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Many need help, not just Cloud Gate troupe

`Having solved Cloud Gate's housing problem, the government should address the problems of other troupes that lack a permanent home, stability or means of development.'

THE CLOUD GATE Dance Theatre (雲門舞集), led by Lin Hwai-min (林懷民), recently saw its warehouse and rehearsal studio in Bali (八里) Township in Taipei County destroyed by a fire, leaving the renowned troupe homeless. But unlike what happens to other open-air theater groups, everybody was very concerned. Cloud Gate quickly found a better and more convenient location for its new home, courtesy of the Taipei County Government, much to the envy of other theater companies.

Last week, my wife and I went to her home in Minhsiung (民雄) Township in Chiayi County to worship at the Shuntien Temple (順天宮) on the birthday of the Daoist god Prince Chih. While there, we accidentally discovered that the members of an open-air Taiwanese opera group invited by the temple association to perform for the temple gods had been sleeping for days on end in a cramped, dilapidated, former monks' room on the side of the temple. The weather was windy and rainy, and the room was in a state of disrepair, with uneven and wet floorboards no more than seven or eight ping, or about 25m2.

Compare their situation to that of Lin's -- from nearby Hsinkang (新港) Township -- dance troupe: Cloud Gate gets help from all sides, in addition to NT$1 million (US$32,300) to NT$2 million for each performance, and receives tens of millions of dollars in government subsidies. Traditional opera troupes, meanwhile, have to endure many hardships, sleeping in rooms unfit even for beggars, and nobody cares about their dreary prospects -- a difference of night and day when compared to Cloud Gate.

As a bright shining star among many lesser lights, Cloud Gate already has a nice and secure home. Yet the toiling Taiwanese opera troupes who work so hard to keep local culture alive and are struggling for their livelihood, remain homeless. The government ought to be impartial and treat all performance troupes fairly.

Having solved Cloud Gate's housing problem, the government should address the problems of other troupes that lack a permanent home, stability or means of development. All parties should be treated equally, and the government should come up with straightforward, practical and feasible measures and policies -- including financial aid and other subsidies -- that are easy to apply for in order to help and support all the theater troupes that are eking out a meager living left completely on their own.

Giving them these opportunities would help them keep their head above water and further their development. This could open up new possibilities for local Taiwanese theater and performance culture, so that these troupes are given more possibilities and can continue to exist. It would allow local theater culture to return to its glory days of the 1950s and give audiences nostalgic for local theater a true audiovisual feast.

Sheu Ruoh-song is the director of the Minhsiong Culture and Education Foundation.

TRANSLATED BY ANNA STIGGELBOUT
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