Taiwanese opera star Sun Tsui-feng (孫翠鳳) is to play a modern-day criminal who knows little about the traditional art form in a new comedy adaptation of the folk legend Lord Jiaqing and the Journey to Taiwan (嘉慶君遊臺灣), the creators of the work said.
In Clan of Crooks!? Reincarnation Into Another World (轉生到異世界成為嘉慶君——發現我的祖先是詐騙集團！？), Sun plays a money mule who ends up in a Taiwanese opera set in the Qing Dynasty’s Jiaqing era after a car accident and wonders why people around him begin singing out of nowhere, director Sung Hou-kuan (宋厚寬) and playwright Tsai Yi-hsuan (蔡逸璇) said.
Under the identity of Liu Jiaqing in the opera, the money mule finds himself caught in a land development scam plotted by his ancestor Liu Biyu (劉碧玉), a real-life Qing Dynasty criminal, they said.
Photo: CNA
Sun’s character was created to ask questions like a novice who does not understand what is happening, providing comedic moments throughout the show, they said.
Traditional theatergoers would enjoy her silly performance, while audience members new to Taiwanese opera can learn about the art form, they said.
The complicated story is intentional, as the new production by Sun’s family-run Ming Hwa Yuan Arts and Cultural Group focuses on scams, Sung said.
“We have prepared layers of plots and twists,” Sung said. “I believe traditional theater can take on any genre — science fiction, thriller or the reincarnation theme popular among anime fans.”
Clan of Crooks!? Reincarnation Into Another World is a flagship production of the 2025 Taiwan Traditional Theatre Festival, organized under the theme “within/out boundaries.”
Four performances to be held at the Taiwan Traditional Theater Center in Taipei from May 16 to 18 have sold out.
Sung and Tsai said they started the project with Liu Biyu’s story, brought to them by Taipei National University of the Arts professor Chang Chi-feng (張啟豐), a cocurator of the festival.
Liu’s story was discovered in documents in the National Palace Museum’s online archive, notably the Jiaqing Emperor’s (嘉慶帝) instructions after the criminal — who profited from forging documents — was linked to an uprising against the Qing Dynasty, they said.
The story ends in mystery after a ship carrying Liu to China “vanishes” upon leaving Tainan, Sung and Tsai added.
“Everyone has a Lord Jiaqing in their memories — why not create an alternative world where Jiaqing had visited Taiwan?” Sung said.
Meanwhile, Tsai highlighted Sun Tsui-feng sharing the stage with her martial arts actor brother, Sun Jung-hui (孫榮輝), for the first time in more than two decades, as one of several nostalgic or intriguing aspects of the production — alongside the memory of “Lord Jiaqing” and the reincarnation storyline playing out in a Taiwanese opera.
The reincarnation plot has sparked online discussions among anime fans and attracted younger theatergoers, Tsai said.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Taiwan is to have nine extended holidays next year, led by a nine-day Lunar New Year break, the Cabinet announced yesterday. The nine-day Lunar New Year holiday next year matches the length of this year’s holiday, which featured six extended holidays. The increase in extended holidays is due to the Act on the Implementation of Commemorative and Festival Holidays (紀念日及節日實施條例), which was passed early last month with support from the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party. Under the new act, the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve is also a national holiday, and Labor Day would no longer be limited
COMMITMENTS: The company had a relatively low renewable ratio at 56 percent and did not have any goal to achieve 100 percent renewable energy, the report said Pegatron Corp ranked the lowest among five major final assembly suppliers in progressing toward Apple Inc’s commitment to be 100 percent carbon neutral by 2030, a Greenpeace East Asia report said yesterday. While Apple has set the goal of using 100 percent renewable energy across its entire business, supply chain and product lifecycle by 2030, carbon emissions from electronics manufacturing are rising globally due to increased energy consumption, it said. Given that carbon emissions from its supply chain accounted for more than half of its total emissions last year, Greenpeace East Asia evaluated the green transition performance of Apple’s five largest final
Taiwan is to extend its visa-waiver program for Philippine passport holders for another year, starting on Aug. 1, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said on Friday. Lin made the announcement during a reception in Taipei marking the 127th anniversary of Philippine independence and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The decision reflected Taiwan’s commitment to deepening exchanges with the Philippines, the statement cited Lin as saying, adding that it was a key partner under the New Southbound Policy launched in 2016. Lin also expressed hope
RSS