Hugh K.S. Lee (李國修), Ping-Fong Acting Troupe's (屏風表演班) unorthodox and brilliant director and actor has begun to question the wisdom of divorce as the only way of resolving the problem of extramarital affairs.
His new play, Last Night When Stars Were Bright (昨夜星辰) , will start a tour of the country from tonight.
The issue is probed from the perspective of two generations of people intertwined and involves four love stories. Lee based his plot on his own observations of people around him.
PHOTO COURTESY OF PING-FONG ACTING TROUPE
The social background of the play deserves special attention and involves the "Safeguard the Diaoyutai Movement" (保釣運動), an anti-Japanese campaign over ownership of the Diaoyutai islets, in 1971; and the "Wild Lilly Movement" (野百合運動), a student hunger strike, to call for the abolishment of the National Assembly and other political reforms, in 1990.
Both movements provide the platform for some young, married enthusiasts to fall in love again when they are surrounded by feelings of revolutionary romanticism.
Leading actress Ting Wei's
Ting Wei, living under the shadow of her parents' "cold war," develops a negative attitude toward marriage, but is dating Ren Jun
The Wild Lilly Movement draws Ting Wei and Ren Jun closer and they have an affair which results in Ting Wei's pregnancy.
The play finally reaches its climax when both of them have to yield to pressure from each of their families by agreeing to get married. As the date of the marriage approaches, will they fulfill their parents' wishes and commit to a marriage without true love?
Lee's play has a fade-in and fade-out approach by dividing the stage into two blocks, where characters in the play can freely move through time and space to act out the different yet related crises that each family is facing.
Lee seems to suggest the sweet moments in one's marriage do not come easily, or without having to undergo difficulties. Lee therefore arranges his plot to show at the end that the troubled couples return to their original marriages by overcoming their own bitter feelings.
Performance notes:
What: Last Night When Stars Were Bright, by the Ping-Fong Acting Troupe
Where: National Theater Hall
When: 10/07 and 10/08 at 7:30pm; 10/10 to 10/15 at 7:30pm; 10/08 and 10/09 at 2:30pm; 10/15 to 10/16 at 2:30pm.
There are shows from October to December in Kaohsiung, Tainan, Hsinchu, Chiayi and Taichung.
Ticket Reservation: (02)3393 9888
Web site: www.pingfong.com.tw
May 6 to May 12 Those who follow the Chinese-language news may have noticed the usage of the term zhuge (豬哥, literally ‘pig brother,’ a male pig raised for breeding purposes) in reports concerning the ongoing #Metoo scandal in the entertainment industry. The term’s modern connotations can range from womanizer or lecher to sexual predator, but it once referred to an important rural trade. Until the 1970s, it was a common sight to see a breeder herding a single “zhuge” down a rustic path with a bamboo whip, often traveling large distances over rugged terrain to service local families. Not only
Ahead of incoming president William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration on May 20 there appear to be signs that he is signaling to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and that the Chinese side is also signaling to the Taiwan side. This raises a lot of questions, including what is the CCP up to, who are they signaling to, what are they signaling, how with the various actors in Taiwan respond and where this could ultimately go. In the last column, published on May 2, we examined the curious case of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) heavyweight Tseng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) — currently vice premier
The last time Mrs Hsieh came to Cihu Park in Taoyuan was almost 50 years ago, on a school trip to the grave of Taiwan’s recently deceased dictator. Busloads of children were brought in to pay their respects to Chiang Kai-shek (蔣中正), known as Generalissimo, who had died at 87, after decades ruling Taiwan under brutal martial law. “There were a lot of buses, and there was a long queue,” Hsieh recalled. “It was a school rule. We had to bow, and then we went home.” Chiang’s body is still there, under guard in a mausoleum at the end of a path
Last week the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) released a set of very strange numbers on Taiwan’s wealth distribution. Duly quoted in the Taipei Times, the report said that “The Gini coefficient for Taiwanese households… was 0.606 at the end of 2021, lower than Australia’s 0.611, the UK’s 0.620, Japan’s 0.678, France’s 0.676 and Germany’s 0.727, the agency said in a report.” The Gini coefficient is a measure of relative inequality, usually of wealth or income, though it can be used to evaluate other forms of inequality. However, for most nations it is a number from .25 to .50