Performance Workshop Theater (表演工作坊) built much of its reputation on revising cross talk (相聲), a once-popular style of Chinese comedy that the troupe transformed into a contemporary art form.
A revised version of its 2005 cross-talk hit Total Woman, will be performed as part of the 2008 Taipei Arts Festival. The four performances begin tonight at Taipei’s Metropolitan Hall.
The work, written and directed by acclaimed Taiwanese theater maestro Stan Lai (賴聲川), is founded on the conventions of Chinese cross-talk comedy. This form uses witty dialogue and complex wordplay to comment on society and politics, and is traditionally performed by male actors.
With Total Woman, Lai updates the tradition by using an all-female cast who discuss weighty issues such as women’s rights, work-related anxiety and love, as well as lighter fare such as why women wear makeup. The audience can expect to laugh while the women on stage shrill and shed tears.
The revival features the original cast of female characters including veteran comedian Fang Fang (方芳), and Golden Bell Award winners Hsiao Ai (蕭艾) and Teng Cheng-hui (鄧程惠).
The work takes its title from a fictitious women’s product company called Total Woman and opens with two women, Betty and Annie, hosting an event for the company. As with many of these kinds of galas, a variety of performances are arranged to entertain the guests.
An elderly master of cross talk is booked to perform. However, she fails to show up and instead her granddaughter Funny arrives to perform instead. What follows are six episodes that employ the various forms of cross talk including monologue, dialogue, call and response and three-person group talk.
Total Woman will be performed at the Metropolitan Hall (城市舞台), 25 Bade Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市八德路三段25號), tonight and tomorrow at 7:30pm and tomorrow and Sunday at 2:30pm. NT$500 to NT$1,900 tickets are available through NTCH ticketing.
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