本，人物處理更是大刀闊斧。

陳詠燊珍視演員，不希望觀眾 比較兩邊演員的演出，於是在 角色塑造下苦功，各人背景、 職業都會修改。「電影版演員特 質好強的部分會刪走，讓舞台 劇新組合發揮獨特演法。」電 影版角色阿 Meow 根本為林明 禎度身訂造。無法想像世上有 另一個阿 Meow。「明禎演法獨 一無二，我相信黃呈欣演出也 會有自己風格，無需模仿。」

年輕大佬鬧交更入肉

舞台版大佬由周國賢飾演，與 電影版的黃子華年紀有差，反 而令劇本富新意。「子華比張繼 聰同陳湛文年長一截，似半個 爸爸，孭住頭家同呢兩兄弟相 處。周國賢同梁仲恆及陳湛文 年齡相近，反而爭拗可以再糾 纏多點。」

至於大佬二佬爭風呷醋的對 象 Monica，陳詠燊明言廖子 妤是其首選。廖子妤經歷《智 齒》等電影磨練，爆發力倍 增。「我有信心她會是很吸引的 Monica。Stephy（鄧麗欣）有種 鄰家女孩感覺，無人唔鐘意鄧 麗欣； 廖子妤攻擊性大啲。鄧 麗欣用壓抑來演神經質，但是

廖子妤可以放出嚟，會是另一 種轉化。」

陳詠燊習慣劇本出籠後，與演 員詳談了解特質，找出他們最 有火的演法，再修改劇本配合 其發揮。「我會逐一見所有演 員，傾罷再執劇本，尤其再演 三佬的陳湛文，我同佢傾緊有 無其他演法。」

據統計，香港有過百萬人次看 過電影，觀眾袋住笑位離場， 如果買飛睇劇，笑穴如何一篤 再篤？「會保留深刻橋段，但 用異曲同工寫法修改。」保證 有變奏咁話，我就係要呢啲。

追看性才是戲劇靈丹

陳詠燊從導演首作《逆流大 叔》領悟到準繩笑位對一部喜 劇重要，但要引人入勝，必須 捉緊戲劇中軸線。「觀眾並非等 睇笑位，而是人物後續。」傳 統喜劇只求設計幾個笑位引觀 眾笑，故事發展卻完全意料之 內。《飯戲攻心》在情理之內 放大戲劇矛盾，吸引觀眾追看 幾位主角互動，失驚無神忽然 荒誕，觀眾防不勝防，才會笑 到拱橋。

就如戲中三佬陳湛文向王菀芝 求婚不果。王菀芝在傷感，林 明禎安慰時，認真地說：「你哋 係姣婆遇著脂粉客」，因她誤以 為句子意思乃天生一對。「我很 喜歡寫這種喜感，想挑戰就算 鬧交都可以好笑，但又無影響 場交，你相信兩個角色仍是嬲 或傷感。」舞台劇劇本他同樣 著力鞏固中軸線，再佈署讓人 措手不及的笑話。

遙距房中戲勾起好奇心

自編自導電影的陳詠燊，到舞 台劇版只擔任編劇。「欠缺舞台 經驗我怕規限了製作。黃龍斌

（ Tony ）想像力好豐富，能令 個劇有所昇華。」電影版有一 幕六人混戰打大交，陳詠燊原 想刪走，導演著他保留。「舞台 上咁樣打交，我原本唔覺得好 睇。Tony 話如戲劇上有需要， 我只是擔心效果的話，他幫我 用舞台方式呈現到好睇。一聽 到就覺得『咦，呢個合作有趣 喇』。我想避重就輕時，佢叫我 放心照做。」

電影有很多重要情節都在房間 內發生，起初讓陳詠燊頭痛， 同時也感受到「讓專業的來」 的好處，「舞台上無鏡頭，如不 轉景，點呈現房內情節？ Tony 提議飯廳設於舞台中間，房在 後面。情節如在房內發生，主 角照入房演。刻意保持距離， 讓觀眾只看到一半，令觀眾有 種偷窺感覺。真係要好熟舞 台嘅人先可以變出這樣的可能 性。」設計滿足觀眾「八卦」心 理，看不清楚房內發生的事， 由原本的弱點變成優勢。

電影在農曆新年檔期未能上 映，陳詠燊始終相信總有更好 時機。電影賣座，加上受邀 改編為舞台劇，證明電影可以 走得更遠，不只是「一齣賀歲 片」。「現在識得諗有事發生， 唔使發癲嘅，我相信世界冇絕 對好事同壞事，舞台劇我都有 擺呢種概念落去。大佬冇咗 Monica，慘到黐線，但如果唔 係咁，又點會遇到阿 Meow ？」 他笑謂近年自己「好佛偈」， 信緣分。

沒有白走的路，一切都是最好 的安排。

This time around, a new ensemble has been brought on board: Endy Chow, Leung Chunghang, and theatre actresses Birdy Wong and Grace Wu join Peter Chan and Fish Liew from the original film. From the big screen to the stage, the chemistry sparked between the cast members is highly anticipated.

The play sets the stage with plots drawn from the original film. The much-missed ex-girlfriend of the eldest brother unexpectedly turns up as the new love interest of the second brother. To even the score, the eldest brother brings home another girl, Meow. And the third brother, who is too preoccupied with his esports career, is in a relationship with Josephine, a woman older and wiser than him. Bearing in mind that following recipes mindlessly would never make a chef great, Chan believes that adapting a film script for the stage should never simply be a copy-and-paste process. He made a huge effort to recreate the script and even made bold moves to reshape the characters.

In the hope of avoiding comparisons between the two ensembles, Chan re-tailored the background and occupation of each role to match each actor’s unique character. “I deleted elements heavily marked by the actors in the film version, and let the new cast ensemble colour the stage with their own acting style,” he says. The role of Meow in the film was tailor-made for Lin Min-Chen, and Chan couldn’t imagine just creating a copy of the character. “Min-chen has her own unique acting style and I believe that Birdy Wong has her own approach to the role. There is absolutely no need to imitate Min-chen.”

More intense fighting with a youthful big brother

Endy Chow and Dayo Wong, who play the big brother on stage and screen respectively, have a 20year age gap. Surprisingly, this discrepancy in turn adds new dimensions to the adapted play. “Dayo, who is much older than Louis Cheung and Peter Chan, acts more like a father figure burdened by the responsibilities on his shoulders—and that shows in his interactions with the two brothers. In contrast, Endy Chow has a smaller age difference with Leung Chunghang and Peter Chan, allowing for more heated and relentless arguments between the siblings.”

As for the role of Monica,who lands the two brothers in a love triangle, Chan’s first choice was none other than Fish Liew. Refined and polished by a succession of roles in films such as LIMBO, Liew’s acting skills have improved exponentially, demonstrating a full range of emotions. “I have faith in her portrayal of Monica, who’s attractive in her own way. Stephy [Stephy Tang, from the original film] has that girl-nextdoor charm that everyone likes. In comparison, Fish is more aggressive. While Stephy played up the neuroticism by bottling up her emotions, Fish chooses to unleash them, which gives her another way to transcend the role.”

After finishing the script, Chan engaged in detailed conversations with actors to figure out their personalities and their preferred acting methods, before changing the script to suit their needs. “I always meet each and every member of the cast for discussions, and fine-tune the script afterwards. In particular, I’m still in talks with Peter Chan— who plays the youngest brother—to see if there’s another way to portray the role.”

More than one million people are estimated to have seen Table for Six in theatres. Jam-packed with jokes, audience members usually walked out of the theatre in high spirits. So how does a playwright keep the same jokes alive on stage? “Many memorable scenes have been kept, but have been rewritten in an effective way that retains the essence.” So we are guaranteed variations on the narrative beats—which is exactly what I wanted to hear.

Engageability, the real magic of drama

There is one main takeaway Chan got from his debut film, Men on the Dragon: a welldelivered punchline is crucial to comedy, yet to be really land, it must intertwine with the plot line. “The viewers do not wait for moments of comedy alone, but character development instead.” Traditional comedy merely attempts to make the audience laugh with a few welldesigned moments of comedy, and the storylines are often completely predictable. Table for Six amplifies the melodramatic conflicts within the lines, just to draw the audience into following the interactions between main characters. Only then, with an unexpected twist of absurdity, caught off-guard, the audience would burst into an uncontrollable belly laugh.

One such moment in the film happens when the marriage proposal of Peter Chan, the youngest brother, was turned down by Ivana Wong. Drenched in sadness, Ivana Wong was comforted by Lin, who put on a solemn face and said: “You two are like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie together.” Apparently, Lin said this mistaking its meaning for “a match made in heaven”. “I really love writing this kind of comedic humor. I am down for a challenge, that even a heated argument can be funny, without affecting the conflict itself. Angry or sad, you still believe in the emotions that the two characters experienced.” Same for the play version, Sunny Chan put an emphasize on first developing a solid narrative, before embedding it with twists and jokes.

Curiosity piqued by bedroom scene at a distance

Sunny Chan, who self-wrote and directed the screenplay, only acts as playwright of the stage play. “Lacking in stage production experience, I am afraid I would hinder the creative process. Plus Tony [Wong] has an imagination fertile enough to elevate the production to the next level.” Sunny Chan originally intended to delete the dinner scene where six main characters broke out into a brawl, but the director urged him not to. “Putting such an ugly fight onstage, it did not seem appropriate to me in the first place. But then, Tony told me if there’s a dramatic need, and all I worried about was the effect, he would present it in a most well-suited way on stage. Once I heard that, I thought to myself, ‘oh, this collaboration is going to be fun.’”, said Sunny Chan. “When I wanted to shirk the difficult work, he has faith in me.”

Another difficult task is that many crucial scenes in the film took place inside the rooms, which initially caused Sunny Chan to have headaches. He then felt the advantages of “letting the professionals do it”. “My question was, there is no camera on stage, how do we present the scenes within the walls without changing the set? Tony then propositioned to set the dining room up in the middle of the stage, and the rooms behind it. If a scene occurrs in the rooms, the cast members will go in there regardless. By staging the drama at a distance, and letting the audience only see half of it, it creates a heightened sense of voyeurism. Only the most seasoned stage masters can come up with such a possibility.” By keeping what happens in the room away from the prying eyes of the spectator, this design satisfies the audience’s need to “gossip”, successfully turning the tables around.

Even though the film was unable to be scheduled on screens during Chinese News Year, Sunny Chan believed that there is always a better timing. The film’s high-grossing box office and the invitation to a theatrical adaptation are living proof that the movie can go further, more than being just “another blockbuster". “Looking back now, there is no need to lose one’s mind when things happen. In this world, there is no absolute good or evil—that is my faith, and what I instilled in the play. Losing Monica was extremely painful to the eldest brother. Yet, without this, how would he meet Ah Meow?”, says Sunny Chan with a laugh, calling himself a “zen” believer in serendipity.

There is no path taken in vain. Everything happens for a reason.