Han Tang Yuefu has never been solely about the revival of ancient art forms, and Lo River is no museum piece. In fact, it could arguably be described as aggressively avant-garde. While its point of departure has always been the ancient art forms of nanguan and linyuan opera, Han Tang Yuefu has shown itself willing to see the traditions it cherishes and fosters, from a multicultural or transcultural perspective, as can be seen by its willingness to bring in Lukas Hemlab as director, stage designer and lighting designer for the show.
An active dialogue with European influences has marked Han Tang Yuefu since its early days, and has been helpful in establishing its avant-garde credentials. It has never been passively nostalgic about Chinese opera, but instead has sought to make these traditional arts into a new and contemporary art form. Of the many groups in Taiwan seeking to bring Chinese opera into the 21st century, it certainly has been one of the most successful.
A crucial factor in the success of Han Tang Yuefu has been its willingness to create a new type of art, which distinguishes it from the slew of regional opera troupes that simply focus on updating plots, while largely keeping to the outward form of Chinese opera. Such groups would likely be envious of Han Tang Yuefu's ability to fill a venue such as the National Theater, and particularly its audience demographic, which spans elderly opera lovers to young enthusiasts of contemporary theater. This has been Han Tang Yuefu's remarkable strength. As of press time, only a small portion of tickets priced at NT$1,600 and NT$2,500 are still available.
At a dress rehearsal on Wednesday, Han Tang Yuefu director Chen said that with Lo River, she had "brought nanguan home." From the art form of the imperial court in China nearly 1,000 years ago, it has survived through the ages in varying degrees of purity. Now, in a fresh incarnation -- a style that Chen said fitted into no known artistic genre -- this world premiere at the National Theater and bookings at such prestigious events such as the Nouveau Festival Automne en Normandie, truly returns nanguan to its rightful place as one of the foremost performance arts of the Chinese world.
Performance Notes:
What: The Lyric of Lo River Goddess (洛神賦)
Where: National Theater, Taipei (國家戲劇院)
When: Tonight and Saturday at 7:30pm; Saturday and Sunday at 2:30pm
Tickets: NT$1,600 to NT$2,500 still available through NTCH ticketing
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