Taipei theater enthusiasts can catch Thalie Theatre's performance of
Steven Berkoff's Decadence over the next two weekends. The play is a
humorously acerbic look at the convoluted relationships between four
people in England's class-dominated society.
Berkoff rips into the upper crust of English society, parodying at turns
their superficiality, their overindulgences, their class and race
biases, and their moral depravity. However, he also marvels at the way
toffee-nosed public school types keep the working classes in their
thrall by virtue of their expensive education and polished accents. The
characters in Decadence, while not exactly a villainous lot, exemplify
the excess and superficiality of the 1980s.
Director Daniel Ingi Petursson has tried to bring to the play a sense of
the high-strung awkward sexuality of the English, which can be found
lurking beneath a thin casing of old-fashioned English reserve. This
play is bound to keep the attention of audiences accustomed to more
sedate offerings in Taiwan. It features plenty of Berkof's rapid-fire
dialogues and stories and sexual undertones are never hidden for long,
with the occasional X-rated word slipped in for shock value - just what's needed to spice up one's weekend.
The free-flowing and lyrical rhythm of the play's language is one of its
big attractions. Petursson says he chose this play because it provides a
window into Britain in the 1980s and allows us to take a look at history
and see what was special about that particular time.
Decadence will be staged at the Mi Tsang Cafe, located at 24 Chaochou
St., Tapei (朝州街24號), tel 2351-4796. Saturday shows begin at 7pm and
Sunday shows begin at 3pm. Tickets cost NT$200 at the door.
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