While Tibetan culture is celebrated across the capital, the plight of people living on the streets is being put under the spotlight by Homeless in Taipei (流浪讀劇計畫), an ongoing project initiated by the Wanhua Theater (萬華劇團).
Homeless in Taipei began with two men and one woman from the theater group spending several nights sleeping on the streets earlier this month. They were not allowed to take any money with them, but were free to use other resources to find food and a place to get some shut-eye. Another team of three will undertake the same mission on Feb. 24.
“We want to gain a better understanding of what it’s like to be homeless,” the troupe’s artistic director Chung Te-fan (鍾得凡) told the Taipei Times.
Photo Courtesy of Wanhua Theater
The idea of living a homeless life came from The Eleventh Planet, a play by noted Slovene writer, poet and playwright Evald Flisar. It tells a story of three vagrants, Peter, Paul and Magdalene, who cannot resist the temptations of the world of the “bonkers” (hard-working citizens) they claim to despise. The three believe they have been chosen to go to the solar system’s 11th planet where they will find a utopian living environment.
The Eleventh Planet’s script was translated to Chinese by Ting Fan (丁凡), a member of Wanhua Theater, and recently went on sale in Taiwan.
To Chung, Flisar uses the play’s characters as metaphors to describe the nature of existence in a capitalist society. In order to draw attention to the beautifully written script, the troupe has organized 11 play-reading sessions by actors and nonprofessionals who will join the troupe’s members living on the streets.
The play-reading sessions will be held in different locations across the capital, mostly in old parts of town, including Wanhua (萬華) and Datong (大同) districts.
Though he spent a few days living on the streets earlier this month, Chung says he had not really “put himself out there.” Because the weather was cold and the participants didn’t have enough clothes to wear and food to eat, they spent most of the time cuddling each other to keep warm.
Last week the story of the giant illegal crater dug in Kaohsiung’s Meinong District (美濃) emerged into the public consciousness. The site was used for sand and gravel extraction, and then filled with construction waste. Locals referred to it sardonically as the “Meinong Grand Canyon,” according to media reports, because it was 2 hectares in length and 10 meters deep. The land involved included both state-owned and local farm land. Local media said that the site had generated NT$300 million in profits, against fines of a few million and the loss of some excavators. OFFICIAL CORRUPTION? The site had been seized
Next week, candidates will officially register to run for chair of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). By the end of Friday, we will know who has registered for the Oct. 18 election. The number of declared candidates has been fluctuating daily. Some candidates registering may be disqualified, so the final list may be in flux for weeks. The list of likely candidates ranges from deep blue to deeper blue to deepest blue, bordering on red (pro-Chinese Communist Party, CCP). Unless current Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) can be convinced to run for re-election, the party looks likely to shift towards more hardline
Sept. 15 to Sept. 21 A Bhutanese princess caught at Taoyuan Airport with 22 rhino horns — worth about NT$31 million today — might have been just another curious front-page story. But the Sept. 17, 1993 incident came at a sensitive moment. Taiwan, dubbed “Die-wan” by the British conservationist group Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), was under international fire for being a major hub for rhino horn. Just 10 days earlier, US secretary of the interior Bruce Babbitt had recommended sanctions against Taiwan for its “failure to end its participation in rhinoceros horn trade.” Even though Taiwan had restricted imports since 1985 and enacted
Enter the Dragon 13 will bring Taiwan’s first taste of Dirty Boxing Sunday at Taipei Gymnasium, one highlight of a mixed-rules card blending new formats with traditional MMA. The undercard starts at 10:30am, with the main card beginning at 4pm. Tickets are NT$1,200. Dirty Boxing is a US-born ruleset popularized by fighters Mike Perry and Jon Jones as an alternative to boxing. The format has gained traction overseas, with its inaugural championship streamed free to millions on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. Taiwan’s version allows punches and elbows with clinch striking, but bans kicks, knees and takedowns. The rules are stricter than the
RSS