Philip Ridley has made a career of courting controversy in his work for the stage, from the claustrophobia and anxiety of his first play, 1991'sThe Pitchfork Disney, to the sprawling, ragtagKaragula, whose one-star review in theTelegraphled with the provocative headline, “Is Karagula the Worst Play of 2016?” But perhaps no play in Ridley's oeuvre has attracted as much notoriety as 2005'sMercury Fur, an intense, unrelenting, “interval-less two-hour piece” whose premiere divided critical opinion and provoked walkouts. Paines Plough, the company that commissioned the play, reports that “at least ten audience members a night left every show, unable to take the atmosphere of threat and violence portrayed on stage.”Mercury Furis set in a futuristic English dystopia whose aimless youth find their grasp on history—and their own memories—slipping away as they become addicted to hallucinogenic butterflies released upon the populace by an ambiguous invading power. While the protagonist, Elliot, ekes out a living peddling butterflies in an ice cream van, he and his brother, Darren, make their real money from throwing “parties,” clandestine meetings for rich clients who pay exorbitantly to fulfill their most violent and murderous sexual fantasies. The play, performed in real time, sees the frantic preparation for—and eventual botched execution of—one such party for a City of London executive (the Party Guest), whose Vietnam War–themed fantasy involves torturing and killing a child Elvis Presley impersonator (the Party Piece) with a meat hook. Unsurprisingly, given the subject matter, moral outrage attendedMercury Fur’s initial run, with Faber, Ridley's longtime publisher, going so far as to refuse to print the play. But a number of critics and spectators rose to defend the integrity and artistic merit of Ridley's work, a position I extend in this paper.

中文翻译：

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时空：菲利普·雷德利的水星皮毛中的时空压缩戏剧化

菲利普·里德利 (Philip Ridley) 的职业生涯在他的舞台作品中引起了争议，从他 1991 年的第一部戏剧的幽闭恐惧症和焦虑开始干草叉迪士尼, 对庞大的, 破烂的卡拉古拉，其一星评价在电报以挑衅性的标题“卡拉古拉是 2016 年最糟糕的比赛吗？” 但也许雷德利的全部作品中没有一部戏像 2005 年那样引起如此多的恶名水银毛皮，这是一部紧张、无情、“无间隔的两小时作品”，其首映式引发了批评意见并引发了罢工。委托制作该剧的公司 Paines Plough 报道称，“每场演出每晚至少有 10 名观众离开，无法接受舞台上描绘的威胁和暴力气氛。”水银毛皮设定在一个未来主义的英国反乌托邦，漫无目的的年轻人发现他们对历史的掌握——以及他们自己的记忆——随着他们沉迷于一种模棱两可的入侵力量向民众释放的致幻蝴蝶而逐渐消失。主人公艾略特在冰淇淋车里靠兜售蝴蝶勉强维持生计，而他和他的兄弟达伦则通过举办“派对”来赚取真金白银性幻想。该剧实时上演，为伦敦金融城的一位高管（派对嘉宾）疯狂地准备并最终拙劣地执行了这样一个派对，他的越南战争主题幻想涉及折磨和杀死扮演猫王的儿童（派对作品）带有肉钩。不出所料，水银毛皮的最初运行，雷德利的长期出版商费伯甚至拒绝印刷该剧。但许多评论家和观众站出来捍卫雷德利作品的完整性和艺术价值，我在本文中提出了这一立场。