`My Kid Sister' back on stage

Ping-Fong Acting Troupe (屏風表演班) has undergone most of the ups and downs that an alternative theater troupe can be expected to endure through its 18-year history. These include a number of style changes and being in serious financial difficulty more than once. Its fan-base has also grown to such an extent that it has pretty much lost its "alternative" credentials.

To retrace its own footsteps, Ping-Fong will re-stage My Kid Sister (我妹妹), an adaptation from a novel by Chang Ta-chun (張大春), which has proved one of the group's most popular works.

Chang is one of the few writers in Taiwan who has spanned the critical divide, producing works that have appealed to critics while proving popular with the public as well.

Published in 1992, My Kid Sister shocked Taiwan's literary world with its unprecedented juxtaposition of adolescent experiences from female and male perspectives. Having a female protagonist dissect male chauvinism and expose men's weaknesses was so unconventional that the novel sold over 100,000 copies at the time.

Touched by the rarely depicted bond between a brother and sister, Hugh Lee (李國修), artistic director of the Ping-Fong troupe, first adapted the work for the stage in 1999 in a performance starring Wan Fang (萬芳), a well-known pop singer. The popularity of the novel and the female protagonist made the production a huge success.

In his adaptation, Lee stays true to the novel's setting -- a highly conservative veteran's village in the 1970s where sexual curiosity and even human affection is frowned on. Lee's skill at using comedy to highlight serious social issues is used to good effect here, with Lee presenting a faithful adaptation without undermining the humor of the original work.

Ping-Fong Acting Troupe will perform My Kid Sister at 7:30pm from April 11 through April 20 at Novel Hall (新舞臺) located at 3-1, Sungshou Rd., Taipei. Matinees will be held tomorrow, Sunday, April 19 and April 20 at 2:30pm.

The performance then goes to Chungshan Hall in Taichung on April 26 and April 27, the Performance Hall of Hsinchu Culture Bureau the following weekend and Kaoshiung's Chite Hall on May 10 and May 11 were it wraps up. Tickets range from NT$400 to NT$1500, and are available at Acer ticketing outlets. For more information, call the group at (02) 29382005.

Tickets are NT$400 to NT$1,500, and are available at Acer ticketing outlets. For more information call the group at (02) 2938-2005.