LOVE FOR A FALLEN CITY An explanation of the play 傾城之戀舞台劇說明 (2011年1月10日修訂版) Shi-Kuo Chang 張系國 E-mail: chang@cs.pitt.edu (Note: The play <Love for a Fallen City> based on a short story of Shi-Kuo Chang will be staged in Spring 2012 at the National Theatre of Taiwan. The ideas presented here can always be discussed and modified. Another musical <Chess King> also based on a novel of Shi-Kuo Chang will be staged in Fall 2011 at Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall of Taiwan.)

About Shi-Kuo Chang A man of two cultures, Shi-Kuo Chang's literary activities include the writing of twenty eight novels, collection of short stories and essays. His novels were translated into English, French, German, Japanese, and made into musical play, movie and TV series. He is credited to be the "Father of Science Fiction" in Taiwan, but his mainstream short stories and novels also receive critical acclamation. Most people in Taiwan know Shi-Kuo Chang as a novelist and not as a scientist. In 2003 Columbia University Press published the English translation of Shi-Kuo Chang's three major sci-fi novels as a single volume entitled The City Trilogy (ISBN 0-231-12852-5).

Professional Career of Shi-Kuo Chang Shi-Kuo Chang received the B.S. degree from National Taiwan University in 1965. He received the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1967 and 1969, respectively. He was a research scientist at IBM Watson Research Center from 1969 to 1975. From 1975 to 1982 he was Associate Professor and then Professor at the Department of Information Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago. From 1982 to 1986 he was Professor and Chairman of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Illinois Institute of Technology. From 1986 to 1991 he was Professor and Chairman of the Department of Computer Science, University of Pittsburgh. He is currently Professor and Director of Center for Parallel, Distributed and Intelligent Systems, University of Pittsburgh. In 1978 Shi-Kuo Chang founded Knowledge Systems Institute, which is a private graduate school dedicated to advanced education in computer and information sciences, realizing his vision to revive the tradition of Chinese scholarly school (Shu-Yuan書院) as a modern educational institution.

Scientific Works of Shi-Kuo Chang Shi-Kuo Chang’s research interests include distributed multimedia systems, visual languages and visual computing. He has published over two hundred and forty papers and wrote or edited twelve books. His books, Principles of Pictorial Information Systems Design (Prentice-Hall, 1989), Principles of Visual Programming Systems (Prentice-Hall, 1990), Symbolic Projection for Image Information Retrieval and Spatial Reasoning (Academic Press, 1996) and Multimedia Software Engineering (Kluwer, 2000), are pioneering advanced textbooks in these research areas. Shi-Kuo Chang is the Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Visual Languages and Computing published by Academic Press, the Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Software Engineering & Knowledge Engineering and Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Computer Processing of Oriental Languages both published by World Scientific Press, and Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Distance Education Technologies published by Idea Group Publishing.

First I will explain, what is the difference between my novel and Eileen Chang’s novel bearing the same title in Chinese? 首先說明﹐我的傾城之戀和 張愛玲的傾城之戀有何不同﹖

My novel’s title can be properly translated as “Love for a Fallen City”, whileas Eileen Chang’s novel is entitled “Love in a Fallen City”. 我的傾城之戀是Love for a Fallen City ﹐ 張愛玲的傾城之戀則是Love in a Fallen City。 While one story is about the endless love for a fallen city, the other story is about love between a man and a woman during the fall of a city. 一個是對將傾之城無怨無悔的愛戀﹐ 一個是在傾城之際男女發生的愛戀。

Next I will explain, what is the similarity between my novel and Eileen Chang’s novel? 其次說明﹐我的傾城之戀和張愛玲的傾城之戀有何相似﹖

The similarity is, the fall of the city led to the fulfillment of the love story. 相似的是﹐傾城這事件同樣成全了兩個愛情故事。 However, one led to an apparent tragedy and the other an apparent comedy. 但一個是半悲劇收場﹐另一個則是半喜劇結局。

A story’s constituent elements are time, places, characters and events A story’s constituent elements are time, places, characters and events. We will discuss these elements in what follows. 故事的組成要素不外時間﹑地點﹑人物和情節。以下分別討論。

Time There are mainly three time junctures in the story: Present (Contemporary world of the main character Wang Xin) Past (XuenYe Age of HuHui for most Time Travellers to visit) Distant Past (AnLiu Age of the ancient city of Solen) 時間點主要有三個﹕ 現在(男主角王辛的時代) 過去(呼回世界的玄業紀) 遙遠的過去(呼回世界的安留紀) In addition to these time junctures depicted by events on stage, historic time periods are presented by background video sequences. 舞台場景多半有固定的時間點。除了時間點之外﹐也用時間段落來呈現滄海桑田。時間段落可以用預先錄制的背景影片來呈現不停變動的呼回世界。

There are eight places, all except the first one are in HuHui 地點主要有八個(除了王辛家其他都在呼回世界)﹕ Home of main character Wang Xin (somewhere on Earth, possibly in Taipei City男主角王辛的家(在地球某處﹐也可能就在台北) Seashore Restaurant (where Time Travellers from different worlds gather) 濱海餐廳(宇宙各國留學生聚會的地方) Street scene in Solen city (where Wang Xin first visited Solen city) 索倫街坊(男主角王辛第一次到索倫古城遊玩的所在) Ramparts (where the Snakemen attacked Solen city) 索倫城堡(蛇人竄上城牆進攻的所在) Time Channel entrance (wherein Wang Xin travelled to AnLiu Age) 時間甬道入口(男主角由此出發到安留紀去) Time Channel rest area (where Wang Xin walked outside to survey HuHui’s rivers and valleys) 時間甬道休息站 (男主角走出站外即可遙望呼河流域) Inside Time Channel (wherein Wang Xin observed the historic time periods of HuHui) 時間甬道內(男主角可觀察外間呼回世界的滄海桑田) HuHui (dynamic, quickly changing video sequences in the background) 呼回世界(用預先錄制的背景影片來呈現滄海桑田)

Places Therefore the stage should be designed to present Wang Xin’s home, ancient city of Solen, Seashore Restaurant and Time Channel. With clever design these scenes can be transformed into one another, assisted by computer technology that supports the interactions between actors and audience (see explanation that follows) 所以需要搭景的是王辛的家﹑索倫古城﹑濱海餐廳和時間甬道幾個場景。如果巧妙設計﹐這幾個場景不僅可以彼此變換﹐甚至可以使用電腦科技和演員及觀眾互動(請看以下的說明)。

Characters Main characters 人物如下﹕ Future: Mei Xing 未來﹕梅心 Present: Wang Xin, Hong Sheng, Song Peishi, SoulToucher, (Mei Xing) 現在﹕王辛﹑王瑜﹑洪昇﹑宋培士﹑觸靈娘﹑(梅心) Past: Soldiers, civilians, Snakemen, Time Police, (Wang Xin), (SoulToucher), ((Mei Xing)) 過去﹕軍士﹑百姓﹑蛇人﹑時間警察﹑(王辛)﹑(觸靈娘)﹑((梅心)) Parantheses indicate Time Travellers from one age to another: Wang Xin, his girlfriend Mei Xin, the mysterious SoulToucher and other supporting characters. 有括弧的是從一個時代跨到另一個時代的人物﹐主要是男女主角王辛和梅心以及第二女主角觸靈娘。

Events Events in the play unfold largely according to the original novel, but the play contains richer details, because a novel can rely on description of observed events, but a play must rely on actions. The first three acts are newly added to provide details. 傾城之戀的劇本情節大致根據小說原著﹐但是劇本比較能夠鋪陳開來成為情節更豐富的故事。因為小說可以依賴敘述﹐劇本則必須依賴人物的動作。主要增加第一幕到第三幕的幾場戲﹕

Act One Act One takes place in the home of Wang Xin somewhere on Earth, possibly in Taipei City. Wang Xin is a young graduate student who yearns for time travel to the legendary HuHui world to learn more about its culture. His sister brought him the letter of admission from the InterStellar Institute, and Wang knew his dream has come true. 第一幕的場景是男主角王辛的家(在地球某處﹐也可能就在台北)。王辛渴望到呼回世界探險。妹妹拿給他星際學院的入學許可﹐准許他到呼回世界留學。王辛欣喜若狂。

Act Two Act Two Scene One takes place at the Seashore Restaurant in HuHui, where Time Travellers from many worlds gather. (Possible scene transition: The home of Wang Xin is in one corner of the stage, surrounded by darkness. Then the whole stage becomes bright, revealing the Seashore Restaurant.) The Travellers sang a merry song of time adventure in unison. Act Two Scene Two brings Wang Xin to the entrance of the Time Channel just outside of Seashore Restaurant, where he met Mei Xing, the girl from the Future, for the first time. 第二幕第一景的場景拉到濱海餐廳﹐這裡是宇宙各國留學生聚會的地方。從場景的變換來看﹐王辛的家在舞台左側﹐四週是黑暗。然後舞台大放光明﹐王辛家的傢具變成濱海餐廳的桌椅的一部份。然後宇宙各國留學生齊唱一首動人的飲酒歌﹐也可穿插諧趣的吃虫歌。第二幕第二景的場景從濱海餐廳變換到外面的時間甬道入口﹐王辛第一次見到梅心。

Act Three Act Three Scene One takes place in the streets of Solen city. Wang Xin took the Time Channel and visited Solen for the first time. He was fascinated at the vitality of the people and almost immediately fell in love with the ancient city. The girl from the Future, Mei Xing, followed him to Solen, and the two had a great time wandering through the streets. In Act Three Scene Two, Wang Xin and Mei Xing walked to the ramparts and witnessed the attacks of the Snakemen. Wang Xin realized this is the beginning of the downfall of ancient Solen city. He was almost killed by a Snakeman, only saved by the vigilent Mei Xing. 第三幕第一景的場景是索倫街坊﹐這裡是男主角王辛第一次到索倫古城遊玩的所在。王辛驚訝於呼回人民的生命力﹐開始對索倫古城著迷。梅心這時也跟著來了﹐和王辛捉迷藏﹐兩人情愫漸滋。如果第二女主角觸靈娘是知名歌星﹐她的戲份可以加重﹐在索倫街坊為兩人唱一首情歌。第三幕第二景變換到索倫城堡。突然蛇人竄上城牆進攻﹐王辛明白這是索倫城毀滅的開始。他差一點被蛇人所傷﹐幸虧梅心救了他。

Act Four to Act Eight From Act Four to Act Nine, the plot follows closely the original plot of the novel. The nightmare of the downfall of Solen city plagued Wang Xin. Although he knew the fate of the ancient city is sealed, he could not help but wanted to alter it. Time and again he disobeyed the authorities and time travelled to the forbidden city. He secretly learned swordsmanship and fought the Snakemen at the ramparts. Although he knew he would be severely punished by HuHui authorities that would do anything to protect the integrity of its history, he still wanted to go back to the ancient city. 從第四幕到第九幕﹐故事的發展大致根據小說原著。古城陷落的一幕如夢魘般緊隨著王辛。他一次又一次溜到安留紀去。起初他僅是旁觀者。但他對古城的感情越來越濃，勤習擊劍術，每次到安留紀去，都要登上城樓，汗流浹背的和蛇人做殊死戰。他知道這是非常瘋狂的行動。如果被極端重視歷史完整的呼回人發現，他就會受到嚴厲的處罰。但他仍忍不住一次次偷偷回到索倫城。

Act Nine (conclusion) The last time he went back to Solen city, Wang Xin decided to stay. For his sake, Mei Xing also gave up the chance to return to the Future. Among these numerous planets and in billion light years of time, they somehow selected this moment to live, without the past or the future, just this moment. 最後一次到索倫城，王辛決定不再回去，梅心為了他也不回去了。在浩瀚宇宙無數星球之中，在億萬光年無邊的歲月裡，他們偏偏選擇了這一刻活著，沒有過去。也不再有未來，僅只有這一刻。 He placed the sword into his left hand and held her hand tightly with his right hand. They watched the burning city in silence. All the houses were on fire, furious flames filled the sky. The brilliant yellow sea of fire would burn from now until eternity. 他把長劍交到左手，緊握住她的手。他們共同面對燃燒中的索倫城，京城內的房屋均在燃燒，烈焰騰空，金黃色的火海彷彿將直燃燒到永恆。

New Clues新的趣味線索 Mei Xing could be a spy (or at least an observer) sent by the Future World to the Past. The Future World could have used Snakemen to destroy the ancient city, then getting rid of the Snakemen. These possibilites are brought out by WangXin’s kid sister. Therefore it is even more brave for Mei Xing to choose to stay with Wang Xin to defend Solen City. 傾城之戀的劇本情節雖然大致根據小說原著﹐但是劇本還是增加了一些新的趣味線索。最重要的是﹕梅心可能是未來世界派到過去世界的間諜﹐或至少是觀察員。未來世界很可能是蛇人毀滅索倫城的主謀﹐為的是操控歷史發展的方向。在蛇人毀滅索倫城後﹐他們又被未來世界滅口。這都由王辛聰明的妹妹說出來。所以最後梅心為了王辛也留在索倫城﹐更加難能可貴。宋培士其實對梅心的角色早有懷疑﹐只是未說破。 A total historian is not a totalitarian (another “pun”). 全史學家是total historian﹐ 和totalitarian(極權主義者)合韻﹐是另外一個“噴”(pun)。

The use of computer technology in changing the stage scenes and in human/stage scenes interactions 電腦科技運用於舞台場景的變換 以及人與場景的互動

Kinect Interface The new Kinect Interface, originally designed for Xbox 360, can be used in changing the stage scenes, and in actors/stage scenes interactions or actors/audience interactions. 在電腦科技創新方面﹐我們可以使用微軟XBox360的Kinect界面﹐用於演員與舞台場景的互動﹐也可用於觀眾與舞台場景的互動。 王辛的家 濱海餐廳 索倫街坊 索倫城堡 時間甬道入口 時間甬道休息站 時間甬道內

Typical use of Kinect Interface

With a large screen it can be impressive

Endless Possibilities Actors can utilize Kinect interface and Arduino platform to move physical objects on the real stage, or move virtual objects on the enlarged virtual stage. 演員可以使用Kinect界面和Arduino平臺移動實體的舞台場景﹐也可以移動虛擬的物件。 Audience can utilize Kinect interface to interact with virtual actors outside the real theatre. 觀眾也可在劇場外使用Kinect界面和虛擬的劇中人互動。 Since MicroSoft’s Kinect interface is very hot these days, the use of Kinect techology will attract younger audience. 微軟XBox360的Kinect界面最近紅火到不行﹐這會更增加年輕觀眾的興趣。

Term Projects/Capstone Projects CS1635 term projects are for two-person teams Capstone projects can be for multi-person teams with two additional requirements: (a) at least one team member must be taking CS1635, (b) project scope must be different from CS1635 term project (no double-dipping).

Stage Design (preliminary idea) 舞台設計

Walls In the back of the stage there are walls that can rise and fall. There may be a few pieces of walls, depending upon the size of the stage. The walls are digital display panels. In the Ramparts Scene, the walls are fully risen, to represent the ramparts. In the Streets Scene, the walls are half arisen or fully arisen, to represent shops. In Time Channel Scene, the walls represent the Time Train. At Wang Xin’s home, the walls become nearby apartment buildings. In the Seashore Restaurant the walls become partitions for restaurant and bar. 舞台偏後方是一排可以昇降的牆﹐共約七﹑八片﹐視舞台大小而定。這些牆其實是電視螢幕﹐上面可以放映不同的背景。在索倫城堡一景﹐幾片牆全部昇起﹐是城牆。在索倫街坊一景﹐幾片牆有高有低﹐是店舖。在時間甬道一景﹐幾片牆半昇起﹐是時間列車的車廂。在王辛的家一景﹐幾片牆有高有低﹐是附近公寓。在濱海餐廳一景﹐幾片牆變成餐廳和酒吧的牆。在呼回世界一景﹐幾片牆用來放映預先錄制的背景影片來呈現滄海桑田。

Cylinders and Walls In front of the walls there are cylinders situated at different locations. Actors can stand on top of the cylinders closest to the wall, as soldiers defending Solen city. Audience thus can visualize the happenings inside the walls of Solen city. 舞台前方(也就是電視牆的前方)有許多可以昇降的圓柱﹐頂上是個小平臺﹐參差座落在各個位置。靠近電視牆的圓柱最堅固﹐人可以站在小平臺上面﹐扮演守城的勇士。這時觀眾的位置是和城內同一邊﹐所以可以看見城內(牆內)的一舉一動。

Cylinders and Walls (continued) Behind the walls there are also cylinders, so that soldiers can stand on top of them. Reversing its position, the audience now can visualize the external walls of the ramparts. 舞台後方(也就是電視牆的後方)也有一排可以昇降的圓柱﹐頂上也是個小平臺。人可以站在小平臺上面﹐扮演守城的勇士。這時觀眾的位置是和城外同一邊﹐所以可以看見城外(牆外)的一舉一動和城牆上守城的勇士。

Cylinders Cylinders have different purpose in different scenes. In the Ramparts Scene, cylinders become the posts for the defenders. In the Street Scene, cylinders become night food stands. In the Time Channel, cylinders are seats on the Time Train. At Wang Xin’s home, cylinders are table/chairs. In Seashore Restaurant, cylinders become seats in the restaurant or high stools in the bar. 這些小圓柱在不同的場景有不同的用處。在索倫城堡一景﹐小圓柱是守城勇士的站台。在索倫街坊一景﹐小圓柱是街頭的小吃攤。在時間甬道一景﹐小圓柱是時間列車的車廂裡的座位。在王辛的家一景﹐小圓柱是家中的桌椅。在濱海餐廳一景﹐小圓柱是餐廳的桌椅和酒吧的高凳。

Plan B The wall and the cylinders can be controlled by stage hands when necessary. If the Kinect interface works properly, wall and cylinders can be controlled by actors. Perhaps a Plan B can be invoked, if actors fail to control the parts. 可以昇降的牆和可以昇降的小圓柱當然可以由後台人員操作。但是如果使用Kinect界面設計得宜﹐主角也可控制它們﹐達到很炫的效果。我們可以讓主角控制場景﹐萬一臨時有問題﹐就啟動Plan B﹐改由後台人員操作。

Time Travel About time travel, the prevailing visual model is two parallel moving light doors shown in 2001 A Space Odessy. In this play, the Time Channel can be presented as a river, which is more consistent with the Eastern philosophy. I also composed a song. 關於時間旅行﹐現在的設計絕大多數受到電影2001 A Space Odessy的影響﹐是兩片快速移動的光牆。本劇的時間甬道採用時間是長河的概念﹐所以有時間列車﹐外面是時間河流的景致(放映在電視牆上面)。這比較適合東方人的時間概念。我也做過一首歌曲﹐可以當做配樂。

Agenda for Discussion 討論事項 Length of the show (two hours) 演出時間長短(兩小時) Producer 製作單位 Director 導演 Main character (Wang Xin) 男主角(王辛) Female lead (Mei Xing) 女主角(梅心) Female second lead (SoulToucher) (if a famous singer can be recruited, the part about SoulToucher can be expanded 第二女主角(如找得到知名歌星﹐觸靈娘戲份可以加重) Composer 作曲家 Stage design 舞台場景設計 VR design (ITRI) 虛擬實景設計(工研院) Interactions (Univ. of Pittsburgh) 人機互動設計(匹茲堡大學) Time schedule 工作進度時間表

Q&A

The End