Black humor aims at pro-blue and -green

In one scene from the movie A Beautiful Mind, a gorgeous woman walks into a bar, where Russell Crowe (playing John Nash) and his buddies all compete for her affection. Crowe obviously wins the girl, but all parties involved are happy to play Nash's non-cooperative game theory.

On the eve of the presidential election, Workshop in Heaven (黑門山上的劇團) is going to present a darkly humored illustration of the economically and politically influential theory. Performed on a stage plastered in green, blue and orange, Non-cooperative game (不合作賽局) is scattered with allusions to Taiwan's election campaign culture.

The play opens with a college professor lecturing on the non-cooperative game theory. To demonstrate his point, the professor racks his brain for a suitable example. He first cites the Chinese civil war, but the students find the this history too much of a political burden for Taiwanesed. Then he ventures to put forward the political tug-of-war between the pan-blue and pan-green camps, only to be booed by the students supporting each camp -- a reflection on the politically over-sensitive society of Taiwan.

In the end, the frustrated professor brings up the story of his friend, a section chief at a Taiwan branch of a multinational TV network.

Havng performed badly for a long time, the company staff panick when headquarters sends a high-level representative to observe the workings of the company. The representative decides that a vote be held to replace the incumbent general manager. The two friends competing in the vote use everything they can to win. They spread rumors. One of them uses "feminine power." They pander to their interest groups and even agree to a power-sharing arrangement. The low-level employees also spare no effort to brown-nose their superiors in return for promotion.

"The interesting phenomena in recent election campaigns inspired us to produce the play. Campaign rallies are full of theatrical elements. They use vocal and musical performances in a style that's purely theater. ... Hopefully the audience will come to see the election from a new angle," said Hsieh Nian-tzu (謝念祖), director of the play.

Asked whether he's pro-pan-green or pro-pan-blue, Hsiah replied, "I'm neither pro-green nor pro-blue. I'm pro-black," referring to the character for "black" in the group's Chinese name.

Performance notes:

Workshop in Heaven will perform Non-cooperative game

at 7:30pm from March 19 to March 21 and at

2:30pm March 20 and March 21. Tickets range from NT$300 to NT$900 and are available at Era ticketing outlets. For more information, call (02) 2304 5407.