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Theater under the stars, with raincoats to spare

Golden Bough Theater stages tales from the The Classic of Mountains and Seas this weekend at Hubei Fortress in Tamsui. PHOTO COURTESY OF GOLDEN BOUGH THEATER

Golden Bough Theater (金枝演社) has made a name for itself by discovering new performance venues - from the back of trucks to small-town night markets - to perform its unique style of theater.

The company staged a production of Troy at the Hubei Fortress (滬尾砲台) in Tamshui two years ago to much acclaim because the 400-year-old fort, with its European-style architecture, provided an ideal backdrop for a telling of the ancient Greek tale of freedom and idealism. The troupe returns to the Hubei Fortress this weekend to perform an adaptation of the Chinese literary masterwork The Classic of Mountains and Seas (山海經).

"The Fort is a perfect venue to stage environmental theater," said Wang Hsia-huang (王家凰), assistant to the play's director Wang Rong-yu (王榮裕). "Staging it outdoors provides audiences with a more authentic setting."

And if it rains?

"No problem. We've got plenty of raincoats on hand," Wang said. "Only a typhoon would cause a cancellation."

Though not billed as a children's performance, the play can certainly be considered a work for the entire family because it features the 8-year-old son of Wang Rong-yu making his stage debut as the lead character.

The story follows the adventures of a young boy wandering through the jungles of Taiwan who finds himself transported back 2,000 years to the mythical period when The Classic of Mountains and Seas was written.

With a narrator to guide him, the young traveler bears witness to the exploits of some of Chinese mythology's legendary characters. He sees Houyi (后羿) shooting down the Sun-birds and meets the headless Xing Tian (刑天), a giant who was decapitated by the Yellow Emperor (Huangdi, 黃帝) as punishment for challenging him.

To add more local flavor to the plot, Golden Bough added Aboriginal legends to the script.

"Performing the play outside as an adventure story with Aboriginal and Chinese myths … we hope [to pique] the interest of Taiwanese about their cultural roots," Wang said.
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