Theater
Golden Bough Theater (金枝演社劇團) presents Pirates and Formosa (黃金海賊王), a musical in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) that follows a band of pirates’ adventurous journey to the mythical island of Formosa.
■ Tomorrow at 7:30pm and Sunday at 2:30pm
■ Tainan Municipal Cultural Center Performance Hall (台南市立文化中心演藝廳), 332 Jhonghua E Rd Sec 3, Greater Tainan (台南市中華東路三段332號)
■ Tickets are NT$400 to NT$2,000, available through NTCH ticketing or online at www.artsticket.com.tw
The Half-Mile Great Wall (半里長城) by Ping Fong Acting Troupe (屏風表演班) takes a humorous look at the building of the Great Wall.
■ Tomorrow at 7:30pm and Sunday at 2:30pm (Taoyuan); Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30pm (Taipei)
■ Taoyuan County Performing Arts Center (桃園縣展演中心), 1188 Jhongjheng Rd, Taoyuan City (桃園市中正路1188號); Novel Hall (新舞臺), 3-1 Songshou Rd, Taipei City (台北市松壽路3-1號)
■ Tickets are NT$600 to NT$3,000; available through NTCH ticketing and online at www.artsticket.com
Les Naufrages du Fol Espoir (未竟之業) by Theatre du Soleil (法國陽光劇團) sees the internationally-renowned theatrical group returning to Taiwan with a story inspired by Jules Verne. Performances run until Dec. 16.
■ Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30pm
■ Marquee erected in the plaza between the National Theater and National Concert Hall
■ Tickets are NT$2,500; available through NTCH ticketing and online at www.artsticket.com
Classical music
Pianist Teo Gheoghiu performs with the Evergreen Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Gernot Schmalfuss. The program includes Debussy’s Mouvement, Poissons d’or from Image, Alexander Scriabin’s Piano Sonata No. 3 in F-sharp minor and Brahms’ Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80.
■ Saturday at 7:30pm
■ National Concert Hall, Taipei City
■ Tickets are NT$400 to NT$1,500, available through NTCH ticketing and online at www.artsticket.com.tw
Contemporary
Legacy Taipei, located in a former warehouse at Huashan 1914 Creative Park (華山1914), hosts top Taiwanese pop performers and international acts. Tomorrow and Sunday, the venue hosts the Simple Life Festival (see Live Wire, above), which features top Mando-pop acts such as Karen Mok (莫文蔚) and Wu Bai (伍佰) and China Blue, in addition to a long list of Taiwanese pop and indie acts. For a full schedule, visit: simplelife.streetvoice.com
■ Huashan 1914 Creative Park (華山1914), Center Five Hall (中五館), 1, Bade Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市八德路一段1號)
■ From 11am to 10pm
■ NT$1,150 for single day pass, NT$1,950 for both days. Tickets for the venue’s concerts can be purchased at ERA ticketing outlets, online through www.ticket.com.tw, www.legacy.com.tw and at 7-Eleven ibon kiosks
Taiwanese rapper Dog-G (大支) appears tonight at The Wall (這牆), Taipei’s most prominent venue for indie rock artists. Tomorrow, the venue hosts Japanese visual kei rock band DaizyStipper. On Sunday, it’s an evening of metal with Morals Abyss, Sideffect and Cruel Desire.
■ B1, 200, Roosevelt Rd Sec 4, Taipei City (台北市羅斯福路四段200號B1). Tel: (02) 2930-0162. On the Net: www.thewall.com.tw
■ 8pm tonight, 6pm tomorrow, 7:30pm Sunday
■ NT$600 tonight, NT$1,600 tomorrow and NT$200 on Sunday. Tickets for all shows, with discounts on advance tickets, can be purchased online through www.thewall.com.tw and tickets.books.com.tw
Tonight Witch House (女巫店), an intimate coffeehouse-style venue in the National Taiwan University area, hosts pop singer/songwriter Iris Lin (林綾). Other scheduled shows were not announced as of press time.
■ 7, Ln 56, Xinsheng S Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市新生南路三段56巷7號), tel: (02) 2362-5494. On the Net: www.witchhouse.org
■ Shows start at 9:30pm. Restaurant/bar with queer/feminist bookstore and large collection of board games, open 11am to midnight Sundays through Wednesdays, 11am to 1am Thursdays through Saturdays
■ Entrance for music shows is NT$300
Experimental electronica act Shishukong (屍術控) and 77 ‘n DD perform tonight at Underworld (地下社會), a small basement club and a favorite indie rock hangout in Taipei. Other shows were not announced as of press time.
■ B1, 45 Shida Rd, Taipei City (台北市師大路45號B1), tel: (02) 2369-0103. On the Net: www.upsaid.com/underworld
■ Shows run from 9pm to 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays. Underworld is open daily from 9pm, closed on Mondays. Happy hour on Tuesdays and Thursdays before midnight
■ Entrance for music shows is NT$300 on Fridays and Saturdays, which includes one drink. Entrance for Wednesday shows is NT$100
Tonight indie rock club Revolver hosts an evening of live music from Glory (葛洛力), Zhouda Party (州大派隊) and electro and dance/rock band Acidy Peeping Tom (微酸的偷窺狂). Tomorrow it’s “nuskool” breaks, dubstep and Drum ‘n’ Bass spun by DJs Mixter T, Edify and Baxter K. On Wednesday, it’s live music from The Junk and Commercial Killing.
■ 1-2, Roosevelt Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市羅斯福路一段1-2號), tel: (02) 3393-1678
■ Shows start at 10pm
■ Entrance is NT$300 tonight and NT$250 tomorrow, NT$150 on Wednesday. Admission includes one free drink.
Bobwundaye, a small pub on Heping East Road (和平東路) in Taipei, hosts an open mic every Wednesday.
■ 77, Hoping E Rd, Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市和平東路三段77號)
■ Shows start at 9:30pm
■ Free on Wednesdays
Fusion jazz band Yellow Funky Stuff plays tonight at Riverside Cafe (河岸留言). Tomorrow, pop-rock band Red Flower (紅花樂團) takes the stage. Rock Oriental Express (搖滾東方), another pop-rock group, plays on Sunday.
■ B1, 2, Ln 244, Roosevelt Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市羅斯福路三段244巷2號B1), next to Taipower Building (台電大樓), tel: (02) 2368-7310. On the Net: www.riverside.com.tw
■ Shows start at 9pm
■ NT$400 tonight and tomorrow and NT$350 Sunday. Tickets can purchased online through www.riverside.com.tw and tickets.books.com.tw
The Condor Heroes Quartet (神雕俠侶爵士四重奏) performs tonight at Sappho de Base, a late-night lounge bar that hosts mostly jazz shows. Tomorrow saxophonist Terry Hsieh (謝明諺) performs with the Japan Jazz Trio. On Tuesday, it’s the Expats Trio and on Wednesday, the Emo Jazz Trio.
■ B1, 1, Ln 102, Anhe Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市安和路一段102巷1號B1), tel: (02) 2700-5411. On the Net: www.sappho102.biz
■ Shows start at 10pm. The venue is closed on Sundays and Mondays
■ Entrance is NT$200 tonight and tomorrow, free on other nights.
Acclaimed Aboriginal singer Samingad (紀曉君) performs every Thursday at EZ5 Live House, which hosts Mando-pop singers backed by a live band every night. Other highlights include Mando-pop songstress Julia Peng (彭佳慧) on Tuesdays.
■ 211, Anhe Rd Sec 2, Taipei City (台北市安和路二段211號), tel: (02) 2738-3995. On the Net: visit www.ez5.com.tw
■ Shows run from 9:45pm to 12:30am
■ Entrance fee (includes two drinks) ranges from NT$600 to NT$850, depending on the performer
On Fridays at Italian restaurant Capone’s, Taipei Swing holds dance socials with live music from electric blues band Bopomofo (ㄅㄆㄇㄈ). On Saturday, drummer Abe Nbugu Kenyatta leads a band playing music from his hometown of New Orleans. Iris sings “romantic chansons” Sunday nights and on Wednesdays, it’s Latin music from guitarist Roberto Zayas. Duo Blurrs Bros perform blues and American songbook tunes on Thursdays.
■ 312, Zhongxiao E Rd Sec 4, Taipei City (台北市忠孝東路四段312號), tel: (02) 2773-3782
■ Live music from 9pm to 11:30pm on Fridays, 8pm to 11:30pm on Saturdays
■ On Fridays, minimum charge of one drink. On Saturdays, minimum charge is NT$300
The Wall (這牆) programs regular live rock shows at Kaohsiung’s Pier 2 Arts Center (高雄駁二藝術特區). Tomorrow, venue hosts indie rock group F.L.A.T Club (假文藝青年俱樂部) and upstarts Elephant Gym (大象體操)
■ 1 Dayong Rd, Yancheng Dist, Greater Kaohsiung (高雄市鹽埕區大勇路1號). On the Net: pierer-2.khcc.gov.tw, www.thewall.com.tw
■ Shows start at 7:30pm
■ NT$300 tomorrow. Tickets for all shows, with discounts on advance tickets, can be purchased online through www.thewall.com.tw and tickets.books.com.tw
Event
Taipei Discussion and Learning meets every Sunday at Wisteria Tea House (紫藤廬) to hear lectures and discuss topics such as philosophy, science, anthropology, globalization and alternative medicine. All discussions and lectures are conducted in English. This weekend’s lecture is titled Being and Nothingness in Laozi’s philosophy.
■ Wisteria Tea House (紫藤廬), 1, Ln 16, Xinsheng S Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市新生南路三段16巷1號)
■ Every Sunday at 8pm
■ Entrance is free. For more information visit www.taipeidiscussionandlearning.blogspot.com
The Taipei Potluck and Music Circle is a weekly gathering of kids, musicians, jugglers, drummers, artists — and anyone else interested in coming - that meets every Sunday at Da-an Forest Park (大安森林公園) on the first Sunday of every month. The group celebrates its 5th birthday this Sunday. As usual, all are welcome, and those who come are asked to bring a vegetarian dish or snack to share. The event will go on rain or shine.
■ Sunday, 3pm
■ At the southeast portion of Da-an Forest Park, at two covered pavilions along the Jianguo South Road (建國南路)
■ For more information, search for “Taipei Potluck, Drum and Music Circle” on Facebook.
In late October of 1873 the government of Japan decided against sending a military expedition to Korea to force that nation to open trade relations. Across the government supporters of the expedition resigned immediately. The spectacle of revolt by disaffected samurai began to loom over Japanese politics. In January of 1874 disaffected samurai attacked a senior minister in Tokyo. A month later, a group of pro-Korea expedition and anti-foreign elements from Saga prefecture in Kyushu revolted, driven in part by high food prices stemming from poor harvests. Their leader, according to Edward Drea’s classic Japan’s Imperial Army, was a samurai
Located down a sideroad in old Wanhua District (萬華區), Waley Art (水谷藝術) has an established reputation for curating some of the more provocative indie art exhibitions in Taipei. And this month is no exception. Beyond the innocuous facade of a shophouse, the full three stories of the gallery space (including the basement) have been taken over by photographs, installation videos and abstract images courtesy of two creatives who hail from the opposite ends of the earth, Taiwan’s Hsu Yi-ting (許懿婷) and Germany’s Benjamin Janzen. “In 2019, I had an art residency in Europe,” Hsu says. “I met Benjamin in the lobby
April 22 to April 28 The true identity of the mastermind behind the Demon Gang (魔鬼黨) was undoubtedly on the minds of countless schoolchildren in late 1958. In the days leading up to the big reveal, more than 10,000 guesses were sent to Ta Hwa Publishing Co (大華文化社) for a chance to win prizes. The smash success of the comic series Great Battle Against the Demon Gang (大戰魔鬼黨) came as a surprise to author Yeh Hung-chia (葉宏甲), who had long given up on his dream after being jailed for 10 months in 1947 over political cartoons. Protagonist
A fossil jawbone found by a British girl and her father on a beach in Somerset, England belongs to a gigantic marine reptile dating to 202 million years ago that appears to have been among the largest animals ever on Earth. Researchers said on Wednesday the bone, called a surangular, was from a type of ocean-going reptile called an ichthyosaur. Based on its dimensions compared to the same bone in closely related ichthyosaurs, the researchers estimated that the Triassic Period creature, which they named Ichthyotitan severnensis, was between 22-26 meters long. That would make it perhaps the largest-known marine reptile and would