Officials discover that people are vanishing in Taipei’s MRT stations and want the mystery solved before the media finds out. This is the central conceit of Theatre de la Sardine’s (沙丁龐客劇團) fifth production, Underground (地底的天空), currently playing at the National Experimental Theater.
It stars the troupe’s founder, Ma Zhao-qi (馬照琪), as an arrogant and thuggish male detective who is hired to find the missing persons. She also directs the work, which was translated from a script written by her husband, French expatriate Vincent Lecomte.
Theatre de la Sardine has gained a reputation in Taipei’s theater scene for creating works that use masks, puppetry and multimedia.
The use of masks in this production is particularly effective because they personify the characters. Ma’s face, for example, is concealed behind the mask of a bulldog, which reinforces her character’s gruff exterior.
The detective is a world-weary hack. Bored by his assignment, he falls asleep in an MRT station and wakes up in a dreamlike world where he discovers the missing people. The playwright uses this parallel world to explore Underground’s central theme: How do we attain happiness?
“In the play, like in life, we all have to make choices. Should I find a job and raise a family? Or should I
pursue my passions. And I think at one point or another we all have to face this basic issue of should we pursue our dreams or conform to what society wants us to do,” Ma said.
Audiences familiar with Theatre de la Sardine’s work will notice the social commentary. But the play doesn’t get bogged down by its message because the characters’ humorous banter and exaggerated gestures keep things moving at a frenetic pace.
The professors, students and scientists — to name a few of the play’s characters who have disappeared into the parallel universe — pursue their dreams free from the pressures of family or work. Witnessing these self-fulfilled individuals go through their daily routines inspires the investigator, and his search for the missing people turns into a search for his own happiness.
“The journey gradually changes him because these people constantly ask him why: Why don’t you want to stay? Why do you want to return the real world?” Ma said.
As the detective struggles with these questions, he faces another conundrum. Before he entered the MRT system, officials said they were planning to destroy the station the next morning.
Unsure if he wants to stay but increasingly certain that he doesn’t want the utopian world he has discovered to be destroyed by mindless bureaucrats, the investigator has to make a choice between his professional obligations and the enchanted world he has found.
The number of scandals and setbacks hitting the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) in such quick and daily succession in the last few weeks is unprecedented, at least in the countries whose politics I am familiar with. The local media is covering this train wreck on an almost hourly basis, which in the latest news saw party chair Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) detained by prosecutors on Friday and released without bail yesterday. The number of links collected to produce these detailed columns may reach 400 by the time this hits the streets. To get up to speed, two columns have been written: “Donovan’s
President William Lai’s (賴清德) vision for Taiwan to become an “AI island” has three conditions: constructing advanced data centers, ensuring a stable and green energy supply, and cultivating AI talent. However, the energy issue supply is the greatest challenge. To clarify, let’s reframe the problem in terms of the Olympics. Given Taiwan’s OEM (original equipment manufacturer) roles in the technology sector, Taiwan is not an athlete in the AI Olympics, or even a trainer, but rather a training ground for global AI athletes (AI companies). In other words, Taiwan’s semiconductor ecosystem provides world-class training facilities and equipment that have already attracted
Nothing like the spectacular, dramatic unraveling of a political party in Taiwan has unfolded before as has hit the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) over recent weeks. The meltdown of the New Power Party (NPP) and the self-implosion of the New Party (NP) were nothing compared to the drama playing out now involving the TPP. This ongoing saga is so interesting, this is the fifth straight column on the subject. To catch up on this train wreck of a story up to Aug. 20, search for “Donovan’s Deep Dives Ko Wen-je” in a search engine. ANN KAO SENTENCED TO PRISON YET AGAIN,
Despite her well-paying tech job, Li Daijing didn’t hesitate when her cousin asked for help running a restaurant in Mexico City. She packed up and left China for the Mexican capital last year, with dreams of a new adventure. The 30-year-old woman from Chengdu, the Sichuan provincial capital, hopes one day to start an online business importing furniture from her home country. “I want more,” Li said. “I want to be a strong woman. I want independence.” Li is among a new wave of Chinese migrants who are leaving their country in search of opportunities, more freedom or better financial prospects at a
RSS