The great escape

Does a bunch of drag queens bursting into song and dance, cabaret-style, and spouting witty, sometimes risque quips sound like promising weekend entertainment? If it does, The Great Escape of Prostitutes (胡BB風月救風塵), the latest production by the Snow White Entertaining Troupe (SWET, 白雪綜藝劇團) is the show for you.

Founded by a group of theater majors of the then-National Institute of the Arts (國立藝術學院, now the Taipei National University of the Arts 國立台北藝術大學) in 1995, SWET is one of few groups specializing in drag. Novelty quickly landed the group performances at venues as diverse as election rallies and art and film festivals.

In the past, the group has drawn on Chinese classics - from an adaptation of Liang Shan-bo and Zhu Ying-tai (梁山伯與祝英台) to a campy rendition of The Tale of the White Serpent (白蛇傳).

But SWET also puts its own stamp on its performances: showy musical numbers, loaded with Taiwanese and Mandarin pop songs, punctuated by hilarious, bawdy lines and slapstick acting.

"Unlike Hung-ting Artists (紅頂藝人) [another well-known drag group], which is essentially a song-and-dance ensemble, we create charismatic women characters in performances and thereby build up a fan base for each role," said Teddy Chien (簡志澄), artistic director and one of the founding members of SWET, who created the drag persona Sung Tien Wan Tzu (松田丸子), the belle who captivates all men.

In this show, Chien will play the leading lady Sung Yin-chang (宋引章), a prostitute from playwright Kuan Han-ching's (關漢卿) work that's set in a brothel during the Yuan Dynasty.

Sung marries Chou She (周舍), a glib-tongued dandy who has looks, wealth and charm, despite warnings from her best friend and fellow brothel worker Chao Pan-erh (趙盼兒).

She soon finds herself a victim of domestic violence. Resourceful Chao, and the girls, come to her rescue, outsmarting Chou with ingenious tactics.

One of the many highlights of the show is the performance of Hu Hsiu-wei (胡修維), whose drag persona is Hu BB (胡BB). Hsieh took a break from his PhD program in Detroit to participate in the The Great Escape of Prostitutes.

If a rehearsal this week is any indication of what audiences will see this weekend at the Red House Theater (紅樓劇場), Hu BB will likely steal the show as the sassy, spicy Chao Pan-erh. Chien also draws attention to herself with charming, feminine body movements. Promising young actor Huang Chien-wei (黃健瑋) comes off as a natural comic actor who never goes too far.

"The play demanded actors' full devotion," Huang said. "I've prepared myself for the show as if it's a Chinese opera. No drinking or smoking till it ends."

He and the rest of cast put on a lively show as they dance the Chinese ribbon dance to hip-hop beats and shake their booties to Taiwanese electronic music.