Every
two years, the National Chiang Kai-shek Cultural
Center holds an International Theatre Festival,
which is taking place this year from March
25 to May 9 in both the National Theatre and
Experimental Theatre. The theme of this "Show
Wen I Tung" Festival will focus on playwrights'
productions. Through their works, theatre fans
are given a chance to look into the different
ways diverse theatre companies from around
the world portray classic plays.
This
year, six performing groups from various countries
have been invited to participate. These include
Poland's "Teatr Piesn Kozla"; Japan's "Ku
Na'uka", group renowned for combining Japanese
traditional music, song and dance into their plays;
England's "Theatre Babel" group, renowned
for their emphasis on actors' dialogues; Canada's "UbU" group,
which heavily uses symbolism in their plays; Taiwan's "Tainan
Jen Theatre", renowned for the vocal training
of their actors; and the "Rive-Gauche (Left
Bank) Theatre Group", which emphasizes the
sights and poetry of Taiwan.
Teatr
Piesn Kozla's performance, "Sumerian Epic Chronicles",
combines spectacular vocal and drama performances. The actors exude tremendous
energy on stage through their singing and dancing, which are supported
by instrumental background music.
Even if you are a bit conservative and don't want to show it all, this season you'll be able to walk around in flesh tones, the hottest thing since chocolate! Designers such as Donna Karen, Givenchy, and Calvin Klein have paid homage to the "ballet" with ethereal, feminine, delightfully "girlie" stories. Their collections are filled with the softest shades of salmon, peach, sugar almond, pink and a new even-paler-than-skin "pink".
Tainan
Jen Theatre's "Beckett Endgame" displays Beckett's literary
characteristics through their Taiwanese-translated script. This group also
uses their unique performance methods to unite music into actors' body
movements, in order to discover further possibilities in cross-cultural
drama productions.
Ku
Na'uka Theatre Company's Kyoka Izumi Tenshu Monogatari" performance
uses the traditional theatrical performing methods
of two actors acting the role of one character.
One actor narrates the story while the other actor
performs according to the storyline. This method
creates a feeling of amazement and unreality for
the audience.
Theatre
Babel's production of Ibsen's "A Doll's House" describes
how the heroine, Nora, overcomes her weaknesses.
The story describes her inner feelings as she bravely
confronts the dishonest male world, and how she eventually
walks out of her marriage, which she viewed as her
safety net, in order to live life for herself for
the first time.
Rive-Gauche
Theatre Group's "Abe Kobo: The Ruined
Map" probes into the uncertainty of civilization.
This play deliberately portrays both futuristic
and nostalgic elements of civilization alongside
each other.
UbU
Compagnie de Creation's "Maeterlinck The
Blind" is a multimedia drama which only
lasts 45 minutes. On the pitch-black stage,
12 floating heads--including a lunatic and
a deaf person--carry on a conversation.
For
detailed performance times, please refer to
the "What's On" section listings
in this magazine or contact the ticketing service
for the National Chiang Kai-shek Cultural Center
at (02) 2343-1647. |
