Theatrical voices make themselves heard

The inane skits include a lecture that turns into an exercise in democracy and a mysterious phone call that leads to an even more puzzling meeting, as well as a Taiwanese hijacker who needs three translators to get her message across to the pilot.

The most provocative sketch and one that, according to Lai, "pushes the limits of live theater," is Mother Tongue, which sees a professor teaching the audience how to cuss. Adding even more madness to the insanity are a host of characters who claim to be a dog, a concept, virtual reality, a scoop of chocolate ice cream and a cartoon.

It might all sound a bit farfetched and fanciful, but there is actually method to the madness that reigns in the Performance Workshop's Mumble Jumble.

The Performance Workshop's (表演工作坊) Mumble Jumble (亂民全講) will premier at the National Theatre (國家戲劇院) tonight at 7:30pm. Performances will continue at the theater until Dec. 3, after which the show goes nationwide. Tickets for Taipei performances cost between NT$300 and NT$1,800 and are available from the CKS Cultural Center's box office or from ERA Ticketing Outlets. For a full schedule of performance times check out both the ERA and CKS Web sites.