I can't sing" is something you'll rarely hear a Taiwanese person say. Before the days of KTV, there was the golden era Taiwanese opera, go-a-hi (
Though Taiwanese opera no longer dominates the airwaves like it used to, it is by no means gone from the entertainment scene. This weekend, fans and first-timers alike can enjoy two very different manifestations of the genre: Eternal Love (
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ARTISTS
Xu Ya-fen was born into Taiwanese opera. A passionate proponent and scholar of the genre, she operates her own theater -- Xu Ya-fen Fine Arts Opera (
Tomorrow's and Sunday's performances feature two more recently composed pieces -- the satirical tragicomedy Travesty of the Emperor (馬賢伏龍) and the story of Taiwan's Robin Hood, The Legend of Liao Tian-ding (廖俠添丁). While the cadence of Xu's singing voice may strike some as reminiscent of the famously acquired taste of Peking opera, the tempo and accompaniment are more lively and refreshing. Clips of Xu's music can be listened to at www.yafen.com.tw.
Though a distinct resemblance can be seen, Taiwanese opera is more accessible and folksy than its older cousin from Beijing. As Taiwanese opera developed, it appropriated the movement style, instruments, props and stage sets used in Peking opera. However, while the majority of Peking opera today remains true to the classical style,Taiwanese opera took in its stride the changes brought by modernization.
The 1960s were the golden era of Taiwanese opera radio broadcast, and later, in the early 1970s, televised Taiwanese opera began to dominate the home-entertainment scene. The rapid growth of Taiwan's commercial economy in the 1970s lead to a revolution in entertainment, opening the doors to foreign music, movies and TV.
"The thing about Taiwanese opera is that it has always been able to incorporate new elements," said Wang Rong-yu (王榮裕), the director of the "new" Taiwanese opera Tianlai and Yumei, when asked if his show could be considered as within the genre.
Tianlai and Yumei is a lighthearted Taiwanese version of West Side Story, where the Jets are Taiwanese-speaking drifters and strip-club owners and the Sharks are Chinese mobsters. Tianlai, a drifter, and Yumei, the favorite younger sister of a Chinese gangster are the two star-crossed lovers.
In outrageous costumes made of brilliantly colored Chinese silk, sequins, lace and pleather, the characters dance, spar and sing around the stage. This energetic production is sure to come across even to the viewer who understands neither Taiwanese nor Mandarin.
Performance notes:
What: Eternal Love
Where: Novel Hall, 3-1, Songshou Rd, Xinyi District, Taipei
When: Tonight, tomorrow and Sunday at 7:30pm
Tickets: NT$500 to NT$2,000, available online at www.yafen.com.tw or call (02)8787 8770.
What: Yumei and Tianlai
Where: National Taiwan Arts Education Center, 47, Nanhai Rd, Taipei (國立台灣藝術教育館,南海路47號)
When: Tonight and tomorrow at 7:30pm and Sunday at 2:30pm.
Tickets: NT$450 to NT$600, available online at www.artsticket.com.tw or by phone: 02-2623-7097
Sept.16 to Sept. 22 The “anti-communist train” with then-president Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) face plastered on the engine puffed along the “sugar railway” (糖業鐵路) in May 1955, drawing enthusiastic crowds at 103 stops covering nearly 1,200km. An estimated 1.58 million spectators were treated to propaganda films, plays and received free sugar products. By this time, the state-run Taiwan Sugar Corporation (台糖, Taisugar) had managed to connect the previously separate east-west lines established by Japanese-era sugar factories, allowing the anti-communist train to travel easily from Taichung to Pingtung’s Donggang Township (東港). Last Sunday’s feature (Taiwan in Time: The sugar express) covered the inauguration of the
The corruption cases surrounding former Taipei Mayor and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) head Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) are just one item in the endless cycle of noise and fuss obscuring Taiwan’s deep and urgent structural and social problems. Even the case itself, as James Baron observed in an excellent piece at the Diplomat last week, is only one manifestation of the greater problem of deep-rooted corruption in land development. Last week the government announced a program to permit 25,000 foreign university students, primarily from the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, to work in Taiwan after graduation for 2-4 years. That number is a
This year’s Michelin Gourmand Bib sported 16 new entries in the 126-strong Taiwan directory. The fight for the best braised pork rice and the crispiest scallion pancake painstakingly continued, but what stood out in the lineup this year? Pang Taqueria (胖塔可利亞); Taiwan’s first Michelin-recommended Mexican restaurant. Chef Charles Chen (陳治宇) is a self-confessed Americophile, earning his chef whites at a fine-dining Latin-American fusion restaurant. But what makes this Xinyi (信義) spot stand head and shoulders above Taipei’s existing Mexican offerings? The authenticity. The produce. The care. AUTHENTIC EATS In my time on the island, I have caved too many times to
In a stark demonstration of how award-winning breakthroughs can come from the most unlikely directions, researchers have won an Ig Nobel prize for discovering that mammals can breathe through their anuses. After a series of tests on mice, rats and pigs, Japanese scientists found the animals absorb oxygen delivered through the rectum, work that underpins a clinical trial to see whether the procedure can treat respiratory failure. The team is among 10 recognized in this year’s Ig Nobel awards (see below for more), the irreverent accolades given for achievements that “first make people laugh, and then make them think.” They are not