Theater
Dinner for One is a play by Theatre de la Sardine (沙丁龐客劇團) that explores the frustrations a single woman experiences in her daily existence.
* Eslite Bookstore, Tainan (台南誠品書店), B2, 181 Changrung St Sec 1, Tainan (台南市長榮路一段181號 B2)
* Today and tomorrow at 7:30pm and tomorrow and Sunday at 2:30pm
* Tickets are NT$350 and available through NTCH ticketing at www.artsticket.com.tw
Einstein Rocks Taiwan (愛因斯坦囉搖滾台灣) is the latest performance piece by Riverbed Theater. It ponders what it would be like to bring Einstein's brain to Taiwan.
* Eslite Bookstore (誠品書店), B2, 245 Tunhua S Rd Sec 1, Taipei (台北市敦化南路一段245號)
* Today, tomorrow and Sunday at 7:30pm and tomorrow and Sunday at 2:30pm
* Tickets are NT$350 and available through NTCH ticketing at www.artsticket.com.tw
Monkey King at Spider Cave (孫悟空大戰蜘蛛精) is an episode adapted from the Chinese classic Journey to the West (西遊記) by shadow puppeteer Larry Reed and The Puppet and Its Double Theater (無獨有偶工作室劇團). It features the heroic Monkey King and his disciples battling against the flesh-hungry Spider Demon and his hoard of evil insects.
* Sinjhuang Cultural and Arts Center (新莊文化藝術中心演藝廳), 133 Jhongping Rd, Sinjhuang City, Taipei County (台北縣新莊市中平路133號)
* Today at 7:30pm and tomorrow at 2:30pm
* Tickets are NT$250 to NT$800 and are available through www.artsticket.com.tw
The Half-Mile Great Wall (半里長城) by Ping Fong Acting Troupe (屏風表演班) takes a humorous look at the building of the Great Wall.
* Performance Hall of the Cultural Affairs Bureau of Hsinchu County (新竹縣文化局演藝廳), 146 Hsiancheng 9th Rd, Chupei, Hsinchu County (新竹縣竹北市縣政九路146號)
* Tomorrow at 7:30pm and Sunday at 2:30pm
* Tickets are NT$500 to NT$2,500 and are available through NTCH ticketing (Note: NT$500, NT$800 and NT$2,500 tickets are already sold out)
The Cloud (雲) will be performed by Taiwan National University of the Arts (國立台灣藝術大學戲劇) and is based on the play of the same name by Aristophanes.
* National Taiwan University of the Arts (國立台灣藝術大學), 59 Daguan Rd Sec 1, Banciao City, Taipei County (台北縣板橋市大觀路一段59號)
* Today and tomorrow at 7:30pm and tomorrow and Sunday at 2:30pm
* Tickets are NT$300 to NT$400 and are available through NTCH ticketing (Note: all performances are sold out except for Sunday afternoon)
Quest for the Garden Saunter and the Interrupted Dream (尋找遊園驚夢) a neo-classical Kun opera, will be performed by the Lanting Kun Opera Troupe (蘭庭崑劇團).
* Huashan Culture Park (華山文化園區), 1 Bade Rd Sec 1, Taipei (台北市八德路一段1號)
* Today and tomorrow at 7:30pm and tomorrow and Sunday at 2:30pm
* Tickets are NT$600 and are available through ERA ticketing at www.ticket.com.tw
Special Events
A fundraiser for Animals Taiwan will take place at the recently opened culture-art space, World in Taiwan, in Tienmu. All profits will go to helping improve the livelihood of animals in Taiwan. The space will have an open mic and live musical performances. For more information call David at (09) 3288-9524 or checkout the Animals Taiwan Web site at www.animalstaiwan.org.
* 6F, 8, Ln 15,Yusheng St, Taipei (台北市雨聲街15巷8號6樓)
* Tomorrow beginning at 8pm
* Entrance is NT$500
Classical Music
Master and National Symphony Orchestra — Romantic String (名家與NSO的對話 — 浪漫弦情). Maestro Gunther Herbig has been favorably compared to his mentor, the great Austrian conductor Herbert von Karajan. He will show local audiences two extremely different styles of composers, Mendelssohn and Bruckner featuring Russian violinist Sergei Krylov. A pre-concert lecture will be given by Hsing Tzu-ching (邢子青) in the lobby of the National Concert Hall 30 minutes prior to the concert.
* National Concert Hall, Taipei
* Tickets cost from NT$300 to NT$1,500 and can be purchased online at www.artsticket.com.tw. Also, with ticket stubs from the April 29 concert of the NSO Richard Strauss Cycle VIII Eine Alpensinfonie, tickets can be purchased at a 50 percent discount of the full ticket prices, but discount tickets must be purchased at the NTCH box office everyday between 12pm to 8pm.
* Tonight at 7:30pm
Sergej Krylov Violin Recital (克里洛夫小提琴獨奏會). Following his concert with the National Symphony Orchestra in Taipei tonight (see above), Krylov will play Bach's Violin Sonata No.1 in G Minor, BWV 1001 and Violin Sonata No.2 in D Minor, BWV 1004, and also tackle Paganini's 24 Caprices, which is widely considered one of the most difficult pieces written for solo violin.
* At the Taichung County Cultural Center (台中縣立文化中心), 782 Yuanhuan E Rd, Fungyuan City, Taichung County (台中縣豐原市圓環東路782號)
* As of press time, NT$300, NT$500, NT$1,200, and NT$1,500 tickets are sold out, but NT$200, NT$800, and NT$1,000 seats are available through NTCH ticketing
* Sunday at 7:30pm
Chang Chen-chieh Cello Recital (張正傑大提琴獨奏會). Renowned local cellist Chang Chen-chieh (張正傑) will be joined by pianist Zhu Daming (諸大明) to give three concerts in Taichung, Keelung, and Taipei. They will play a program including Brahms' Cello Sonata No.1 in E Minor, Op.38 and Cello Sonata No.2 in F Major, Op.99 and Schumann's three Fantasy Pieces, Op.73.
* Tomorrow at the Taichung County Seaport Art Center (台中縣立港區藝術中心), 21, Chungchen Rd, Chingshui Township, Taichung County (台中縣清水鎮忠貞路21號), May 9 at the National Taiwan Ocean University Art Center (國立台灣海洋大學藝文中心), 2 Pei-Ning Road, Keelung City (基隆市北寧路2號), and May 10 at the National Recital Hall, Taipei
* Free admission for the Keelung concert. Tickets range from NT$200 to NT$500 for the Taichung concert and from NT$300 to NT$1,500 for the Taipei concert through ERA ticketing or call (02) 2781-2306
* Tomorrow and May 10 at 7:30pm and May 9 at 7pm
2007 Pro Arte Piano Trio 10th Anniversary Concert Series (伯牙鋼琴三重奏 「十年友誠」系列音樂會). Since its inception in 1997, Pro Arte Trio has placed a special emphasis on presenting exquisite chamber music and presented innumerable concerts featuring nationally acclaimed performers and composers. Featuring pianist Huang Jen-ling (黃貞綾), cellist Liu Chu-chuan (劉姝嫥), and violinist and Pro Arte Trio Director Lee Chun-ying (李俊穎), the trio will present Beethoven's Piano Trio in B-flat Major, Op.11 and Paul Schoenfeld's Cafe Music.
* Sunday at the Chih-Shan Hall, National Chiang Kai-shek Cultural Center, Kaohsiung City (高雄中正文化中心至善廳), 67 Wufu 1st Rd, Kaohsiung City (高雄市五福一路67號), and May 16 at the Hsinchu Municipal Performance Hall (新竹市立演藝廳), 17 Tungta Rd Sec 2, Hsinchu City (新竹市東大路二段17號)
* As of press time, NT$300 tickets are sold out for the Kaohsiung concert, but NT$200 tickets are still available; NT$200 tickets are sold out for the Hsinchu concert, but NT$100 tickets are still available through NTCH ticketing
* Sunday and May 16 at 7:30pm
Gary Graden and Formosa Singers (蓋瑞•葛拉登與福爾摩沙合唱團). Gary Graden was born in the USA and studied at Clark University, the Hartt School of Music, the Aspen Summer Music Festival, and at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm, under the legendary Eric Ericson. He is a former member and tenor soloist with the Eric Ericson Chamber Choir, as well as the vocal ensemble Lamentabile Consort. Presently, Graden is choral director at St. Jacob's Church in Stockholm. He is the recipient of the Johannes Norrby medal for his contribution to Swedish choral music, and was elected Sweden's 2005 Choral Conductor of the year. Accompanied by pianist Tsai Yu-shan (蔡昱姍), Graden and Julian Su (蘇慶俊) will conduct the Formosa Singers, a 40-member mixed choir, and present works ranging from religious songs, North European songs, and Taiwanese folk songs. The program will include Urmas Sisask's three songs Libera Me, Oremus, and O Salutaris Hostia from Gloria patri, Lars Jansson's To the Mothers in Brazil arranged by Gunnar Eriksson, Michael Waldenby's Hominis Dies, Sven-David Sandstrom's Psalm 139, Steve Dobrogosz's Everybody Rise, Breakfast of Day, and Roads, a song Lai Su (懷念的祖先) of Taiwan's North Paiwan Tribe arranged by Francisco F. Feliciano, and Taiwanese nursery rhyme "Dark Dark Sky?" (天烏烏) arranged by Tsai.
* At the National Concert Hall, Taipei
* Tickets range from NT$300 to NT$1,000 and are available through NTCH ticket outlets
* Thursday at 7:30pm
Zoe vs. Ars Trio Taipei — "Jeg elsker dig" Salute to Grieg (Zoe與印象三重奏團—「我愛你」紀念葛利格逝世100週年音樂會). Featuring soprano Zoe Hwang, pianist Hung Ya-jung (洪雅蓉), violinist Chen Fang-liu (陳方騮), and cellist Jessica Chen (陳俐亨), the concert will pay tribute to the late Norwegian romantic-era composer Edvard Grieg. The program will include Grieg's From Holberg's Time, Op.40, arranged by Chen Fang-liu, Mendelssohn's Jerusalem, from "St. Paul," and Neue Liebe, Chopin's Piano Trio, Op.8, Grieg's Jeg elsker Dig (I Love You and A Dream, Rachmaninoff's Vocalise and his first Trio in G Minor, written as a conservatory exercise in 1892. A concert lecture will be held tomorrow at 3pm in the lobby of the Eslite Bookstore (誠品敦南店1樓大廳), 245 Dunhua S Rd Sec 1, Taipei (台北市敦化南路一段245號) and admission to the lecture is free. Also, concert program booklets can be obtained free of charge with tickets prior to the concert.
* May 9 at the National Recital Hall, Taipei
* All tickets cost NT$500 and are available through ERA ticketing
* May 9 at 7:30pm
Contemporary
Performing tomorrow at The Wall are alt-rock bands Aphasia (阿飛西雅), Black Faith With Sonic Pace, and Freckles (雀斑), with hip-hop group City of Lights (城市之光). Sunday it's nu-metal band Overdose, metal-core/emo band 831 (八三夭) and Lucky Pie. On Wednesday it's pop-rock band Lumei (露魅), Huge Plonker (超大屌生物) and hip-hop/nu-metal band Respect.
* Entrance is NT$300
* Shows start at 8pm
* B1, 200 Roosevelt Rd Sec 4, Taipei (台北市羅斯福路四段200號B1). Call (02) 2930-0162 or visit www.the-wall.com.tw
Real Collective jazz combo performs tonight at Riverside Cafe (河岸留言). Tomorrow features popular indie-rock three-piece Tizzy Bac. On Sunday it's indie band Elisa (一粒沙) and pop-rock singer Marty Young. Monday is open-jam night, when anyone with an instrument or song to sing can take their turn on the stage. Tuesday features alt-rock bands Merry Go Round (瑪莉格朗) and Braces (牙套). On Wednesday it's pop-rock bands New Yorker (紐約客) and La Petite Nurse (小護士), and Thursday it's teen-angst songstress Deserts Chang (張懸).
* Shows start at 9:30pm
* Entrance tonight, tomorrow is NT$350. Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday is NT$350. On Monday there is a one-drink minimum. Thursday is NT$400
* B1, 2, Ln 244, Roosevelt Rd Sec 3, Taipei (台北市羅斯福路三段244巷2號B1). Call (02) 2368-7310, or visit www.riverside.com.tw
Red Flower (紅花) and Bike (拜客) perform tonight at Underworld (地下社會). Tomorrow it's Kenny From Casino (賭場肯尼), who combine emo, punk, Brit pop, hip-hop, and garage elements in their music, The Fever Cats and garage-rock four-piece Rabbit is Rich (兔子很有錢). On Wednesday it's happy-go-lucky rockers Relax One (輕鬆玩) and Jar 'n' Jam (扎一針).
* The bar opens at 8pm and bands take the stage at 9pm
* Entrance is NT$300
* 45 Shida Rd, Taipei (台北市師大路45號B1). Call (02) 2369-0103 or visit www.underworld-taipei.blogspot.com for more information
The Living Room (小客廳) presents alt-rock groups Cigarette Band (哈根草) and Braces (牙套) tonight. Tomorrow it's Drunk and Friends (酒客樂團). On Tuesday it's two Living Room regulars, tarot master Eiffel> (塔羅老師艾菲爾) and folk singer-songwriter Hank. On Wednesday there's a dinner magic show (晚餐魔術秀), followed by expat bluegrass combo the Soggy Bagel Boys. On Thursday it's Abay and Alluvial Fan.
* Tonight's performances start at 9pm and 10pm. Tomorrow's starts at 9pm. Tuesday's start at 8pm. Wednesday's magic runs from 6:30pm to 9:30pm, followed by the band at 10pm. Thursday's music starts at 9pm.
* There is a minimum charge of NT$300 for each musical performance. Wednesday's magic show is NT$500 and the recommended donation for Tuesday's tarot is NT$400
* 3F, 8 Nanjing E Rd Sec 5, Taipei (台北市南京東路五段8號3樓). Call (02) 8787-4154 or visit www.livingroomtaipei.com
Tonight at Velvet Underground (地下絲絨), it's nu-metal band Seven Deadly Sins (七原罪), glam-rock band Naila (奈落) and Raie XIII. Tomorrow it's Stallion (種馬樂團) and The Last Punch. Tuesday it's RI, happy punks Heavy Smoker (老煙槍) and Ersouhou (二手貨). On Wednesday, Remember the Number (記憶條碼), who sound like X-Japan, and Sensitive (敏感帶). And on Thursday it's Chaoshou (超殺), Blue Why and New Stars.
* Bands take the stage tonight at 6:30pm, tomorrow at 8:30pm and Wednesday at 8:30pm. Times have not been listed for the Tuesday and Thursday shows
* Admission is NT$300 or NT$250 for students
* B1, 50 Zhongxiao W Rd Sec 1, Taipei (台北市忠孝西路一段50號B1). Call (02) 2314-1868 or visit www.velvet-underground.com.tw
Tonight at Grooveyard in Taichung, Italian drummer Pietro Valente joins Martijn Van Buel and Pete Jeffreys of The Martijn Van Buel Ensemble. Tomorrow it's 10-piece funk band The Money Shot Horns. Thursday, as usual, is "Taiwan Exposed Open-Mic Night," a jam session for established and amateur musicians, poets, comedians and other performers. At Groovecity, it's Aboriginal folk-rocker Eagle Lin performing tonight, followed by the Pietro Valente Trio tomorrow. Valente will also teach a drum clinic tomorrow from 3pm to 5pm at Groovecity.
* The music starts at 9:30pm at Grooveyard and 8:30pm at Groovecity
* Grooveyard cover is NT$200. Groovecity entrance is NT$300. The drum clinic is NT$100. There is no cover for the open-mic night
* Groovecity is inside Tiger City (台中老虎城旁停車場) at 120 Henan Rd Sec 3, Taichung (台中市河南路三段120號老虎城). Grooveyard is located at 2F, 105 Huamei W Rd, Taichung (台中市華美西街105號二樓). Visit www.grooveyardtaiwan.com or call 0939-574-737 for more information
Exhibitions
Republic of Cynics — A Solo Exhibition by Yao Jui-chung (犬儒共和國:姚瑞中個展). Drawing inspiration from ancient pornographic pictures and contemporary comic aesthetics, artists Yao puts forth another gold foil series to suggest human conflicts as a sexual game in the context of terrorism vs. imperialism.
* VT Artsalon (非常廟藝文空間), B1, 47 Yitong St, Taipei (台北市伊通街47號B1). Open Monday to Sunday from 8pm to 3am. Call (02) 2516-1060
* Until May 12
Guandu Arts Museum Power Show 02 (關渡美術館2007勁秀系列II). A platform for local young artists, the joint exhibition presents series of works by three artists entitled "Fractal," "Spring" and "Not Good" to explore different materials such as plastics, paper and sponge incorporated into sculpture and installation pieces.
* Taipei National University of the Arts — Guandu Arts Museum (台北藝術大學關渡美術館), 1 Xueyuan Rd, Peitou, Taipei (台北市北投區學園路1號). Open Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 5pm. Call (02) 2893-8871
* Until May 27
The River of Art Meanders — Tracing the Origin of Taiwan Art from 1736 to 1969 (藝域長流 — 台灣美術溯源). Selected form the museum's collection, taking Taiwan's maritime culture as its reference point, the exhibition aims to explore the transformation of Taiwan's fine arts from the Qing Dynasty up till the 1960s through three chronological sections: the Continuation of Tradition (1736 to 1895), the Emergence of New Art (1895 to 1945) and the Rise of Modernity (1945 to 1969).
* National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts (國立台灣美術館), 2 Wuchuan W Rd Sec 1, Taichung (台中市五權西路一段2號). Open Tuesday to Sunday from 9am to 5pm. Call (04) 2372-3552
* Until Dec. 31
City Lights — Photographic Impressions by Knut Hartmann (城市之光). A series of digital and multimedia-based photographic works that herald the arrival of Third Millennium impressionism characterized by pixels rather than pigments, neon instead of sunlight, structure rather than nature and action rather than repose.
* German Cultural Center Taipei (台北德國文化中心), 12F, 20 Heping W Rd Sec 1, Taipei (台北市和平西路一段20號12樓). Open Monday to Friday from 9:30am to 8pm. Call (02) 2365-7294
* Until June 8
Still Life — Highlights from the Permanent Collection Exhibition (靜物:物件˙紀事:典藏常設展). Selected from the museum's collection of over 4,000 artworks, the exhibition highlights works by working artists in Taiwan to help members of general public gain an understanding of contemporary art history in Taiwan in relation to its local roots.
* Taipei Fine Arts Museum (台北市立美術館), 181 Zhongshan N Rd Sec 3, Taipei (台北市中山北路三段181號). Open Tuesday to Sunday from 9:30am to 5:30pm. Call (02) 2595-7656
* Until Feb. 10, 2008
In late October of 1873 the government of Japan decided against sending a military expedition to Korea to force that nation to open trade relations. Across the government supporters of the expedition resigned immediately. The spectacle of revolt by disaffected samurai began to loom over Japanese politics. In January of 1874 disaffected samurai attacked a senior minister in Tokyo. A month later, a group of pro-Korea expedition and anti-foreign elements from Saga prefecture in Kyushu revolted, driven in part by high food prices stemming from poor harvests. Their leader, according to Edward Drea’s classic Japan’s Imperial Army, was a samurai
Located down a sideroad in old Wanhua District (萬華區), Waley Art (水谷藝術) has an established reputation for curating some of the more provocative indie art exhibitions in Taipei. And this month is no exception. Beyond the innocuous facade of a shophouse, the full three stories of the gallery space (including the basement) have been taken over by photographs, installation videos and abstract images courtesy of two creatives who hail from the opposite ends of the earth, Taiwan’s Hsu Yi-ting (許懿婷) and Germany’s Benjamin Janzen. “In 2019, I had an art residency in Europe,” Hsu says. “I met Benjamin in the lobby
April 22 to April 28 The true identity of the mastermind behind the Demon Gang (魔鬼黨) was undoubtedly on the minds of countless schoolchildren in late 1958. In the days leading up to the big reveal, more than 10,000 guesses were sent to Ta Hwa Publishing Co (大華文化社) for a chance to win prizes. The smash success of the comic series Great Battle Against the Demon Gang (大戰魔鬼黨) came as a surprise to author Yeh Hung-chia (葉宏甲), who had long given up on his dream after being jailed for 10 months in 1947 over political cartoons. Protagonist
A fossil jawbone found by a British girl and her father on a beach in Somerset, England belongs to a gigantic marine reptile dating to 202 million years ago that appears to have been among the largest animals ever on Earth. Researchers said on Wednesday the bone, called a surangular, was from a type of ocean-going reptile called an ichthyosaur. Based on its dimensions compared to the same bone in closely related ichthyosaurs, the researchers estimated that the Triassic Period creature, which they named Ichthyotitan severnensis, was between 22-26 meters long. That would make it perhaps the largest-known marine reptile and would