Famed Japanese theater director Tadashi Suzuki, who is in Taipei to work on a local adaptation of the French novel La Dame aux Camelias, said he will transform the famous story into a musical that will wow audiences with its strong Taiwanese flavor.
La Dame aux Camelias, written by French novelist Alexandre Dumas and published in 1848, follows the life of heroine Marguerite Gautier, a sought-after courtesan in Paris, who leaves her lover Armand Duval rather than see him become a social outcast.
The opera La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi was adapted from the novel.
Suzuki said that instead of using the more familiar opera aria written by Verdi, he has chosen 14 Taiwanese and Mandarin pop songs that will resonate with Taiwanese audiences.
The songs include When Will You Come Again, The Person That I Really Miss and Am I Your True Love, Suzuki said after a short rehearsal in Taipei on Thursday.
“I am always interested in bringing together different cultures and people under a single production,” the 71-year-old director said.
“There will be no fun if a group of similar people come together to do similar things,” Suzuki added.
Suzuki said to add new sparkle to the famous love story, in his version of La Dame aux Camelias he combines the French script with local pop music and places a cast of Taiwanese actors in a modern European set.
He described the relationship between Marguerite and Armand as a dramatic love story that ultimately leads to death or a nervous breakdown, since it is extremely difficult to overcome social class barriers.
Suzuki is a powerhouse of Japanese theater and the founder of the Suzuki method of acting, which emphasizes foot movements and breathing, that lead to a release and channeling of “animal energy.”
Weng Ning-chien (翁寧謙) and Chou Ming-yu (周明宇), who play the lead roles in the production, spent a month training in Japan last year with Suzuki’s troupe to become acquainted with his special methods.
La Dame aux Camelias is being staged at the National Theater from Feb. 10 to Feb. 13 as part of the this year’s Taiwan International Festival of Arts, before it shifts to the Chihshan Hall in Kaohsiung on Feb. 19 and Feb. 20.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS