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Oddball theater group remains true to formlessness

Tellus Theater, headed by Daniel Ingi Petursson, has always been a peculiar member of the local theater scene. It's latest production, A Doll's House, cements that reputation. PHOTO: COURTESY OF TELLUS THEATER

Adecade has passed since Daniel Ingi Petursson, an absurdist dramaturge from Iceland, set up Taipei's first English-language theater company Tellus Theater, formerly known as Thalie Theater. Peculiar in every aspect of its make-up, the group is composed of amateur performers trained in Petursson's acting workshops and moves from one venue to another with each production much akin to a nomadic tribe.

"When we first started, many of the members were from foreign communities. Yet in recent years we have seen more participation from the locals from diverse backgrounds such as college students, office workers, housewives and people in their 50s who wants to pursue their interest in theater. Everyone can create a theater of their own. It's not limited to those labeled as actors," Petursson said.

Trained in theater in Paris at the Ecole Jacques Lecoq and at the Ecole Philippe Gaulier, Petursson worked briefly in London before moving to Taiwan, bringing with him a love of European theater. The teaching methods he learned from Philippe Gaulier and Monika Pagneux, notable for their work in physical theater, movement and the Bouffon method, instilled a strong inclination to abstraction in the Icelander; who encourages students to explore their bodies in relation to space, forms, colors and objects.

Tellus Theater, headed by Daniel Ingi Petursson, has always been a peculiar member of the local theater scene. It's latest production, A Doll's House, cements that reputation. PHOTO: COURTESY OF TELLUS THEATER

"People are accustomed to search for the truth, stories, emotions and ask 'why?' in the theater, but I always reply there is no truth and no why? I want people to be more free and experience the abstract not with their minds but with their hearts," Petursson said.

Performance notes What: A Doll’s House Where: Lien Te Vegetarian Restaurant (蓮德品素天地), B1, 82 Ningpo W St, Taipei (台北市寧波西街82號B1) When: Tomorrow, May 12, May 19 and May 26 at 6:30pm; Sunday, May 20 and May 27 at 2:30pm. Tickets: NT$350 available through NTCH ticket outlets or at www.artsticket.com.tw On the Net: www.wretch.cc/blog/tellus

Tellus theatre has put on 20 productions of classics by Anton Chekhov, August Strindberg, Edward Albee, T.S. Eliot and Tennessee Williams over the years.

An oddly fitting choice for Mother's Day, the company's latest production of A Doll's House, written in 1879 by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, will premiere tomorrow night at a vegetarian restaurant; an odd choice of place, which reflects the troupe's

non-mainstream ethos.

Highly controversial when first published, the revolutionary play is a sharp criticism of Victorian marital traditions and is often regarded as one of the first plays to have a feminist as its protagonist, in the role of Nora, who breaks free from the male-dominant morals and values to searches for her own identity and existence.

"Ibsen's play has a very realistic structure and poses quite a challenge to us to change it into free form," said Petursson, adding that cross-dressers will perform in his staging of the 19th-century drama.

Petursson's students believe the Icelandic director has brought a European perspective to local theater.

"Daniel [Petursson] instinctively understands each actor's disposition and always casts the right person in the right role. When I read the scripts, I always think 'wow, how on earth do you know what I am thinking,'" said Claudia Du (杜元立), an office worker who attended Petursson's acting workshops two years ago and plays Nora in her third Tellus play.

To Du and Leslie Lin (林亦良), who plays Nora's lawyer husband Torvald Helmer, learning of Petursson's alternative approach has been highly rewarding.

"Daniel doesn't teach you how to act, but he helps you to explore and expand your inner self and there is so much to learn from him … . He is just a lovely person who doesn't care much about material needs but lives on his ideals for the theater," Du said.

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