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Fusion confusion

108 Heroes hit the spot. PHOTO: COURTESY OF CONTEMPORARY LEGEND THEATER

It has been a big year for the traditional arts in Taiwan, not least due to the efforts of the Contemporary Legend Theater (當代傳奇劇場, CLT). Under the direction of Beijing opera innovator Wu Hsing-kuo (吳興國), the group has, since its inception, taken a bold path in its efforts to give the centuries-old Chinese artistic tradition relevance to the modern world. This year they released two major new shows: 108 Heroes (水滸108) in October and The Butterfly Dream (夢蝶) this month.

This was unusual to say the least, as both shows posed extravagant demands on both producers and performers, but according to Lin Hsiu-wei (林秀偉), CLT's producer, this was more by coincidence than design. "We wanted to create a show for the young members of our company," she said, "and The Butterfly Dream, which has been in planning for three years, finally came together."

The combination was a tour de force, which highlighted the weaknesses, but also the incomparable strengths, of the small company. 108 Heroes with its book by literary doyen Chang Ta-chun (張大春), managed to entertain despite its rough-and-ready presentation, thanks largely to the vitality of new performers brought into CLT's lineup by Wu. The Butterfly Dream, with its existential concerns but somewhat self-indulgent presentation, was the weaker if more elegant of the two. This double bill certainly gives food for thought for anyone interested in working the rich but difficult seam of artistic fusion.

Artistic fusion produced probably one of the most highly anticipated and disappointing works of the year in The Firmiana Rain (梧桐雨), a Japanese-Taiwanese co-production that sought to combine Western and Chinese opera in what was billed as a work of cutting-edge integration of form and content. Unfortunately, this ponderous and dissonant work managed to alienate the very sympathetic audience, not least due to the visible indifference exhibited by some members of the cast to what was being attempted. Lovely costumes and an interesting score were not enough to save this melange of artistic traditions from floundering.

The nanguan tradition of courtly music had a highly applauded outing with the production of Rainbow Skirt and Feather Robe (霓裳羽衣) by the Xinxin Nanguan Ensemble (心心南管樂坊). A wonderfully assured performance by founder and principle performer Wang Xinxin (王心心), it was disrupted by attempts to achieve dramatic force for an art form that has always had more to do with the intellect than the emotions.

Everyone wanted to cross boundaries this year, stepping out from the constraints of tradition into something bigger, better and hopefully more profitable. It's a telling point that the least serious of these attempts, the hip-hop opera romp of 108 Heroes, was the only one that was truly memorable.

Though Taiwan has no established Broadway or West End, the popularity of musicals on the island is well established. It seems natural, then, that local groups are beginning to create their own musicals of which 2007 was a bumper year. Of particular note was LAN Creators (嵐創作體) I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change. Challenging the notion that Taipei theatergoers will only enter a playhouse on weekends, the sell-out production had a one-month run and received good reviews from critics. The Taipei Times watched two performances and found the acting more than adequate - the players were all native Taiwanese using an English-language script - the singing excellent, and the dancing well choreographed. This comes as a result of the many workshop classes held by LAN Creators so that their actors were well rounded in the genre before performing in front of audiences. My Daughter's Wedding (福春嫁女), on the other hand, failed in the many areas where I Love You succeeded. Dubbed "Taiwan's first Hakka musical" the work lacked thematic direction, which affected all other aspects of the musical. Based on Shakespeare's A Taming of the Shrew, My Daughter's Wedding attempted to look at Hakka culture through the prism of Shakespearean comedy. But the Hakka songs failed to move because actors who had no experience of the language sang them. The dancing was adequate but often performed by actors who had little experience. The show left the impression that the Council for Hakka Affairs had a lot of money but few artistic resources, such as Hakka writers and directors, to spend it on.
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