Troupes give theater a new twist

This year's New Idea Theater Festival will bring established theater veterans and promising new kids on the block to the experimental stage at the National Theater Hall May 19 through June 5.

The National CKS Cultural Center started the festival in 1988 (giving it the name New Idea Theater in 2003) in order to foster creativity in the theater arts and support the growth of Taiwan's theater troupes. This year the theme is the application of traditional elements -- puppetry, Peking opera, etc -- to the modern stage. The three troupes featured are Golden Bough Theatre, Seden Society and Absurd Theater.

An old hand at giving traditional theater elements a modern twist, Golden Bough Theatre will kick off the festival with their new play All-in-one (三合一). Combining the grand tradition of Peking opera with the down-home appeal of Taiwanese radio plays as well as a special contribution from India.

Indian actor and manipuri dance expert Chongtham Jayanta Meetei will join two Taiwanese and a Singaporean in this three-part medley. Manipuri dance, indigenous to the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, is one of the six classical dance styles of India and is mentioned in the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and other religious scriptures. This somber art form should play interestingly against the stylized Peking-operatic movements Golden often incorporates in its plays.

Next in the series is Portrait of Love presented by Seden Society, a young experimental opera troupe who won the Tai Shin Arts Award last year for their debut performance Liu Meng Mei (榴夢梅). The new play is a retelling of the kunqu (崑曲) opera West Tower Records in which a young scholar falls in love with a courtesan. Kunqu opera originated in the late Yuan dynasty and is considered to be the older sister of Beijing Opera. As an upper-class art form, kunqu has softer music and more poetical dialogue than Peking opera and most of its stories are romantic. Portrait of Love holds true to these traditions, but adds a bit of modern humor and some puppetry to spice things up.

Running from June 3 through June 5 is Absurd Theater's Who Is Planning a Scheme?. Influenced by the French avant-garde drama Les Bonnes ("the maids"), the story involves the romantic adventures of three women of a wealthy house: the maid, the prude and the prima donna. Add a little Peking opera to the mix and it's sure to be quite a show.

The Experimental Theater is on the third floor of the National Theater Hall at 21-1, Zhongshan S Rd, Taipei (實驗劇場,國家戲劇院,台北市中山南路21-1號). Tickets are available through Arsticket outlets (www.artsticket.com.tw or (02) 3393 9888).