Godot ready to hit the road

"In fact, you can watch a show in Taipei, and watch it again in Taichung or Kaohsiung, and the effect will be different," Lai said jokingly.

His good humor is buoyed by generally strong ticket sales at a time when Taiwan's theater is taking a beating from the economic recession and the effects of local and international disasters. In response to Hugh Lee's (李國修) recent statement in the Chinese press that his Ping-Fong Acting Troupe will be canceling production of its new Incredible Country (不可思義的國) because of the poor box office figures, Lai said that, for the moment, Performance Workshop will be tightening its belt on such luxuries as extravagant sets and focus on the acting. He emphasized that there is no absolute relationship between cost and quality, and this production of Waiting for Godot, with its virtually barren stage and everything dependant on the skill of the actors, seems to underline his belief.

Performance Information:

What: Waiting for Godot (等待狗頭)

Who: Performance Workshop (表演工作坊)

When & Where: Oct. 10 to Oct. 13, 7:30pm, Oct. 14, 2:30pm, at the National Theater, Taipei. Oct. 20, 7:30pm at Chihshan Hall, Kaohsiung. Oct. 27, 7:30pm at the Chungshan Hall, Taichung.

Tickets: NT$300 to NT$1,800 from the National Theater tel: (02)2343-1363 or from ERA ticketing for Taichung and Kaohsiung shows.