U Theatre without drums

By Yu Sen-lun
STAFF REPORTER
Friday, Feb 20, 2004, Page 17

Scences from the four plays that make up U2 Perspective, an experimental series of works by performers from the legendary drum group U Theatre. PHOTO COURTESY OF U THEATRE

When it comes to U Theatre's performances, one thinks of their powerful drums and the expression of a zen-like spirit that are expressed by each performer. But apart from playing drums well, what else can U Theatre do? This is a question often asked by Liu Ching-ming (劉靜敏), artistic director of U Theatre.

U2 Perspective (U2 觀點) gives an answer to such a question. U Theatre is a reclusive group of performers who practice zen and their performances on Laochuan Mountain (老泉山), in Mucha, Taipei City. To make a change from their collective percussion-based shows, some of them have instead come up with a show featuring four plays that include singing, instrumental performances and the use of video arts. The plays are written and directed by the performers themselves.

Many of the youthful U Theatre performers have been living in the mountains for eight years to 10 years. They learn percussion, kungfu and meditate.

"There must be something accumulated to be expressed, and these thoughts may be very different from my perspective. This is how I thought of the idea of U2 Perspective," said Liu at a press conference on Wednesday.

She added that from her previous background in little theaters, she knew how important freedom was to a young heart.

U2 Perspective comprises four 30-minute performances, by eight members of U Theatre. The first half hour of the show is a musical performance called Improvised Accompaniment, (即興伴奏) performed by Anurag Huang (黃焜明) and Satyana Hsieh (謝明志). As practitioners of Osho -- a religious sect -- they have Osho names. They started learning Osho meditation in Pune, south of Bombay, India, two years ago. Huang, a seven-year U Theatre member, started playing the sitar in India.

He will be playing sitar while Hsieh plays a dileuba, a stringed instrument. This 30-minute musical is a prelude to the rest of the three theater-based segments. Ceremony to the Distant (祭, 遙) is a short drama about Aboriginal Paiwan tribe witches, directed by I Bao (伊苞), herself a Paiwan actress and an anthropology researcher.

She said the idea of the story originates from her experience living with an old Paiwan witch, and the mini-drama is a tribute to her. The story is set during the time of the Japanese occupation and a young couple are separated by the war in Southeast Asia. He dies on the battlefield fighting for Japan. Having waited so many years for her man, the woman becomes the witch of the tribe. She sings, for days and nights, as a tribute to the spirit of her young love. The villagers believe that singing voices can bring back the soul of the deceased. So she continues to sing, until she is no longer an ordinary woman and can connect with the gods. And that is the tradition of Paiwan witch culture. I Bao said although the story is a drama, most of the sentiment will be delivered by singing in Aboriginal languages.

The third part is a solo performance called Between In and Out (出入之間) by Hong Kong-based Alex Cheung (張藝生). Eight years ago, after graduating from arts school in Hong Kong, Cheung came to Taiwan alone and joined U Theatre. This solo play is his reflection on his years of practice in the mountains.

"Especially, it's about how to reach a balance between spiritual practice (In) and coping with daily life (Out)," Cheung said. The solo play will be combined with video installations such as images of woods, then interspersed with news reels and the images of Hong Kong mountain cable cars by two Hong Kong video artists May Fung (馮美華) and Nose Chan (陳序慶). The background music has been composed by Winson Pan (彭進傑), mixing industrial noise, Indian music and talk.

The fourth segment Crying Lake (泣湖) is another short drama based on another Aboriginal legend. Director and 10-year U Theatre member Tu Chi-chao (杜啟造) said the story is more about a state of mind on facing a dilemma than it is an Aboriginal story. Ba Nai, princess of the Paiwan tribe comes across a cottonmouth snake by the lake and experiences a spiritual and fatal attraction. She submits to desire but can not let go of her tribe and feeling human. This sentiment is expressed by the raindrops constantly falling onto the lake, as if the lake is always crying.

"I want to express the tug of war between being a god and being human, between ideals and reality and between choices in life," Tu said.

INFORMATION:

What: U2 Perspective

When: 7:30pm, Feb 26 to Feb 28, 2:30pm, Feb 28 and Feb 29.

Where: B2 Eslite Bookstore

Tickets: NT$350, available at Eslite Bookstore or U Theatre

Telephone: (02) 2938 8188