VIEW THIS PAGE Lu Po-shen (呂柏伸) auditioned more than just actors for his forthcoming theatrical production, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, an updated version of Shakespeare’s play of the same name that begins its run tonight at Taipei’s National Experimental Theater. This time around auditions called for a dog, of which 11 showed up.
“Many beautiful dogs auditioned,” the artistic director of Tainaner Ensemble (台南人劇團) said after a preview of the play on Wednesday. “But we chose the ugly one because … it was more in keeping with the original script.”
When asked if he was concerned about the canine relieving itself on stage, Lu took it in his stride.
“That’s what we expect. We have already told the actress that she has to improvise,” he said. “Our concern is that on the premiere night there will be 200 people here and we don’t know how it will react [to the audience].”
Judging by the canine’s performance during the preview, which saw it rolling over, offering a paw and responding to a variety of gestures (some of them violent), there shouldn’t be a problem.
The Two Gentlemen of Verona is the fourth play in Tainaner’s “Unplugged” series of Shakespeare revivals. The other three were Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet and Macbeth.
Having done three tragedies in the series, why is Tainaner staging a comedy this time around?
“Why not?” Lu said.
Wang Hong-yuan (王宏元), who acts in and directs the play, was slightly less succinct.
“I noticed a lot of similarities between the love rivalries in the script and what I see with my schoolmates,” Wang said.
The Two Gentlemen of Verona is a coming of age tale that finds two friends going off to the big city to earn life experiences. The play deals with themes of friendship, love and infidelity.
To appeal to a younger generation of theatergoers, Lu, a National Taiwan University Drama department graduate, added contemporary flourishes such as exchanging 17th-century Italian clothing for “Eton-style” school uniforms — the kind of dress common in Taiwan.
Tainaner Ensemble’s “unplugged” series of plays seeks to return theater to a more traditional form of staging because it focuses the audience’s attention on the actors.
“We turn the stage over to the actors. We don’t use too many complicated sets or lighting effects to distract the audience,” Lu said. VIEW THIS PAGE
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