The National Theater Concert Hall (NTCH) has put together an eclectic offering for its Taiwan International Festival of Arts 2011, with several prominent local theater companies as well as artists from France, Poland, Spain, Belgium, Germany and Hong Kong.
The program is theater-heavy. With just two dance troupes, and several Chinese-language works among the 17 productions, it is designed to appeal more to local audiences. However, unlike last year, Taiwanese Aboriginal artists are absent from the lineup.
The theme of this year’s program is Love and Peace, which NTCH artistic director Huang Pi-twan (黃碧端) says ties in with the celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the Republic of China.
Photo courtesy of the Kronos Quartet
While the festival officially begins on Feb. 12 with an outdoor performance in the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Plaza featuring the percussion group Ten Drums (十鼓擊樂團) and the Hung Sheng Lion Dance Theater (鴻勝醒獅團) from Taiwan and La Compagnie des Quidams from France, it really begins two nights earlier in the National Theater with the world premiere of the NTCH flagship production La Dame aux Camelias.
Famed Japanese director Tadashi Suzuki, whose visually stunning adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac wowed Taipei audiences in October 2009, tackles another equally famous French work, Alexander Dumas’ 1848 tale of star-crossed lovers. Suzuki has created a musical, featuring Taiwanese actors and singers and several famous Taiwanese love songs. The show will be performed in Chinese, with English subtitles.
Another equally cross-cultural show in the National Theater will be the Nowy Teatre Warszawa’s production the following weekend of (A)POLLONIA. The Polish company examines the history of war and civilization over a 1,000-year period by combining excerpts of works as divergent as Aeschylus’ Oresteia, Rabidranath Tagore’s The Post Office and J.M. Coetzee’s Elizabeth Costello.
Taiwan’s Huang Chun-hsiung TV Puppet Theater (黃俊雄電視木偶劇團) will mark the 40th anniversary of one of its classic budaixi (布袋戲) productions with The Great Hero of Yun-zhou: Su Yam-bwen the Ultimate Battle (雲州大儒俠之決戰時刻) in the Experimental Theater, beginning on March 10. The family-run company, now in its third-generation, is still recovering from the loss of more than 2,000 puppets in a fire in October that devastated its production studio. It should be cheered up by the fact that two shows are already sold out.
Taiwanese opera fans have already snapped up the top seats for Ming Hwa Yuan Taiwanese Opera Company’s (明華園) production of Formosa — The Legendary Heaven (蓬萊仙島), which begins on March 11, while theater devotees have been waiting six years for a new crosstalk (相聲) production by the Performance Workshop Theatre (表演工作坊). The company returns to the National Theater on March 18 with Crosstalk Travelers (那一夜，在旅途中說相聲), a collaboration between director by Stan Lai (賴聲川) and TV producer Wang Wei-chung (王偉忠).
The late, great Pina Bausch is the focus of both dance productions in this year’s festival. The Belgian troupe les ballets C de la B will perform its paean to the mistress of modern dance theater, Out of Context — for Pina in the National Theater late next month, while, her own company — Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch — will arrive in early March to perform Agua.
The Concert Hall’s side of the festival does not begin until March 4, when the famed US string group Kronos Quartet will perform its multimedia Sun Rings, which was commissioned by NASA (among others) and premiered in 2002.
The National Symphony Orchestra has two productions, Pelleas and Melisande with Lilya Zilbertein on piano on March 6 and a concert version of Richard Strauss’ one-act opera Elektra on March 18, featuring an international cast backed up by the Taipei Philharmonic Chorus.
The oldest symphony orchestra in the world, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, will perform on March 11 and March 12, while fans of more modern music should enjoy the concert on March 24 featuring the work of minimalist master Steve Reich. Music for 18 Musicians will be performed by the Signal Ensemble under the direction of Brad Lubman.
Tickets are going fast for several of the shows, with both Hotel Crab and Flee by Night in the Experimental Theater already sold out.
Performance Notes:
The Taiwan International Festival of Arts 2011 starts on Feb. 10 and offers a wide variety of theater, dance and music performances.
ON THE NET: tifa.ntch.edu.tw/?&Area=B&Id=88 (in Chinese) or tifa.ntch.edu.tw/program/index_en.php (in English). Tickets are available at the NTCH box office, online at www.artsticket.com.tw and 7-Eleven’s ibon and Hi-Life’s Life-ET kiosks
OUTDOORS IN THE PLAZA
■ Ten Drums and Hung Sheng Lion Dance Theater (十鼓擊樂團 & 鴻勝醒獅團) from Taiwan and La Compagnie des Quidams from France, Feb. 12 at 7pm. Admission: free
THEATER
■ La Dame aux Camelias by Tadashi Suzuki, Feb. 10 to Feb. 13 in the National Theater at 7:30pm. Feb. 10 to Feb. 12 at 7:30pm, and Feb. 13 at 2:30pm. Admission: NT$900 to NT$3,600
■ (A)POLLONIA by Nowy Teatre Warszawa (Poland). Feb. 19 and Feb. 20 at 2:30pm at the National Theater. Admission: NT$400 to NT$3,000
■ Hotel Crab by TrukiTrek (Spain) at 7:30pm on Feb. 18, at 11am, 2:30pm and 7:30pm on Feb. 19 and at 11am and 2:30pm on Feb. 20 at the Experimental Theater of the National Theater (sold out). On Feb. 23 and Feb. 24 the company will perform at 7:30pm at Building 281 Preparatory Office, Wei Wu Ying Center for the Arts (高雄縣衛武營藝術文化中心籌備處), 449-1 Nanjing Rd, Fengshan District, Greater Kaohsiung (高雄市鳳山區南京路449-1號). Admission: NT$300
■ The Great Hero of Yun-zhou: Su Yam-bwen The Ultimate Battle (雲州大儒俠之決戰時刻) by Huang Chun-hsiung TV Puppet Theater (黃俊雄電視木偶劇團) (Taiwan). March 10 and March 11 at 7:30pm, March 12 at 2:30pm and 7:30pm and March 13 at 2:30pm at the Experimental Theater of the National Theater. Admission: NT$600 (March 10 and March 13 performances are sold out)
■ Formosa — The Legendary Heaven (蓬萊仙島) by Ming Hwa Yuang Arts & Cultural Group (明華園) (Taiwan). March 11 at 7:30pm, March 12 at 2:30pm and 7:30pm and March 13 at 2:30pm at the National Theater. Admission: NT$500 to NT$1,600
■ Crosstalk Travelers (那一夜，在旅途中說相聲) by the Performance Workshop Theatre (Taiwan). March 18 to March 26 at 7:30pm and March 27 at 2:30pm. Admission: NT$1,300 to NT$3,000 (weekdays the top ticket is NT$2,800)
■ Flee by Night (夜奔) by Danny Yung Experimental Theater and Zuni Icosahedron (進念．二十面體) (Hong Kong). March 25 at 7:30pm, March 26 at 2:30pm and 7:30pm, and March 27 at 2:30pm at the Experimental Theater of the National Theater. Sold out
DANCE
■ Out of Context — for Pina by les ballets C de la B (Belgium). Feb. 25 and Feb. 26 at 7:30pm at the National Theater. Admission: NT$500 to NT$2,000
■ Agua by Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch (Germany). March 3 to March 5 at 7:30pm and March 6 at 2:30pm at the National Theater. Admission: NT$500 to NT$3,000
MUSIC
■ Sun Rings by Kronos Quartet (US). March 4 at 7:30pm at the National Concert Hall. Admission: NT$700 to NT$2,000
■ Pelleas and Melisande by the National Symphony Orchestra with Lilya Zilbertein on piano (Taiwan). March 6 at the National Concert Hall. Admission: NT$600 to NT$1,500
■ Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra (Germany). March 11 and March 12 at 7:30pm at the National Concert Hall. Admission: NT$1,800 to NT$3,600. Only NT$2,400 seats are left for Friday night
■ Elektra by the National Symphony Orchestra (Taiwan). March 18 at the National Concert Hall. Admission: NT$400 to NT$2,000
■ Music for 18 Musicians (為18個樂手所作的音樂) by Steve Reich, Brad Lubman and the Signal Ensemble (US). March 24 at the National Concert Hall. Admission: NT$400 to NT$2,000
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