美国国家公共电台 NPR 'Beautiful Things' Revealed In Stage Adaptation Of Cheryl Strayed's Advice Column

 

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Take a book by Cheryl Strayed, the author of "Wild," actress and writer Nia Vardalos of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" fame and the director of the Broadway sensation "Hamilton," put them all together and what have you got? An unlikely off-Broadway play based on Strayed's bestselling book of advice columns, "Tiny Beautiful Things." It opens tomorrow, and Jeff Lunden has this preview.

JEFF LUNDEN, BYLINE¹: Cheryl Strayed started writing "Dear Sugar," an online anonymous² advice column, when she was still an unknown author. She says the emails people wrote prompted responses which made her explore her own life more deeply.

CHERYL STRAYED: I was engaging with another writer who was saying things to me that we don't normally say to people in the public space. I always think of the "Dear Sugar" column as like therapy in the town square.

LUNDEN: Now that town square is the Public Theater. The set is a kind of messy house where Nia Vardalos as Strayed's alias³, Sugar, makes lunch for her kids or folds laundry while she answers questions from three actors who inhabit the very same space, playing a variety of ages and genders⁴.

(SOUNDBITE OF PERFORMANCE OF PLAY, "TINY BEAUTIFUL THINGS")

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: (As character) How are you, Sugar? It's making me crazy. I want to know. What would a photograph of you look like?

NIA VARDALOS: (As Sugar) A woman standing⁵ naked in the plain light of day. She's flawed but OK with that. Her hands are obscuring her face. You see everything but one thing.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (As character) Why can't we see that one thing? Why can't we see your face and know who you are?

VARDALOS: (As Sugar) You know who I am. I reveal myself to you in every column.

LUNDEN: And in revealing herself, Sugar reveals more about our common humanity without ever telling people what to do or how to think, says Nia Vardalos. Sugar's not Dear Abby or Ann Landers.

VARDALOS: The way Cheryl uses storytelling to reveal something about herself and make the person feel like it's OK, it's OK. You show me yours and I will show you mine.

(SOUNDBITE OF PERFORMANCE OF PLAY, "TINY BEAUTIFUL THINGS")

VARDALOS: (As Sugar) Dear Confused, the last word my mother ever said to me was love. She was 45 and so sick and weak. She couldn't muster⁶ the I or the U, but it didn't matter. That puny⁷ word has the power to stand all on its own.

LUNDEN: "Tiny Beautiful Things," based on Strayed's collection of advice columns, came about because a friend gave director Thomas Kail the book. Then he gave it to Nia Vardalos. She read it from cover to cover on a flight from New York to LA, and through her tears, called Kail on the tarmac to say she wanted to adapt it. But she knew it couldn't be a traditional theatrical⁸ narrative⁹.

VARDALOS: I thought, I don't care if this is a play, if it's a monologue¹⁰, if it's a theatrical experience. I can't worry about the finished product. I'm just going to explore.

LUNDEN: Kail says that exploration has yielded an unconventional and emotional 75-minute theatrical journey.

THOMAS KAIL: I wanted it to be an experience where you walked into the dark and this thing unfolded. And there was some sort of ritual that was embraced. And it wasn't about, these two meet, are they going to get back together? It was not about plot. It was about feeling. It was about empathy. It was about being heard.

(SOUNDBITE OF PERFORMANCE OF PLAY, "TINY BEAUTIFUL THINGS")

VARDALOS: (As Sugar) Love is the feeling we have for people we care about and hold in high regard. It can be light, as the hug we give a friend, or heavy, as the sacrifices we make for our children. It can be fleeting¹¹, everlasting¹², conditional¹³, unconditional¹⁴. The point is, you get to define it.

LUNDEN: Thomas Kail says there's a reason Cheryl Strayed's words resonate.

KAIL: And I think it's why the book has existed and been given to so many people is about something very simple. I see you. I hear you. You are known.

LUNDEN: And he hopes audiences feel the same way when they see the show. For NPR News, I'm Jeff Lunden in New York.

MARTIN: This is NPR News.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 anonymous   

adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的

参考例句：

• Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
• The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。

3 alias   

n.化名；别名；adv.又名

参考例句：

• His real name was Johnson,but he often went by the alias of Smith.他的真名是约翰逊，但是他常常用化名史密斯。
• You can replace this automatically generated alias with a more meaningful one.可用更有意义的名称替换这一自动生成的别名。

4 genders   

n.性某些语言的（阳性、阴性和中性，不同的性有不同的词尾等）( gender的名词复数 )；性别；某些语言的（名词、代词和形容词）性的区分

参考例句：

• There are three genders in German: masculine, feminine and neuter. 德语中有叁性：阳性、阴性和中性。 来自辞典例句
• Japan was fourth among the genders of foreign students. 日本在二十个留美学生输送地中列第四位。 来自互联网

5 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

6 muster   

v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册

参考例句：

• Go and muster all the men you can find.去集合所有你能找到的人。
• I had to muster my courage up to ask him that question.我必须鼓起勇气向他问那个问题。

7 puny   

adj.微不足道的，弱小的

参考例句：

• The resources at the central banks' disposal are simply too puny.中央银行掌握的资金实在太少了。
• Antonio was a puny lad,and not strong enough to work.安东尼奥是个瘦小的小家伙，身体还不壮，还不能干活。

8 theatrical   

adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的

参考例句：

• The final scene was dismayingly lacking in theatrical effect.最后一场缺乏戏剧效果，叫人失望。
• She always makes some theatrical gesture.她老在做些夸张的手势。

9 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

10 monologue   

n.长篇大论，（戏剧等中的）独白

参考例句：

• The comedian gave a long monologue of jokes.喜剧演员讲了一长段由笑话组成的独白。
• He went into a long monologue.他一个人滔滔不绝地讲话。

11 fleeting   

adj.短暂的，飞逝的

参考例句：

• The girls caught only a fleeting glimpse of the driver.女孩们只匆匆瞥了一眼司机。
• Knowing the life fleeting,she set herself to enjoy if as best as she could.她知道这种日子转瞬即逝，于是让自已尽情地享受。

12 everlasting   

adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的

参考例句：

• These tyres are advertised as being everlasting.广告上说轮胎持久耐用。
• He believes in everlasting life after death.他相信死后有不朽的生命。

13 conditional   

adj.条件的，带有条件的

参考例句：

• My agreement is conditional on your help.你肯帮助我才同意。
• There are two forms of most-favored-nation treatment:conditional and unconditional.最惠国待遇有两种形式:有条件的和无条件的。

14 unconditional   

adj.无条件的，无限制的，绝对的

参考例句：

• The victorious army demanded unconditional surrender.胜方要求敌人无条件投降。
• My love for all my children is unconditional.我对自己所有孩子的爱都是无条件的。