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The First Performance of Weiwuying Playhouse: Showcasing the Traditional Charm of Taiwanese Opera through In Love with Gezaixi
National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying) Playhouse will be presenting its first Taiwanese opera performance In Love with Gezaixi on October 20th and 21st. Not only is In Love with Gezaixi a performance which showcases the traditional charm of Taiwanese opera, an art form which has one hundred years of history and is one of the most important cultural assets in Taiwan, but also marks the first program at the Weiwuying Playhouse.
In Love with Gezaixi centers around the history of Taiwanese opera from the perspective of Grandma Qiong Hua as she reminisces about her encounter with Taiwanese opera. Played by Lu Xuefeng , the story starts with Grandma Qiong Hua, who has Dementia, getting lost in the park. As Qiong Hua struggles to find her way home, a soothing melody appears. Qiong Hua’s daughter Xiu Xiu arranged for Qiong Hua and her girlfriends to relive the exciting times when Taiwanese opera was extremely popular, reminding Grandma Qiong Hua of memories of love.
The Weiwuying Playhouse was designed to stage traditional drama performance. The flexible design of space, especially the extended stage, allows the audience to be seated surrounding the performers, enabling a close-up experience of details of the performance, such as body gestures and clothing design. Weiwuying commissioned renowned theater director and screenwriter Wang Yu-hui, who is an expert in both drama and Taiwanese opera, to produce In Love with Gezaixi. The performance narrates the tale as a story within a story and integrates traditional and modern performance styles, such as local opera, outdoor Taiwanese opera, indoor Taiwanese opera, medicine salesmen, Taiwanese opera film, Taiwanese opera broadcast, Taiwanese opera television, O-pei-la-hi, and modern Taiwanese opera. From on-stage performance to media such as broadcasting, movies, and television, Taiwanese theater opera strives to present a more exquisite experience for audiences and portrays the various charms of the history of Taiwanese opera.
In Love with Gezaixi joins outstanding casts from all over the country. Led by Yang Xiu-Qing, a leading figure in narrative and musical performance and the storyteller of film The Bold, the Corrupt, and the Beautiful, and Lu Xuefeng, a member of a renowned Taiwanese opera family and winner of the Golden Horse Best Supporting Actress Awards, popular Taiwanese opera performers from groups such as Xinchuan Taiwanese Opera Troupe, Mi Ming Hua Yuan Tian Taiwanese Opera Troupe, Chun-Mei Taiwanese Opera Troupe, and ShiuKim Taiwanese Opera Troupe, all gather for this spectacular event. This extraordinary cast added with the unique extended stage design of Weiwuying allow for an intimate experience, adding to the intensity to the viewing experience.
Taiwanese opera is the only form of theater performance that originated from Taiwan. The art form combines folk literature, music, dance, fine art, and craft, making it a unique form of folk art in Taiwanese culture. For over a century, Taiwanese opera has accompanied the people of Taiwan through ups and downs, serving important occasions such as welcoming ceremonies for gods and deities during religious festivals, also as leisure activities and a form of education. As time goes by, Taiwanese opera has evolved with the changes in society, and performances have transformed to fit different trends. The inclusiveness and a deep recognition of local culture is precisely the reason behind the popularity of Taiwanese opera, which in a sense is a mirror of the temperament of the people of Taiwan: born with an unyielding liveliness that is capable of adapting swiftly with the changes in society, enriching generations by embracing change and innovation.