They were not happy about the size of the stage, but the show must go on and the performers of Beijing People's Art Theater (北京人民藝術劇院) are in Taipei to stage Tea House (茶館) by Lao She (老舍), a classic of modern Chinese drama known for, among other things, the size of its cast.
"This is big theater," said Liang Guan-hua (梁冠華), one of the show's stars, waving his arm at the diminutive stage.
With over 50 named characters spanning three generations, Tea House is a big production, in many ways, and the tiny stage of the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall does cramp its style somewhat.
PHOTO COURTESY OF NEW ASPECT
During rehearsals there was talk of removing some of the elaborate props because of the lack of space. There were also some grumbles about the venue's notoriously poor lighting and sound system. Staff at the theater said they were trying to resolve the problems.
Tea House has been a hit in China where it been performed over 200 times, but its appeal in Taiwan is less certain. The play, which was written in 1958, is an established classic but it is also showing its age.
The style it was written in is heavily melodramatic and contemporary politics has also affected how we see the events depicted ? the last days of the Qing Empire, the Nationalist interlude and the rise of communism.
What saves it is Lao She's deep love for old Beijing, its language, its habits and most of all, its common people. These elements lift the
production. Not surprisingly, a lot of top class talent has been brought over from China by the troupe, not least the three lead actors Liang, Pu Chun-xin (
(
Overall, Tea House has an overwhelmingly nostalgic quality, intentionally so, for Lao She clearly loved the old world of Beijing's tea houses, though it was the communist revolution that made him famous which destroyed them.
Tea House in Taipei in 2004 is definitely something of an anachronism, but there is still plenty of charm and skill on display. It won't change the way you see things, but its does, for some brief moments bring back aspects of China that have all but disappeared.
Tea House, which opened yesterday, will run through to July 8 with performances at 7:30pm at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall. Tickets are NT$1,000 to NT$3,000 and are available through ERA ticketing or from the venue.
In late October of 1873 the government of Japan decided against sending a military expedition to Korea to force that nation to open trade relations. Across the government supporters of the expedition resigned immediately. The spectacle of revolt by disaffected samurai began to loom over Japanese politics. In January of 1874 disaffected samurai attacked a senior minister in Tokyo. A month later, a group of pro-Korea expedition and anti-foreign elements from Saga prefecture in Kyushu revolted, driven in part by high food prices stemming from poor harvests. Their leader, according to Edward Drea’s classic Japan’s Imperial Army, was a samurai
The following three paragraphs are just some of what the local Chinese-language press is reporting on breathlessly and following every twist and turn with the eagerness of a soap opera fan. For many English-language readers, it probably comes across as incomprehensibly opaque, so bear with me briefly dear reader: To the surprise of many, former pop singer and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ex-lawmaker Yu Tien (余天) of the Taiwan Normal Country Promotion Association (TNCPA) at the last minute dropped out of the running for committee chair of the DPP’s New Taipei City chapter, paving the way for DPP legislator Su
Located down a sideroad in old Wanhua District (萬華區), Waley Art (水谷藝術) has an established reputation for curating some of the more provocative indie art exhibitions in Taipei. And this month is no exception. Beyond the innocuous facade of a shophouse, the full three stories of the gallery space (including the basement) have been taken over by photographs, installation videos and abstract images courtesy of two creatives who hail from the opposite ends of the earth, Taiwan’s Hsu Yi-ting (許懿婷) and Germany’s Benjamin Janzen. “In 2019, I had an art residency in Europe,” Hsu says. “I met Benjamin in the lobby
April 22 to April 28 The true identity of the mastermind behind the Demon Gang (魔鬼黨) was undoubtedly on the minds of countless schoolchildren in late 1958. In the days leading up to the big reveal, more than 10,000 guesses were sent to Ta Hwa Publishing Co (大華文化社) for a chance to win prizes. The smash success of the comic series Great Battle Against the Demon Gang (大戰魔鬼黨) came as a surprise to author Yeh Hung-chia (葉宏甲), who had long given up on his dream after being jailed for 10 months in 1947 over political cartoons. Protagonist