Rehearsing Othello on Zoom云上排练《奥赛罗》

霍莉·威廉姆斯 译/李香爱

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.

尽管笼罩在新冠肺炎的阴影下，值得注意的是，很多年轻人已经做得有声有色。从事戏剧行业从来都不容易，但疫情展现了新兴艺术家化危为机的勇气和乐观。

24岁的莎基拉·牛顿正在埃塞克斯大学的东十五戏剧学院上最后一个学年。虽然她承认通过Zoom或者戴着口罩表演莎士比亚戏剧“相当怪异”，但这没有消减她从事戏剧行业的兴趣。相反地，她说新冠肺炎正好使她意识到“有备选计划二、三、四、五……”的重要性。

幸运的是，牛顿已经做好了几个计划。除了表演，她还写作。在防疫封锁期间，她的第一个剧本获得了外卡戏剧公司的网上剧本朗读机会，吸引了业内专业人士以及亲朋好友的反馈。她承认，这个机会是她在正常时期可能永远都得不到的。

牛顿还为英国国家青年剧团（NYT）录制播客《获得创意》，采访从事创意产业的人。在对爱丁堡边缘艺术节缺乏多样性大失所望后，牛顿和NYT在2019年创办了“冲”，一个让有天分的年轻黑人展现才艺的表演活动。作为“冲”的创办人，她还开始通过脸书线上播出这些表演。

3月和10月举办的“冲”数字式表演活动获得了极好的反响，牛顿说：“假如我们举办现场活动，反响不会这么大。所以說我们还是设法在所有这些不利环境下找到了些好处。”

她不是唯一一个在网上找到成功机会的人。防疫封锁期间，蒂亚娜·阿马约为女童子军工作，并且在午餐时间撰写她的第一部网络系列剧《阴谋》。这个来自布里克斯顿的24岁女孩也是NYT的一员，他们通过照片墙账号分享这部剧作。《阴谋》吸引了超过1万的浏览量，并促成了与都市神话电影公司的会面，该公司制作了《梅林》等剧。

“戏剧创作可以防止在封锁期间抓狂。”阿马约说道，“写作《阴谋》是我需要的良药，而且和其他想法一致的年轻演员一起工作是件很美好的事，大家的想法都是：仍然努力保持创造力并将之表达出来。”

阿马约现在是NYT旗下定目剧团的一员，定目剧团是另一种戏剧学校，可免费学习。她一直以保持社交距离的方式排练《奥赛罗》，现在依照新规定，不得不改在网上排练。但是这样的历程并没有消减她要从事戏剧工作的热情。

“我认为正相反。”她说，“看到所有的剧院关闭显然是可怕的，但很多事情依然在继续，所以不会打消我的热情。”

乔希·柯林斯也是一样的情况。他在伦敦市政厅音乐及戏剧学院上三年级，学习影视制作艺术。如果说通过Zoom学习莎士比亚很难，你可能会认为学习幕后和技术课程几乎是不可能的。但对柯林斯来说，这让他看到了不同的工作方式。

他说：“我们一直在网上直播所有的演出。虽然不一样，但却有很多很好的学习机会：学习可以运用到电影和电视中的非常有用的技术。”

直播可以带来新的观众：市政厅音乐及戏剧学院在2020年11月直播的一场三联歌剧吸引了3500人次观看，而剧院观众席仅可容纳300多人。

“这增加量是巨大的，真是太好了。”制作了这场演出的柯林斯说道，“另外一个好处是它是免费的。很多年轻人或许不会去看歌剧，但如果是免费的，他们也许会收看并改变想法。直播永远不会取代现场演出，但是能把受众范围扩大一点儿也是很好的。”

对很多演员来说，三年级的演出是他们找到经纪人的渠道。奥利维娅·比尔兹利和艾萨克·斯坦莫尔是职业演员。他们清楚走上职业阶梯第一步的重要性，所以建立了门户网站“演出2020”。在这里经纪人和选角指导可以观看数百个毕业生表演。斯坦莫尔说：“我们听到很多人说‘真不敢相信这样的事以前竟然没有’。”

两个年轻的毕业生利亚姆·加特兰和爱丽丝·克罗夫特也有相似的灵感。虽然两个人毕业前都找好了第一份工作（他们分别毕业于吉尔福德表演艺术学院和伦敦艺术教育学院），但是他们的巡回演出还是不可避免地取消了。虽然如此，他们还是觉得自己是幸运的。

“我们的很多朋友甚至都没读完最后一学年，也没找到经纪人。我们觉得，让这些都实现、让人们建立工作关系网是我们的职责。”22岁的加特兰说道。

因此他们创办了“毕业生节”：一个长达两周的网上夏季边缘艺术节，展示了300多名毕业生的表演。歌舞表演、戏剧和行业问答都通过照片墙、Zoom和优兔播出。甚至这家公司也是以数字化方式成立的：加特兰住在伦敦，而克罗夫特生活在林肯，他们通过社交媒体联系，一起工作了几个月后才见面。

在艺术节的成功激励下，他们接着举办了更多的线上活动，还在伦敦的花园剧院现场直播了一场足本音乐剧。在一场面向经纪人的表演活动中，17个表演者里有13个找到了经纪人。

“对我们来说这是最激动人心的。”加特兰说，“这让毕业生有了点儿希望。如果我们能让某人得到初步认可，那就可能将他们领进门，从而得到多多的机会。”

但是创办毕业生節也转变了他们自己的职业选择。加特兰现在想成为剧院制片人。23岁的克罗夫特用演戏的腔调宣称表演是“她的宿命”，而创办公司提醒了她自己还有其他技能。“我爱做领导，我热爱导演，我热爱平面设计，我还热爱创建网站，所以为什么我不做所有这些事呢？”

“重要的是，我们同时要保持积极主动。”克罗夫特说，“我们在做调查：优兔网站上什么受欢迎？我们还没有进军抖音国际版，这将是我们的下一步。”

“戏剧的最好形式是在剧院里现场演出，但这不是戏剧的唯一形式。重要的是，我们要跟上时代，把弊转为利！”克罗夫特笑着说道。她这种想法透着极其坚定的乐观主义，而很多年轻人好像也有同样的想法，这肯定会激发下一代的信心。

（译者为“《英语世界》杯”翻译大赛获奖者）