Although the space was expansive, Horse retained a sense of intimacy by keeping most of the dancing front and center, with the choreography consisting largely of duets and solos. While there were bursts of exuberance, the emphasis was on small, tightly focused movements, such as Hung Huai-te’s (黃懷德) solo that expanded into a “shaking duet” with Su Wei-chia (蘇威嘉). The soundscape by Yannick Dauby meshed perfectly, providing a backdrop that ranged from some industrial sounds to lapping waves, rain and percussive elements.
Hung and fellow newcomer Chang Chien-chih (張堅志) more than held their own with the company’s founders Chen Wu-kang (陳武康), Su and Yang Yu-ming (楊育鳴), as well as Chang Tzu-ling (張子凌). Chen, Su and Yang may have complained about the younger men making them feel their age during rehearsals, but they didn’t look ready to give up the stage anytime soon, thankfully.
The chilly weather on Friday night up on Laoquanshan (老泉山) in Muzha (木柵) may have had audience members huddling into their jackets, scarves and blankets, but it didn’t seem to deter the members of U-Theatre (優劇場) and their youth troupe, who were clad in their usual linen/cotton mix of wide-legged pants and sleeveless V-neck tops. You have to be a dedicated fan to make the trek up the mountain to see the show, and audience members were well rewarded for braving the cold with a charming show.
Company leaders Liu Ruo-yu (劉若瑀) and Huang Chih-chun (黃誌群) turned a hillside into their stage, utilizing the paths up and around the trees and a new small platform and open-sided hut, while the audience sat in the clearing below. It was a fitting environment since the story running through The Message (喂!向前走) was set in a forest.
The focus on the show was on U-Theatre’s youth troupe, who drummed, sang, acted, danced and performed martial arts. There are more than 50 junior high and high school youngsters in the training program the company began a few years ago, although only those that have been in the program for at least two years — about two dozen — were used in the show. Their polished performances, however, belied their ages and it wasn’t until a couple of them came down for a post-show discussion that you realized just how young they were.
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