译文丨阿拉伯的劳伦斯：以话剧解读电影形象以外的人物故事
李小编按：原文是BBC的新闻，但自己是第一次翻译东西，肯定一大堆错误。比如题目我觉得翻译的就不好。也找不到什么人来审校，就只好厚着脸皮发到豆瓣向各位求教啦！文末附原文链接和原文，便于各位查（批）看（评）。鞠躬！
（劳伦斯对中东的兴趣发端于他对历史和考古学的热爱，在一战期间英国与土耳其的战争中，他就职于英国情报机构。） 这张被大众所熟知的作家托马斯•爱德华•劳伦斯（T. E. Lawrence）图片来自于大卫•里恩（David Lean's）的电影版《阿拉伯的劳伦斯》（ Lawrence of Arabia）。在经过几乎半个多世纪以后，剧作家Howard Brenton 认为，他还有一些关于劳伦斯的故事，这些故事会让劳伦斯更具当代意义。 Brenton说，劳伦斯部分是艺术家，部分是战士，他渴望得到公众对其内在真实自我的赞扬，但这并不容易。 Brenton 是以英国政治剧作家身份而闻名，其新剧《阿拉伯之后的劳伦斯》将在汉普斯特德剧院（Hampstead Theatre）上演，但这部新剧不会以政治性叙述为剧情的展开模式。 “我现在70岁过半，已经写了50多年。一个如此年龄经历的作者应该思考清楚事情的来龙去脉。我沉迷于劳伦斯所扮演的角色以及他所经受的分裂的忠诚感，因为他英国军方情报官员，同时又在支持阿拉伯人的独立运动。这让他人格分裂。 “1916年，他在阿拉伯人反击对抗土耳其的斗争中发挥了作用，而现在回顾起来，你就还得思考，（在劳伦斯背后的）列强（主要就是英国和法国）如何瓜分阿拉伯世界乃至型塑出今日的世界格局。” 因此观众可能会惊喜地发现更多新剧情，这些剧情不仅发生在阿拉伯的荒野天际，同时也发生在赫特福德郡（Hertfordshire）的室内——爱尔兰剧作家George Bernard Shaw和他的妻子Charlotte Payne-Townshend的家中。 有段时间劳伦斯是他们家中的常客。虽然大多数评论者都假定他是同性恋，但剧中设定了他与Payne-Townshend（Geraldine James扮演）之间复杂的情感关系，这也是剧情主线之一。
（Geraldine James 扮演George Bernard Shaw的夫人） 与Payne-Townshend一样，劳伦斯童年成长于盎格鲁-爱尔兰裔的上层阶级。他对阿拉伯的兴趣源自于对历史和考古学的热爱。 劳伦斯不仅希望阿拉伯独立，而且希望自己可以因此获得名望。他的著作《智慧的七柱》（Seven Pillars of Wisdom ，首印于1922年）记录了阿拉伯的抵抗运动。对于他认为自己所起到的重要作用，书中并没有轻描淡写地一笔带过，因此这本书使他一举成名。 1962年电影版的《阿拉伯的劳伦斯》让 彼得•奥图尔 （ Peter O'Toole ）成了明星，这也增强了劳伦斯本人的神秘感。早在两年之前，Terence Rattigan就写了一部名为Ross的剧本，同样聚焦于劳伦斯，并因此成就了演员Alec Guinness. （注：劳伦斯在1922年加入空军并以新兵约翰·休姆·罗斯的假名字开始默默无闻的生活） 下个月，劳伦斯的传奇将在奇切斯特（Chichester）再次复活，Joseph Fiennes将担当主演。 矛盾 在汉普斯特德剧院（Hampstead Theatre）版的演出中，劳伦斯的扮演者是（Jack Laskey），他因参演独立电视台（ ITV）的连续剧《奋力号》（Endeavour）而被大家所熟悉。 他说自己之前只看过奥图尔 （O'Toole ）表演的片段，但也不打算再去揣摩其他演员和剧本对劳伦斯的解读。 Jack Laskey说：“这部剧得体现我们对角色的理解，否则就没什么意义了。这些理解都在Howard的剧本中，而其支点就在于解读劳伦斯本人和他的作品。 “我一直都是通过阅读《智慧的七柱》获得一点一滴的灵感，这本书是对那个时代的解读，漫长而迷人，且文笔优美。 “从中可以看出诸多的矛盾。比如劳伦斯希望成为焦点，也希望一直默默无闻。很明显，他会因为在战争中背叛了阿拉伯人而产生负罪感，即那些他对阿拉伯人许下的、而英国政府可能根本不会答应的承诺。他要为此赎罪。
“他对自己的国家感到愤怒，但或许他对自己做了和没做成的事情也感到不满。这就给演员留下了很大的发挥空间。” 关于劳伦斯，在近十年里的一个经常被提及的话题就是他的性取向。Laskey说他会考虑这个因素，但这不是本剧关注的焦点。 “在阿拉伯他会比较容易体验到男性之间的友情，并且他也乐于接受。在《七柱》中他记录了这种暧昧。有人认定劳伦斯基本就是无性恋，当然这并不是这部剧所真正要表达的东西。 “但他显然是在阿拉伯发现了一种新的自由——我认为这也是他对这个国家产生真爱的理由之一。 “对于他来说，阿拉伯是他的藏身之所。在剧中涉及许多关于声望、名誉和问题所带来的后果。生活在当代的观众可以与其产生共鸣。” 编剧Brenton说，理解劳伦斯的艺术家气质是很必要的。
（编剧Brenton［［左］］说劳伦斯是一个“极其有趣”的人） “但他也是个战士，在需要杀人的时候，他也会毫不犹豫，所以有必要在剧中描述出那些破坏性事件和受害者。 “虽然没看过 Rattigan的演出，但我看了Lean的电影，就是现在经常被大家嘲讽的那个。事实上那个剧本对于力量和脆弱性的交织状态处理的很好。 “我觉得劳伦斯有天真的一面，甚至单纯得出人意料，这导致了他的极端行为。拿破仑（Napoleon Bonaparte）身上也有这种特性。” 假如劳伦斯所期待的都成为现实，就能让阿拉伯地区从此太平吗？Brenton觉得这个想法不靠谱。 “谁能说清历史原本要发生怎样的变化呢？但劳伦斯的主要观点非常简单：如果战后的欧洲列强要在原本属于同一个部落、或效忠同一个政权的人群之间强行划出新的国界，就等于是自找麻烦。 劳伦斯的生命结束于中年且远离阿拉伯。他丧生于1935年多塞特郡（Dorset ）的一场摩托车车祸。从那以后，人们或者把他当作一个重要的作家，或者把他当作近代帝国的一个重要注脚。 Brenton说，在写作期间，他开始越来越喜欢劳伦斯这个人。“有些完全不喜欢他的人诋毁他的声誉，因为他们认为劳伦斯的作为言过其实。 “但我认为劳伦斯是一个极其有趣的人，他被英国的帝国困境所连累而变得分裂。这也就是我写他的意义。 《阿拉伯之后的劳伦斯》在6月4日之前都会在伦敦汉普斯特德剧院（Hampstead Theatre）上演。 相关链接：乱翻书丨战争、谎言、愚蠢的帝国与阿拉伯之后的劳伦斯 原文：Lawrence of Arabia: New play tackles man behind movie image （By Vincent DowdArts reporter, BBC News / 8 May 2016 / From the sectionEntertainment & Arts） 网址：http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-36225696 正文： Lawrence's interest in the Middle East grew out of his love of history and archaeology and in World War One he worked in intelligence as the British fought the Turks The picture most people have of the writer TE Lawrence is the version of him in David Lean's film Lawrence of Arabia. But that was more than half a century ago and playwright Howard Brenton thinks there are things to say about Lawrence which make him relevant today. Lawrence was part artist, part man of action, hungry for public acclaim yet uneasy about his own inner self, he says. Brenton, who built his reputation as one of Britain's most political playwrights, insists his new play at the Hampstead Theatre, Lawrence after Arabia, didn't start out as a political statement. "I'm in my mid-70s and I've been writing for 50 years. As a writer at my age you begin to think of first and last things. I was fascinated by Lawrence's character and the divided loyalties he felt as a British army intelligence officer who was also a supporter of Arab independence. It broke him apart. "In 1916 he played a role in the Arab Revolt against the Turks. And if you look at that now you have to think about how the way the great powers - basically Britain and the French - divided up Arabia shapes the world even today." So audiences may be surprised to discover that much of the new play takes place not under desert skies but inside the solid Hertfordshire home of Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw and his wife Charlotte Payne-Townshend. For some time Lawrence was a regular visitor to the house. Though most commentators assume he was gay, a complex relationship arose between him and Payne-Townshend (played by Geraldine James) which is in many ways the heart of the play. Geraldine James plays the wife of George Bernard Shaw Lawrence, like Payne-Townshend, had been a child of the Anglo-Irish upper class. His interest in Arabia grew out of his love of history and of archaeology. Lawrence wanted independence for Arabia but also craved fame for himself. His book Seven Pillars of Wisdom (first published in 1922) chronicled the Arab Revolt. It seldom downplayed what he regarded as his own crucial part and the book helped make Lawrence famous. The 1962 film turned Peter O'Toole into a star - it also made the Lawrence myth even stronger. Two years earlier, Terence Rattigan had written the play Ross which also focused on Lawrence and which had starred Alec Guinness. It gets a rare revival at Chichester next month, with Joseph Fiennes in the lead role. Contradictions At Hampstead, Lawrence is played by Jack Laskey, familiar from the ITV series Endeavour. He says he's seen only clips of O'Toole's performance and has tried not to think of how other actors and other scripts have seen the man and his deeds. "It has to be our interpretation of his character or it won't work. It's all there in Howard's script, supported by reading about him and reading what Lawrence himself wrote," he says. "I'm still getting through Seven Pillars of Wisdom, bit by bit. It's a long and fascinating account of the era and it's beautifully written. "There are so many contradictions. He wanted to be in the spotlight but also wanted to remain unknown. It's clear he felt guilty because he thought he'd betrayed the Arabs in the war - that he promised things London would never have let happen. He has to atone for that. "He's angry at his country but perhaps also he's angry at what he has done and not done personally. There's a lot there for an actor to work with." One of the aspects of Lawrence which has been discussed more freely in recent decades is his sexuality. Laskey says it's not the focus of the play but it's something he needed to think about. "In Arabia he found a much greater easiness about male affection and he enjoyed that. He writes about that intimacy in Seven Pillars. Some people believe he was basically asexual but it's not something the play really has an opinion on. "But it's clear he discovered a new freedom in Arabia which I'm sure was part of his genuine love for the place. "For him Arabia was a place he could hide himself. There's a lot of stuff in the play about fame and celebrity and the problems it can bring. It's one of the echoes you'll find of our lives today." Playwright Howard Brenton (left) says Lawrence was an "extraordinarily interesting" man Playwright Brenton says it's important to realise Lawrence had an artistic temperament. "But he was a fighter too - there were times when he'd had to kill and had not hesitated. Writing about damaged things and damaged people can be rewarding. "Though I don't know the Rattigan play I have seen the Lean film, which people sometimes now mock. In fact the screenplay is good on this strange mixture of strength and vulnerability. "I think TE Lawrence had an unexpectedly naive or innocent side which allowed him to do extraordinary things. Napoleon Bonaparte had the same trait." Brenton says it would be foolish to assume Lawrence's hopes for the Arab world would, if they'd become reality, have brought permanent peace to the region. "Who can say how history would have changed? But his main point was pretty simple: that if after the war the big European powers imposed new boundaries which crossed lines of tribe and loyalty it was asking for trouble." Lawrence's life ended in middle age far from Arabia. He died in 1935 in Dorset following a motorbike accident. Since then, some have thought him a major writer; others think him at most a footnote to the latter days of Empire. Brenton says, writing his play, he came to like Lawrence more. "There are people who dislike him intensely and are totally iconoclastic about his reputation, which they consider inflated. "But I think he was an extraordinarily interesting man who was torn apart by Britain's imperial dilemma. For me that made him worth writing about." Lawrence after Arabia is at the Hampstead Theatre in London until 4 June.
