【英语听和读】戏剧的教育意义

Yvonne: When we think of the theatre, many of us simply think about being entertained.

But actress Pauline Moran, explains how a play can often deliver much more

as she tells us about her role in a South African play called “Bones”. That’s all

in today’s Entertainment from bbclearningenglish.com!

I’m Yvonne Archer¹ – hello.

“Bones”, a play that was written and directed by Kay Adshead, is set in postapartheid

South Africa – a time when it became illegal to treat people unfairly

simply because of their colour. In the play, Pieter is a harmless and very ill old

white man, but when he worked as a senior policeman, many of the local black

people he questioned simply disappeared.

Pieter’s wife, Jennifer, loves him very much and believes that he’ll be cured by

magic if she reveals the gruesome secret of what happened to all those people.

But will she? Before we find out, let’s hear from Pauline Moran, who plays

Jennifer. She explains why the audience begins to feel sorry for her…

Pauline Moran

Yes, yes – well you do realise that Jennifer is also a victim – at the end you do, because her

misplaced love has kept her in a loveless marriage for thirty-seven years and she’s been loyal

and she’s kept it a secret. She should never have done such a thing, you know, having

witnessed such an atrocity².

Yvonne: During the play, the entire community watches as the bones of friends and

relatives are dug up from the couple’s beautiful rose garden. But Jennifer

seems to be more upset about her roses and the noise than she is about all those 

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lost lives. Surprisingly, the audience does begin to feel sorry for her because as

Pauline says, she’s ‘a victim’ – someone who’s suffered and has been hurt - in

this case, by Pieter’s cruel and shocking actions. But Jennifer’s also suffered

because despite 37 years of marriage, Pieter hasn’t returned her love. She’s

suffered what Pauline calls ‘a loveless marriage’. As we continue, try to catch

the noun Pauline uses to describe Pieter’s cruel, shocking actions…

Pauline Moran

She’s been loyal and she’s kept it a secret. She should never have done such a thing, you

know, having witnessed such an atrocity. But in the end, she confesses and I think, in a sense,

is redeemed³ because she’s laid bare all the true facts. But as to whether Pieter is forgiven,

that’s another matter entirely⁴ and it’s probably up to each audience member to take away and

form their own opinion.

Yvonne: Did you manage to catch the noun Pauline used to describe Pieter’s cruel and

shocking actions? Yes, she calls them ‘an atrocity’ – a noun that’s often heard

during reports about war - so do listen out for it again after today’s programme.

Jennifer’s love and loyalty⁵ to her husband made her feel that she couldn’t tell

anyone about the atrocities⁶ she’d ‘witnessed’ – what she’d seen. But as Pauline

put it, she is ‘redeemed’ - forgiven and has put right a serious wrong by telling

the entire truth about what happened… Jennifer has ‘laid bare all the true facts’.

Pauline Moran

In the end, she confesses and I think, in a sense, is redeemed because she’s laid bare all the

true facts.

Yvonne: Of course, the same cannot be said for Pieter so the audience are left to decide

whether he will ever deserve the same consideration. 

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Yvonne: A play like “Bones” can be important in ‘raising awareness⁷’ about the

apartheid years - bringing what happened to the attention of more people and

helping⁸ them to understand more about that period of time. But who, in

particular, does Pauline think needs to be more aware of apartheid?

Pauline Moran

It’s definitely raising awareness because it’s surprising how little young people today do

know about the apartheid years. They haven’t any idea – it’s surprised us – even talking to

people after the play. They may have a very superficial knowledge of the things – that the

atrocities that went on. But I don’t think they teach it in schools as part of courses at all so

there’s a great deal of the pit of ignorance about it.

Yvonne: Pauline Moran has been very surprised at the tiny amount of knowledge – the

'superficial knowledge' - that young people have about the apartheid years. As

she put it, ‘there’s a great deal of the pit of ignorance’ about it - but fortunately,

the play is helping to change that.

Do you feel that plays are a good way to help raise awareness of important

issues? Perhaps you think they’re an entertaining way to teach history? Or,

maybe you think they give an audience too much drama and not enough facts.

Why not try to discuss that in English after today’s Entertainment from 

1 archer   

n.射手，弓箭手

参考例句：

• The archer strung his bow and aimed an arrow at the target.弓箭手拉紧弓弦将箭瞄准靶子。
• The archer's shot was a perfect bull's-eye.射手的那一箭正中靶心。

2 atrocity   

n.残暴，暴行

参考例句：

• These people are guilty of acts of great atrocity.这些人犯有令人发指的暴行。
• I am shocked by the atrocity of this man's crimes.这个人行凶手段残忍狠毒使我震惊。

3 redeemed   

adj. 可赎回的，可救赎的 动词redeem的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• She has redeemed her pawned jewellery. 她赎回了当掉的珠宝。
• He redeemed his watch from the pawnbroker's. 他从当铺赎回手表。

4 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

5 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

6 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

8 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。