2008年，英国壁虎剧团（Gecko）以生动幽默的表演形式重新演绎了果戈理讽刺性杰作《外套》，并在2009年登上英国爱丁堡戏剧节的舞台，获得高度赞誉。2010年6月，《外套》于中国国家大剧院上演四场，在北京戏剧界和戏剧观众中引起极大反响。今年11月，英国大使馆文化教育处联手北京无尚神采文化有限公司，再次将这部出色的英国戏剧作品带到中国，在北京、西安、武汉和深圳四地进行巡演。

《外套》中国巡演安排：

11月5日-7日，北京，首都剧场

11月10日，西安，人民剧院

11月13日-14日，武汉，中南剧场

11月19日-20日，深圳，少年宫剧场

凭借演员们独特的演绎风格，英国壁虎剧团运用喜剧的表演方式，融合电影想象、肢体语言以及引人入胜的音乐，为观众奉上一部关于爱情，欲望，贪婪的幻想曲。

壁虎剧团抓住了果戈里的讽刺性杰作《外套》中冲破常规的战斗精神，并且开启了他们创作表演的美妙旅程。故事主人公是一个在办公室里默默无闻的抄写员，他痴心地希望能拥有一件新的外套，以获得邻桌女孩儿的芳心。没有新外套，这一切似乎是不可能的。他的想法蔓延到了生活当中，混乱的现实世界和荒诞的幻想向观众展现了一个爱情故事，也是对现代消费方式的一次生动批判。

壁虎剧团创作的《外套》更加夸大渲染了果戈里这篇短篇小说的气氛，他的“部门”变成了一个桌子都漂浮在半空的办公室，错综复杂像迷宫一样的走廊代表了繁杂重复的公文程序。单调乏味的生活与悲剧性主人公阿卡基内心世界中离奇的想象，渴望赢得梦中女孩儿的好感和改变自己地位的决心被同时展现在观众面前。

《外套》创作团队

导演：Amit Lahav

舞美：Ti Green

灯光：James Famcombe

音乐：Dave Price

音效：Dan Steele

导演助理：Rich Rusk

艺术顾问：Helen Baggett

制作人：Kate Sparshatt

英国壁虎剧团

Gecko剧团由Amit Lahav 和Al Nedjari两人创办于2001年，它的形成是出自于两位创始人对长期以来沉闷呆板的戏剧的反思与回应，因此，Lahav和Nedjari致力于展开观众的想象力，唤醒他们的感官以及赋予他们能量与生命力。从两人第一次关于戏剧创作的对话开始，他们就确定想通过形体来探索作品，进一步说，他们想通过高强度的运动，身体间的接触和耐力来探索动作。

Overcoat China Tour in November

In 2008, Gecko Theater re-adapted Gogol’s Overcoat in a vivid and humorous way. Overcoat took the stage of Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2009 and was highly praised by audience and critics. This award-winning drama came to China for the first time in June 2010, and the four performances in National Centre for the Performing Arts arouse a lot of applause. This November, British Council is bringing this excellent production back to China again, together with Magique (Beijing). Overcoat will be touring to Beijiing, Xi’an, Wuhan and Shenzhen.

Touring dates and Cities:

5-7 November, Beijing, Capital Theatre

10 November, Xi’an, People’s Theatre

13-14 November, Wuhan, Zhongnan Theatre

19-20 November, Shenzhen, Youth Place Theatre

With their trade-mark inventive style, award-winning Gecko creates a fantasy of love, greed and desire using comedy, cinematic imagery, movement and evocative music.

Gecko takes the unruly spirit of Gogol’s irreverent masterpiece and creates its own intoxicating journey. A downbeat draughtsman is fixated on a new coat – and, ultimately, the unobtainable girl at the desk next to him. His thoughts spill out into everyday life, blurring reality with grotesque fantasy to present a love story – and a vivid critique of modern consumption.

Gecko’s The Overcoat magnifies the atmosphere of Gogol’s short story; his ‘department’ becomes an office playground with floating desks and an apparent labyrinth of corridors representing the repetitive, bureaucratic routine. The humdrum is juxtaposed with the magical inner-world of the underdog protagonist, Akkaki’s extraordinary imagination and determination to win the affection of the girl of his dreams and change his position in the world.

The Overcoat Team:

Directed by Amit Lahav

Design by Ti Green

Lighting Design by James Farncombe

Music by Dave Price

Sound Design by Dan Steele

Assistant Director: Rich Rusk

Creative Advisor: Helen Baggett

Producer: Kate Sparshatt

About Gecko

Gecko was founded in 2001 by Amit Lahav and Al Nedjari. Their coming together was fuelled by a shared response to theatre which for years had left them feeling somewhat dulled and uninspired. Instead, Lahav and Nedjari wanted to arrest their audience’s imagination, awaken their senses and fill them with energy and vitality. From their very first conversations about making theatre, there seemed little doubt that they wanted to explore work that was physical. By that, they mean the exploration of movement that involves great athleticism, physical contact and endurance.

（英国使馆文化教育处提供）