Lu Po-shen (呂柏伸) shudders as I remove the camera from my bag to take his picture. The artistic director of Tainaner Ensemble (台南人劇團), a theater troupe from Tainan whose White Snake (白水) is playing at the National Experimental Theater (國家實驗劇場), is not fond of having his picture taken — an unwillingness that speaks of his humility and desire to avoid the limelight.
Lu's interest in theater began organically. "I was born to become a theater artist," he said. The young Lu devised theater pieces for neighborhood kids to perform, instructing them on how to play their roles. "It was more of a hobby for me," he said. The notion that theater could be a profession never entered his mind until he moved to Taipei and began working with Lanling Theatre Workshop (蘭陵劇坊). "At the time it was a shock. Oh, theater, is kind of profession," he said mimicking the surprise he felt at the time.
His experiences with Lanling spurred him to think seriously about taking a degree in theater, but the universities that he applied to didn't offer the kind of program he wanted. "I initially planned to study television and radio. But then I got an offer from the University of Glasgow to do a double major, one in TV and film and the other in theater." After his undergraduate studies he pursued a master's degree and PhD in theater at Royal Holloway, University of London.
Focusing on U Theater (優劇場) and Contemporary Legend Theater (當代傳奇劇場), Lu's PhD investigates how these troupes are attempting to develop a uniquely Taiwanese theater. And though Lu has yet to finish his thesis, he concludes that Taiwanese theater is difficult to pin down because of its multiplicity of styles and influences.
If Lu is interested in Taiwanese theater from a theoretical perspective, he is more interested in Western theater from the perspective of the stage, especially how Western classics can be adapted into the Taiwanese language. "The language I like is poetic language, like Greek drama or Shakespeare," he said explaining why he typically chooses those scripts over works written by Taiwanese playwrights. "I cannot find any script written by a Taiwanese playwright that interests me."
"I like to see plays with strong characters. When we see Greek drama we can see Agamemnon we can see Orestes or Oedipus — these are strong characters that you will remember. I think the main problem with Taiwanese plays [is that] you seldom see good characters," he said.
According to Lu, the lack of well-developed characters found in scripts written by local playwrights must change before a discernable tradition of Taiwanese theater can emerge. From staging a play to teaching, he emphasizes the importance of the script and how it is used to develop characters.
Lu blames the theatergoing public for not demanding more of the characters on stage, something he calls actor-oriented theater. "I prefer to go to the theater to see actors, not to see a good director or music or style," he said.
Though Lu puts a lot of hard work into his productions and his actors have developed a good reputation, this has not always translated into box office success. "It's not easy to understand our plays, so our plays don't appeal to the general public. And my manager and I sometimes have big fights because he says I only do theater for theater specialists, and not for the general public," Lu said. "But for the development of my theater company … I have to do both. Sometimes I have to do something that I think the audience will like."
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