Some love it, others loathe it. If you're looking for two hours of entertainment fluff then experimental theater is not the answer.But for content that challenges social and intellectual trends and is often poetic in nature, it supplies a healthy dose of brain candy.
Under the theme, "New Ideas Series," the National Chiang Kai-shek Cultural Center is showcasing the works of four local theater groups at the 15th annual Experimental Theater Festival. Their motivation for the series is to expand its audience among the theater-going public, which is not always receptive to new ideas.
"During our regular performances most of our audience is from members of the local theater community. With the festival we hope to see new faces emerging, said Lee Hui-mei (
PHOTOS COURTESY OF CKS CULTURAL CENTER
Funding for the experimental theater is provided by the government and without its financial backing there likely wouldn't be any alternative to mainstream arts, Lee said. While not having to rely on private sponsorship allows for more freedom over content, it can also create laziness among performers.
"When almost all of the funding is given to you, it becomes easy to take for granted that it will always be there, no matter what," said Craig Quintero, artistic director and founder of Riverbed Theatre, one of the participating groups.
Holding a doctorate in performance art with a thesis on Taiwan's "little theater movement," Quintero is well versed in the evolution of experimental theater in Taiwan. "In the past [early 1980s] it was used as a form of expression against the government. It provided a venue for performance artists to protest government policies," he said, adding that its political content attracted a number of viewers who might otherwise have no interest in theater arts.
With the end of martial law, however, the need to disguise dissidence under the mask of avant-garde art dissipated, as did a large portion of the audience. Groups are now searching for their own sense of identity, Quintero said. While companies define themselves according to specific social issues, such as gay and gender rights or environmentalism, they do so at a cost of alienating the general public.
"As soon as you start dealing with these niche-like issues, you end up preaching to the converted and then it becomes an issue of how you're going to attract a wider audience," he said.
Experimental drama in Taiwan may have found a solution by becoming more interdisciplinary. In the last three years a trend has emerged that combines original scripts with sets designed by artists and music composed by local indie and electronic musicians. The result is more innovative productions and a new breed of patrons.
Opening the show this weekend is Honan Opera Troupe (
Test the Wife! Murder the Wife! is their first modern opera said Ling Ming-hsia (
The festival runs until mid-December with daily performances from Thursday to Sunday at the National Chiang Kai-shek Cultural Center Experimental Theater (
Upcoming Festival Performance notes:
What: Uhan Shii Theatre Group (
When: Nov. 18 to Nov. 21
Founded by Peng Ya-ling (
What: Riverbed Theatre (
When: Dec. 2 to Dec. 5
Artistic director Craig Quintero launched his company in Chicago before relocating it to Taipei. Its imaged-based performances challenge audiences with non-linear plots to produce shows that are both visually and mentally stimulating. Life and Times of Robert Wilson takes a journey into the mind of the man who revolutionalized contemporary theater in the early 70s with his "Theater of Images."
What: Assignment Theatre (
When: Dec. 9 to Dec. 12
Perhaps the most socially conscientious and politically savvy theater group, Assignment Theatre tends to focus its material on social issues in Taiwan. A Soldier's Pay questions the process of constructing a nation's written history. In the synopsis to the show, director Wang Mo-ling (
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