臺灣歌仔戲堪稱當今最具代表性的戲曲幕表戲。從內臺商業戲院到外臺廟會劇場，一直以來，臺灣職業歌仔戲主要都採取「做活戲」的方式運作其表演，不曾間斷。從即興戲劇的整體創造來看，演員即興表演的核心意涵其實是劇目創作，其「表演手段」同時是「編劇手段」。完成一場演出，對即興戲劇的演員而言，就像是完成一場「編劇的團體接力賽」。他們以即興表演直接在舞臺上說故事，進行新劇目的編創。本文透過田野觀察和採訪，從「劇目創作參與」的角度觀察歌仔戲演員的即興表演技巧。首先，就「演員個人」着眼，分基本原則和常用技巧兩個層次加以分析。基本原則包括掌握不同類型口白；選曲用調；從劇中人物的身分、性格和處境入手，編出對話（對白和唱詞）。常用技巧牽涉進一步和對手演員互動，包括基本的丟接概念，以及廣為演員們所使用的技巧：包、救、順、切；還有難度較高，通常用在唱詞中的押韻、平仄、增字、比喻、鋪張等技巧。接着，再就「團隊合作」的層次，討論即興劇場如何透過「劇中人物」（character）來建立動人的「戲劇場景」。在絕對「演員中心」的即興戲劇中，劇中人物與戲劇場景的關係特別密切，當然先需仰賴演員發揮個人特質和卓越的演技，來建立一個具說服力的「劇中人物」。但最終還是必須透過團隊合作，才能成功貫串與人物有關的一切「戲劇場景」，成為完整的故事。幕表戲對演員表演靈活度的訓練具備高度的價值。一齣「活戲」在同一個劇團演久了，往往會被固定下來，成為「死戲」。然而，透過劇目的傳遞，由另一批演員重新演出，又會回歸「活戲」。演員即興編劇的接力賽，因得以從一齣戲，延伸到不同的時空。

Taiwanese gezixi Opera is the most representative of scenariobased performances. For a long time, actors of professional Taiwanese opera performed in a predominantly improvisational way. In examining the overall creative process of improvisational performance, it is easy to see that its essence lies in the creative involvement of actors in the play-writing
process. Their performing skills are in fact akin to writing skills. For
actors who improvise, completing a performance is like completing a round of creative play-writing. They are adept at telling spontaneous stories on stage in front of the audience. When they conclude a performance, a new play is essentially completed at the same time. This article examines the improvisational performance skills of actors in Taiwanese gezixi Opera. From the aspect of the “creative involvement of play-writing,” I will first explore the skills of individual actors. Emphasis is placed on how they improvise spoken lines and lyrics sung on the stage. It is important for actors to be certain of the appropriateness and feasibility of such lines. They also need to know which particular tune to use for a given performance. The efficiency of the improvisational skills relies on the actors’ total understanding of a given character’s position, personality,
and situation. Moreover, actors must know how to improvise lines and lyrics by way of interacting with each other. The skills commonly used in such improvisation are to cover, to save, to abandon, and to cut, while those for improvising lyrics are to rhyme, to get in tune, to add words, to similize, and to exaggerate. The article then shifts its focus to group collaboration in improvisational performance by addressing the issue of how an improvisational theater constructs powerful dramatic scenes through the characters in a play. As the actor is the absolute center of improvisational performance, the characters in a play are intimately bound up with a play’s dramatic scenes. Actors have to bring their individual talent and acting skills into full play to construct convincing characters in performance. Ultimately, group cooperation is necessary for all dramatic characters and scenes to be woven together into a complete story.