The first two productions of “A Revolution Unarmed” at Huashan 1914 Creative Park exemplified the niches the two different troupes have carved out for themselves in the world of Taipei contemporary theater.
I began the retelling of Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen opera cycle, fittingly, with the Saturday’s matinee of Riverbed Theatre’s (河床劇團) Das Rheingold (The Rhine Gold, 萊茵黃金) and then caught the 9pm showing of Dark Eyes Performance Lab’s (黑眼睛跨劇團) Die Walkure (The Valkyrie,女武神).
While there was some music and songs in both productions, both focused on the stories behind the operas, not Wagner’s compositions — although various renditions of the stirring opening to his Ride of the Valkyries was heard throughout Die Walkure.
Photo Courtesy of Dark Eyes Performance Lab
Riverbed’s productions are always Alice in Wonderland-like explorations, with trapdoors, stages within stages, ramped floors, distorted perspectives and exaggeratedly slow movement that add to the otherworldliness of it all. Nothing is as it seems and the eyes are always deceived.
The company and its 14-member cast, including musicians and an opera singer, managed to give a brief overview of Wagner’s libretto in just over an hour, beginning with the three Rhinemaidens guarding the Rhinegold, the contest to claim the golden ring forged by the dwarf Alberich, the first murder in the ring cycle and the gods claiming their new home, Valhalla.
The pouring rain pounding on the roof that erupted about halfway through the show may have muffled some of the voices, but added to the atmosphere of a show that was relatively easy to follow.
The same could not be said of Die Walkure, which, with a running time of just over two hours, a text-heavy story and platform seating, tested the endurance of theatergoers.
However, the company’s great team of actors — 15 in all — and the set, which ran like a runway about half the length of the warehouse space, with the audience divided on either side, contained enough elements and props (an air-raid siren, wading pools, baby strollers, outdoor grill, dinner table, exercise bike, toilet, fridge and scores of Coke bottles) to keep the audience engaged even if their bodies were weakening.
The production gave theatergoers an upclose look at the power struggles and personal dynamics of a very disfunctional family of gods and assorted hangers-on, including an aloof and demanding father, questioning daughters, incest, bad sex and sword fights.
I did feel a bit sorry for Lai Wen-chun (賴玟君), who played Wotan’s wife, Fricka, and was required to spend most of the first half of the play consuming a huge plate of potato salad and chicken and swigging wine. After the five-show run, she probably won’t be able to face potato salad again for a long time.
Hsu Hua-chien (徐華謙), who played Wotan, and Tseng Hsin-yen (曾歆雁), who played the lead Valkyrie Brunnhilde, were especially good.
This weekend will see the final two productions of “A Revolution Unarmed,” EX-Theatre Asia’s (EX-亞洲劇團) Siegfried (齊格飛) and Against Again Troupe’s (再拒劇團) Gotterdammerung (Twilight of the Gods, 諸神黃昏).
Siegfried begins at 7:30pm on Friday night, with two shows (2:30pm and 7:30pm) on Saturday and Sunday. Gotterdammerung opens at 9pm on Friday with two shows (4pm and 9pm) the following two days. Tickets for each show are NT$700.
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