話劇《古怪的一對》導(dǎo)演Jonathan Geenen接受滬江英語采訪實(shí)況：

Q: Why do you choose to do “the odd couple”? Why is it attractive to you?

A: My inspiration for producing The Odd Couple came from being able to work with Jim Bennett and Charley Mayer on a previous play. They are both dynamic actors who have an incredible range. It is a play that has been in the back of my mind for about 10 years. I worked on it as a sound designer as a student. These two actors gave me the courage to tackle it and have helped me discover an enormous amount of truth in it. I am incredibly grateful to the entire cast for their courage and hard work.

Q: It was said that when Neil began to write this play, he thought that it would be a dark and tedious play about two mismatched men, and it might end his career as a playwright. Have you heard of that? Do you think Neil really said that and how do you think of that?

A: I haven’t heard this before. I can’t begin to imagine what Neil Simon believed the effect that the play would have on people. I was drawn to the play because of the universal qualities that I believe it touches on in regards to relationships between two people.

Q: When Neil began to write play, he used to be reminded that “you can not confuse ‘comedy’ and ‘drama’ as one thing,” but Neil himself thought that if our life is really like that, why we can not add comedy into drama? What’s your own opinion? Do you think The Odd Couple can be regarded as a comedy or a drama?

A: I believe the play has all of the structure of a drama and that audiences over time have appreciated the human folly as comedic. All great plays have the ability to travel from the sublime to the ridiculous and back again.

Q: I know this 1965 classic play has a following successful group of film and television series. Is there any one you like most? And do you refer to one of them before you start your production?

A: I haven’t seen the movie for 10 years. I never use previous production photos, movies or otherwise when working on a play.

Q: Have you add any of your own creations and ideas into the original script? Can you tell me the details about that?

A: I have tried to remain as faithful to the script as possible. A few small details may be different because of the venue that we are playing in but other than that, nothing that is too surprising.

Q: And what is the most challenging thing when you start to direct this play?

A: Getting to know how the actors and getting them to trust the material. It is easy for actors and directors to add ideas to scripts. The most difficult thing to do sometimes is to simply trust the material.