Three bizarre tales of death, frustration and failure

The second week of the Chang Kai-shek Cultural Center's Formosa Experimental Theater Festival will present Off Performance Workshop's (外表坊時驗團) One and One-third tonight at the Experimental Theater.

Under the auspices of Performance Workshop, one of Taiwan's major theater groups, OPW has set out to be an unconventional alternative to its mother group. Its performances in the last two years show a ingenuity in mixing theatrical genres and blurring the boundaries between theater, ethnic dances and fashion shows to create uncategorizable performances. Its typical surreal plots challenge audiences' perceptions and yet manage to avoid being too off-beat to alienate them.

One and One-third is the group director Fu Hong-cheng's (符宏征) first attempt at telling realistic stories. The performance deals with the sometimes bizarre realities of human relationships in urban Taipei through three independent stories.

The performance starts with The River in a Quiet City, a rather sentimental piece about murder and suicide. A young girl, working as a life-line consultant, one day receives a phone call not from a desperate would-be suicide but from her estranged best friend. The friend calls to describe a detailed scheme to murder her own father, provoking the consultant to reveal her own story about death.

The second story, Punching Bag (出氣筒) is as comic as it is sarcastic. The piece discusses the problems faced by those new to society through the experience of a young man hunting for a well-paying, comfortable job only to end up working for the rich clients who vent their frustrations on him. Whether the 20-somethings are daydreaming slackers or hard-working employees is left for the audience to ponder.

Closing Time's frenzied pace and non-sequential presentation may seen more familiar to OPW's fans. Set in a bar in the small hours, the story depicts the failure of the three main characters, who are obsessed with their various ideals of love, to find a common ground.

One and One-third will be performed tonight at 7:30 at the Experimental Theater. Tickets (NT$450) are available at the venue or by calling (02) 23431647.