Against Again Troupe (再拒劇團) was founded five years ago by a group of young, aspiring theater workers. Its members have distinguished themselves from typical socially and politically apathetic 20-somethings by devoting themselves to exposing society's ills.
Turning a sober gaze on the marginalized, the company's latest work, Silent Left Hand (沉默的左手), is a rock 'n' roll musical about Southeast Asian immigrants in Taiwan. The show also features members of electronica collective KbN (凱比鳥) and alt-rock band the Blue Velvets (藍絲絨).
The story begins when the little girl in Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Match Girl dies and sets out on an odyssey in a netherworld made up of people's fear. A series of encounters with grotesque characters such as a witch and a man-dog ensues, which the musicals' creators link to events such as the inhuman treatment of Thai workers, who rioted in Gangshan Township (岡山) two years ago.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF AGAINST AGAIN TROUPE
Each encounter examines explicitly what led to the girl's demise: hatred, ignorance, inhuman treatment and discrimination. Silent Left Hand looks at both the silenced and those who choose to turn their backs on the miseries of others.
To the troupe, the work has been a process of self-examination, rather than an attempt to speak for those on the fringes of society.
"We use what is happening in Taiwan to address universal issues," said Huang Ting-wei (黃亭瑋), who co-directed the play with Huang Si-nung (黃思農). "The play doesn't attempt to give an account of the discrimination and injustice done to new immigrants, but tries to offer insight into how our fear increases in the face of 'the Other' and how fear leads to violence."
The play's music is performed by a live band made up of Jerry Fang (方宜正) of KbN, Chiang Tao (蔣韜) of the Blue Velvets and singer and songwriter Wang Yu-chun (王愉鈞), a Taipei Poetry Festival (台北詩歌節) winner. They play an intriguing mix of electronic, post-rock and folk sounds using an erhu, electric and acoustic guitars, bass and turntables.
On April 26, The Lancet published a letter from two doctors at Taichung-based China Medical University Hospital (CMUH) warning that “Taiwan’s Health Care System is on the Brink of Collapse.” The authors said that “Years of policy inaction and mismanagement of resources have led to the National Health Insurance system operating under unsustainable conditions.” The pushback was immediate. Errors in the paper were quickly identified and publicized, to discredit the authors (the hospital apologized). CNA reported that CMUH said the letter described Taiwan in 2021 as having 62 nurses per 10,000 people, when the correct number was 78 nurses per 10,000
As we live longer, our risk of cognitive impairment is increasing. How can we delay the onset of symptoms? Do we have to give up every indulgence or can small changes make a difference? We asked neurologists for tips on how to keep our brains healthy for life. TAKE CARE OF YOUR HEALTH “All of the sensible things that apply to bodily health apply to brain health,” says Suzanne O’Sullivan, a consultant in neurology at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London, and the author of The Age of Diagnosis. “When you’re 20, you can get away with absolute
When the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese forces 50 years ago this week, it prompted a mass exodus of some 2 million people — hundreds of thousands fleeing perilously on small boats across open water to escape the communist regime. Many ultimately settled in Southern California’s Orange County in an area now known as “Little Saigon,” not far from Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, where the first refugees were airlifted upon reaching the US. The diaspora now also has significant populations in Virginia, Texas and Washington state, as well as in countries including France and Australia.
May 5 to May 11 What started out as friction between Taiwanese students at Taichung First High School and a Japanese head cook escalated dramatically over the first two weeks of May 1927. It began on April 30 when the cook’s wife knew that lotus starch used in that night’s dinner had rat feces in it, but failed to inform staff until the meal was already prepared. The students believed that her silence was intentional, and filed a complaint. The school’s Japanese administrators sided with the cook’s family, dismissing the students as troublemakers and clamping down on their freedoms — with
RSS