Almost everywhere you look these days there is an arts festival of some sort going on, each claiming to be the best. The Taichung Traditional Arts Festival opened last weekend, as did the 2012 Taiwan International Festival of the Arts at the National Theater Concert Hall in Taipei. The Tainan Arts Festival opens tomorrow. However, Greater Kaoshiung may have them all beat, if for sheer number of performances and variety of locations, than for no other reason.
The Kaohsiung Spring Arts Festival begins tomorrow with The Tempest at the Kaohsiung Cultural Center’s Chihteh Hall (高雄市文化中心至德堂) and runs through June. The Chekov International Festival/Theatre Les Gemeaux/Cheek by Jowl joint production also opened the 2012 Taiwan International Festival of the Arts last weekend, but Kaohsiung residents aren’t going to quibble about getting the show second-hand, though they might complain about only getting one chance to see it.
Five of the productions in the Kaohsiung lineup are coming down from the Taipei fest, which is a nice example of synergy and spreading the wealth of culture beyond the capital, while three of the festival’s international productions are being staged only in Kaohsiung.
Photo Courtesy of NTCH
Now in its third year, the Kaohsiung festival is showing its aspirations. It boasts more shows than ever before, as befits the country’s second-largest cultural event after the NTCH extravaganza. The shows are spread out over three sites. There literally is something for everyone and a variety of ticket packages on offer to help festivalgoers get the most for their money.
Music and movie fans will have the chance to revisit two of the biggest movies in Taiwan in the past decade or so with The Lord of the Rings — The Fellowship of the Ring and Seediq Bale Symphonic Poem (賽德克‧巴萊—電影交響詩音樂會). Both of the concerts will be performed in the open air at the grasslands near the lake at the Kaohsiung Museum of the Arts.
Erik Ochsner will conduct the Kaohsiung City Symphony Orchestra (高雄市交響樂團) and soprano Kaitlyn Lusk in the The Lord of the Rings concert, while Yang Chih-chin (楊智欽) will lead the orchestra for the Seediq Bale production, which features several soloists and clips from the film.
Photo Courtesy of NTCH
Fans of traditional Chinese and Taiwanese opera have five productions to choose from, including Love River Dream (愛河戀夢) by the Ming Hwa Yuan Arts and Cultural Group (明華園戲劇總團) and Yi Bo Yun Tian (義薄雲天) by the Chun Mei Taiwanese Opera Troupe (春美歌劇團).
Families with young children have six shows to pick from, including The Legend of New Moon (新月傳奇) by the Paper Windmill Theatre Troupe (紙風車劇團), La Belle and La Bete by Le Shlemil Theatre (法國喜樂米劇團) and The Adolescent Na-cha — the Third Prince (三太子哪吒), performed by the Kaohsiung City Ballet (高雄城市芭蕾舞團) and Kaohsiung City Chinese Orchestra (高雄市國樂團).
The Paper Windmill Theatre Troupe will have the honor of being the first production to tread the boards at the yet-to-be-completed Da-Dong Cultural Center (大東文化藝術中心), which will be inaugurated on March 24. The 891-seat theater will be a welcome addition to the city’s roster of cultural venues and will play host to most of the festival’s family-centered productions.
Photo Courtesy of NTCH
Another group to look out for is Le Shlemil Theatre, a French troupe founded by two students of the great mime artists Marcel Marceau, Cecile Roussat and Julien Lubek. They combine mime, masks and clowning for a surrealistic retelling of the classic La Belle and La Bete (The Beauty and the Beast). The troupe was a hit at last year’s Taipei Children’s Art Festival with its production of Les Ames Nocturnes.
Theater lovers are almost spoilt for choice with a total of eight productions. All will be performed in Mandarin, except for The Tempest, which is in Russian with Chinese subtitles. Two other caveats are that The Tempest runs for two hours with no intermission and it contains partial nudity. Even if you don’t speak Russian or Mandarin, it is still worth giving this show a try.
The Chekov International Festival/Cheek by Jowl all-male production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night at the National Theater back in 2008 was a terrific show and The Tempest promises even more excitement.
Taipei Dad and New York Mom (台北爸爸‧紐約媽媽), the newest production by Taipei’s own Mr Wing Theatre Company, is based on documentary director and author Mickey Chen’s (陳俊志) novel of the same name. Director Miguel Li (黎煥雄) adapted the book to tell the story of a family living — and breaking apart — in Taipei in the 1960s and 1970s and in New York City in the 1980s.
Lovers of modern dance could be excused for feeling a little left out, with just two productions in the festival lineup. However, both are top in their fields and one is a Kaohsiung-only show.
First up is Yogeeti, which was created especially for the NTCH’s Taiwan International Festival of the Arts.
The NTCH invited Mourad Merzouki, the French choreographer of the Kafig Company, to work with Taiwanese fashion designer Johan Ku (古又文), who has rocked the fashion world with his sculptural knits. Merzouki picked five Taiwanese dancers to work with five French hip-hop artists for the show, and his choreography envisions the dancers moving like needles pulling invisible threads as they weave the show together.
Lloyd Newson’s London-based DV8 Physical Theatre has not been seen in Taiwan since its first performance in this country, Just for Show, at the National Theater in April 2005, which stunned audiences with its blend of 3D video projections, choreography and text.
Newson’s newest work, Can We Talk About This?, which examines freedom of speech, multiculturalism, censorship and Islam, and incorporates real-life interviews and archive footage of recent events, premiered in August in Sydney.
Including the two movie-themed productions mentioned above, there are 11 music performances, ranging from a free a cappella concert on the grassland by the museum to a concert by the National Symphony Orchestra and traditional Taiwanese music — far too many shows to list here.
For a complete listing of the festival’s programs, related events and ticket packages, go to the festival’s main Web site at www.ksaf.com.tw or www.facebook. cm/2012ksaf.
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
Family entertainment
The Legend of New Moon (新月傳奇)
Paper Windmill Theatre Troupe (紙風車劇團)
March 24 at 2:30pm and 7:30pm and March 25 at 10am and 2:30pm
NT$400 to NT$1,200
Da-Dong Cultural Center
La Belle and La Bete (美女與野獸)
Le Shlemil Theatre (法國喜樂米劇團),
March 31 at 10:30am and 7:30am and April 1 at 2:30pm,
NT$500 to NT$1,400
Da-Dong Cultural Center
The Adolescent Na-cha — the Third Prince (三太子哪吒)
Kaohsiung City Ballet (高雄城市芭蕾舞團) and Kaohsiung City Chinese Orchestra (高雄市國樂團)
April 4 and April 5 at 7:30pm
NT$450 to NT$1,000
Da-Dong Cultural Center
The Prince and the Pauper — Meet Cinderella (乞丐王子遇見灰姑娘)
Counter Chamber Music Orchestra (對位室內樂團)
April 7 and April 8 at 2:30pm
NT$400 to NT$1,200
Da-Dong Cultural Center
Tempest (暴風雨)
Song Song Song Children’s and Puppet Theatre (九歌兒童劇團)
on May 19 at 2:30 and 7:30pm
NT$300 to NT$1,200
Da-Dong Cultural Center
Traditional performance arts
A Benevolent Spirit (大願千秋)
Tang Mei Yun Taiwanese Opera (唐美雲歌仔戲團簡介)
March 23 and March 24 at 7:30pm, March 24 at 2:30pm
NT$400 to NT$2,500
Kaohsiung Cultural Center’s Chihteh Hall
Love River Dream (愛河戀夢)
Ming Hwa Yuan Arts and Cultural Group (明華園戲劇總團)
May 26 and May 27 at 7:30pm
NT$300 to NT$1,500
Da-Dong Cultural Center
Yi Bo Yun Tian (義薄雲天)
Chun Mei Taiwanese Opera Troupe (春美歌劇團)
June 10 at 7:30pm
NT$300 to NT$1,500
Da-Dong Cultural Center
Theater
The Tempest
A Chekov International Festival Production/Theatre Les Gemeaux/Cheek by Jowl
Feb. 25 at 7:30pm
Tickets: NT$500 to NT$2,000
Kaohsiung Cultural Center’s Chihteh Hall
Taipei Dad and New York Mom (台北爸爸‧紐約媽媽)
Mr Wing Theatre Company (人力飛行劇團),
March 3 at 7:30pm and March 4 at 2:30pm
Tickets NT$500 to NT$2,500
Kaohsiung Cultural Center’s Chihteh Hall
Seagull (海鷗)
Tainaner Ensemble (台南人劇團)
March 30 at 7:30pm and March 31 at 2:30pm
NT$500 to NT$2,500
Da-Dong Cultural Center
Jinhua’s Wedding (金花囍事)
Open Theater Group (大開劇團)
April 28 at 2:30pm and 7:30pm
NT$400 to NT$2,000
Da-Dong Cultural Center
Cleopatra and Her Fools (艷后和她的小丑們)
National Guoguang Opera Company (國立國光劇團)
May 5 at 2:30pm
Tickets NT$300 to NT$2,000
Da-Dong Cultural Center
Dance
Yogeeti
Compagnie Kafig
March 10 at 7:30pm
NT$500 to NT$2,000
Kaohsiung Cultural Center’s Chihteh Hall
Can We Talk About This?
DV8 Physical Theatre
April 14 at 7:30pm and April 15 at 2:30pm
NT$600 to NT$2,500
Kaohsiung Cultural Center’s Chihteh Hall
Music
The Lord of the Rings — The Fellowship of the Ring concert
March 3 and March 4 at 7pm
NT$499
Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts grasslands
Seediq Bale Symphony Poem Concert (《賽德克‧巴萊》電影交響詩音樂會), highlights of the movie, accompanied by a 100-member orchestra
March 10 and March 11 at 7pm
NT$499
Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts grassland
NSO25 Centennial Series — Centennial Russia
National Symphony Orchestra (國家交響樂團), conducted by Gennady Rozhdestvendky
March 11 at 2:30pm
NT$500 to NT$2,500
Kaohsiung Cultural Center’s Chihteh Hall
Venues
‧ Lakeside grassland of Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts (高雄市立美術館), 80 Meishuguan Rd, Greater Kaohsiung (高雄市美術館路80號)
‧ Kaohsiung Cultural Center’s Chihteh Hall (高雄市文化中心至德堂), 67 Wufu 1st Rd, Greater Kaohsiung (高雄市五福一路67號)
‧ Da-Dong Cultural Center (大東文化藝術中心), 161 Guangyuan Rd, Greater Kaohsiung (高雄市光遠路161號), next to MRT Dadong Station (大東車站)
Tickets
‧ Available online at www.artsticket.com.tw and at 7-Eleven ibon and Hi-Life ET kiosks
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