澳大利亚歌剧团艺术家埃米莉·埃德蒙兹在维多利亚州墨尔本艺术中心经过全新翻新并更名的伊恩·波特州立剧院的舞台上。
Opera Australia artist Emily Edmonds on stage at the newly renovated – and renamed – Ian Potter State Theatre, Arts Centre Melbourne, Victoria.
摄影：查理·金罗斯/《卫报》在关门两年半之后，墨尔本更名后的伊恩·波特州立剧院回归了。不要被它“貌似”没变的外表所欺骗 我们站在维多利亚州刚刚修缮一空的州立剧院宽阔而空旷的舞台上——距离其正式重新开放还有几天，距离它向公众关门已过去两年半——正等待着大幕拉开。通常情况下，我们会面向另一个方向，但这一次我们期待的不是这个巨大舞台上会有什么（它比四个网球场还要大，是南半球最大的舞台），而是观众席里有什么。
Two and a half years since closing its doors, Melbourne’s renamed Ian Potter State theatre is back. Don’t be fooled by the fact that it, kind of, looks the same We are standing on the vast, empty stage of Victoria’s newly refurbished State theatre – days before its official reopening and two and a half years since it closed its doors to the public – as we wait for the curtain to rise. Normally we’d be facing the other direction, but this time we aren’t anticipating what’s on this enormous stage (bigger than four tennis courts, it is the largest in the southern hemisphere), but what’s in the auditorium.
事实上，我们是来参观观众席本身的，这是墨尔本艺术中心总额10亿澳元（编者注：原文17亿）重建项目第一阶段的核心。大幕拉开，随之而来的是一种安静的惊叹。
Actually, we’ve come to see the auditorium itself, the centrepiece of this first stage in the $1.7bn redevelopment of Arts Centre Melbourne Curtain up, and then a kind of hushed bemusement.
似乎没有什么太大变化。布局基本保持不变，黄铜与深红色的配色方案也完全相同，绝大多数改进和调整都十分微妙或隐藏在视线之外。“你在这里看到的每样东西可能都一样，”墨尔本艺术中心“重塑项目”总监克里斯·金说道，仿佛是为了向我们证实大家并没有疯，“但正是这些极其微小的差异带来了天壤之别。”伊恩·波特州立剧院的主舞台比四个网球场还要大，是南半球最大的舞台。
Nothing much seems different. The layout is largely the same, the brass and burgundy colour scheme is definitely the same, and most of the improvements and alterations are subtle or out of sight. “Everything you see here might look the same,” says the director of the Arts Centre Melbourne Reimagining Project, Chris King, as if to confirm we aren’t all going mad, “but there are ever so slight differences that make all the difference.”The Ian Potter State theatre’s main stage is bigger than four tennis courts, and the largest in the southern hemisphere.
这座拥有2,000个座位的州立剧院由澳大利亚演员兼设计师约翰·特鲁斯科特（John Truscott）设计，于1984年隆重开幕；40年后，它显得有些陈旧。由于设计上的结构局限性和不符合当代规范，它也已无法满足使用需求。作为墨尔本备受喜爱且至关重要的剧院——它的关闭给该市的其他演出场所（特别是里根剧院）带来了压力，这里也是澳大利亚芭蕾舞团和澳大利亚歌剧团等主要艺术团体的所在地。任何改动都会备受瞩目。
The 2,000-seat State theatre was designed by Australian actor and designer John Truscott and opened with great fanfare in 1984; 40 years later, it was looking a little tired. It was also unfit for purpose, due to structural limitations in the design and contemporary code violations. A beloved and vital Melbourne theatre – its closure has seen pressure placed on the city’s other performance spaces, notably the Regent – it is home to major companies such as the Australian Ballet and Opera Australia. Any alterations would be noticed.
首先值得一提的改变是名称，现在它正式更名为伊恩·波特州立剧院（Ian Potter State theatre）（尽管要说服墨尔本市民接受这一改变可能会比较棘手）。这一决定于2024年在未经公众协商的情况下宣布，将又一个维多利亚州艺术机构以一位无可否认的慷慨捐助者命名——这继联邦广场的伊恩·波特中心和帕克维尔的波特艺术博物馆之后又添一处——这让许多人感到不满，其中包括公开直言不讳的埃迪·佩尔费克特（Eddie Perfect），他称之为“一个弥天大错”。
The first change worth addressing is the name, which is now officially the Ian Potter State theatre (although convincing Melburnians to adopt the change may prove trickier). Announced without public consultation in 2024, the decision to name yet another Victorian arts institution after an admittedly generous benefactor – this adds to the Ian Potter Centre in Federation Square, and the Potter Museum of Art in Parkville – has rankled many, including a publicly vocal Eddie Perfect who called it “a big fat mistake”.
澳大利亚芭蕾舞团首席演员布雷特·陈维斯（Brett Chenoweth）在后台被拍到。
Australian Ballet principal artist Brett Chenoweth, seen backstage.
负责监督该项目的NH Architecture公司董事哈米什·莱昂（Hamish Lyon）承认，公众不太可能完全接受其全称，但他认为这完全没有问题。“人们习惯叫它‘州立剧院’（the State）。（更名）所做的是表彰该国表演艺术中心历史上最大的一笔个人慈善捐赠。但对大多数普通观众来说，他们依然会像过去40年一样，来到州立剧院看演出。”
Hamish Lyon, director of the company hired to oversee the project, NH Architecture, agrees the public are unlikely to embrace its full title, and thinks that’s perfectly fine. “People know it as the State. What [the name change does] is recognise the largest single philanthropic gift to a performing arts centre in the country in history. But for most punters, they’re going to see a show in the State theatre like they have for 40 years.”
一项普遍受到欢迎的重大改进是无障碍设施的大幅提升：所有三个楼层的优质座位现在都可以通过轮椅轻松到达，无障碍座位现在也有两部新电梯提供支持。更重要的是，这些新增设施让人感到舒适和温馨，而不是功利或临时凑合——行动不便的人过去在公共场所通常只能忍受这种设计。这是必要的改变，而且早就该进行了。
One key update that should be universally welcomed is a massive improvement in disability access: excellent seats across all three levels can be easily reached by wheelchair, and accessible seating is now supported by two new lifts. More importantly, these additions feel plush and welcoming rather than utilitarian or ad hoc, an approach people with mobility issues are usually made to endure in public spaces. It’s necessary change, overdue.
池座内新开辟的两个宽敞过道现在与中央通道相交，形成了一个前台区域，有望改善观众的进出动线。空气流通也得到了极大的改善，金（King）表示，观众的舒适度是“我们努力实现的一切目标中的一个主要因素”。“以前，空调是从上方送风的。每场演出开始大约12或15分钟后，就会有一股冷气倾泻而下，这是系统应对2,000名观众的方式。”现在，冷暖气改从下方送出。
Two generous new aisles in the stalls now meet a central walkway, forming an apron that should improve audience flow. Air flow has also greatly improved, with audience comfort being “a major factor in everything we tried to achieve,” King says. “Previously, the air conditioning used to come from above. About 12 or 15 minutes into every show, there would be this cold air dump, the system’s way of dealing with 2,000 bodies.”Now the air comes from below.
地毯已被替换为宏伟的黑butt桉木，这提升了整个礼堂的质感，并有助于改善声学效果。原本出了名参差不齐的音质得到了显著改善；甚至由意大利家具制造商波托罗娜·弗劳（Poltrona Frau）设计的座椅靠背也在增强声音方面发挥了作用。“声学是一门神奇的艺术，”莱昂说。“它是高科技科学与某种黑魔法艺术的结合。”
Carpets have been replaced with magnificent blackbutt timber that elevates the whole auditorium and helps with the acoustics. Sound quality, which was notoriously patchy, has been significantly improved; even the backs of the seats, designed by Italian furniture manufacturer Poltrona Frau, play a role in augmenting sound. “It’s an amazing art, acoustics,” Lyon says. “A mix of high science and black magic art.”
左起：NH Architecture联合创始人兼设计总监哈米什·莱昂、墨尔本艺术中心首席执行官凯伦·昆兰（Karen Quinlan），以及墨尔本艺术中心“重塑”项目总监克里斯·金（Chris King）。
From left: NH Architecture co-founder and design director Hamish Lyon, Arts Centre Melbourne CEO Karen Quinlan, and Arts Centre Melbourne Reimagining director Chris King.
大部分改进都是技术性的，因此从外观上难以察觉；这些改进包括对音响系统的全面改造（King称原来的音响系统“简直就像‘固定在墙上’一样无法使用”），以及新舞台灯光系统的安装。或许最显眼的改动是观众席前两排座位的增加，以及天花板上精美的金箔装饰。
Most of the improvements are technical and therefore invisible, from a complete redesign of the sound system – which King says “used to be stuck on the wall” – to a new performance lighting system. Perhaps the most noticeable alterations are the added front two rows in the balcony, and the exquisite gold leafing on the ceilings.
从观众席走到阳台，可以明显感受到设计师们在翻新过程中投入了大量的心血与精力，力求让剧院看起来仿佛一切都没有发生过变化。这次翻新采用了极其低调、细致的设计手法，在大幅提升剧院设施的同时，完全保留了其原有的建筑风格。
Walking through the new theatre from the stalls to the balcony, it’s clear that an enormous amount of love and attention has been poured into the task of making it look like nothing’s been done. This refurbishment has deliberately leant on the softly, softly approach, vastly improving amenity without disturbing the building’s original aesthetic.
——Kutcha Edwards，该剧院开幕音乐会《Gugu Dindi Gunyah（Many Years, One Home）》的资深音乐制作人兼创意总监如果参与此次翻新的团队担心：这些改动是否足够明显，足以让公众相信这笔巨额投资（该项目获得了州政府2.41亿澳元的资助）是合理的……那么他们可以参考ARM Architecture公司在2012年对Hamer Hall的翻新案例作为参考。那个项目既大胆又注重细节，维多利亚州的观众对这次翻新给予了极大的热情与支持。
Kutcha Edwards, senior songman and creative producer of the venue’s opening concert Gugu Dindi Gunyah (Many Year, One Home). If the teams who’ve worked on it seem nervous that enough changes are visible to the naked eye to justify in the public’s mind the eye-watering cost – this stage of the redevelopment included a state government injection of $241m– they should take comfort in the experience of ARM Architecture, who redeveloped Hamer Hall in 2012. That project was simultaneously bold and conservative, and Victorians embraced the refit with massive enthusiasm.
澳大利亚歌剧院的演员Emily Edmonds和Jeremy Kellerman在后台，他们身着《The Magic Fulte》剧中的服装。
Opera Australia performers Emily Edmonds and Jeremy Kellerman in The Magic Fulte costumes backstage.
剧院的正式开放将与一场由原住民主导的音乐会《Gugu Dindi Gunyah（Many Rivers, One Home）》同步举行；此外，还将举办为期三天的演出活动，邀请了100多位维多利亚州艺术家参与演出，所有演出均免费向公众开放。澳大利亚歌剧院将于10月中旬通过《Wagner Gala》剧目对剧院的音响效果进行全面测试；随后澳大利亚芭蕾舞团将上演《The Nutcracker》，之后澳大利亚歌剧院的《My Fair Lady》剧目将在夏季上演。
The grand opening to the public will coincide with a First Nations-led concert called Gugu Dindi Gunyah (Many Rivers, One Home) and a three-day series of performances featuring over 100 Victorian artists titled Housewarming all totally free. The acoustics will be fully tested by Opera Australia’s Wagner Gala in mid-October, and Australian Ballet will return with The Nutcracker before Opera Australia’s My Fair Lady takes over for summer.
墨尔本的这座戏剧瑰宝终于焕然一新，比以往任何时候都更加璀璨夺目，已经准备好迎接观众的到来。
Melbourne has its theatrical crown jewel back, shinier than ever and ready for play.