衛武營國家藝術文化中心 National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying)

"Destiny? I don't give a shit!"

Yuefeng, a romantic hotshot male lead, has enlivened the portrayal of numerous characters and charmed countless fans, but turns out to be the biggest villain of her life. She first ran away from her husband before abandoning home and her children; what's she trying to ruin this time?

During childhood, Zhichen and his sister were reproached in public by their mother yelling, "Go to hell, you orphans!" His life paused ever since, staying trapped on the ruthless stage engulfed in the pouring rain that night.

Such unprecedented collaboration includes CHI Wei-jan, winner of the National Award for Arts, as the playwright and two major opera troupes—Chun-Mei Taiwanese Opera Troupe and Golden Bough Theatre. Not only did they get six top categories nominations for the Golden Melody Awards for Traditional Arts and Music this year, but they were also awarded with Best Performer and Best New Artist. Combining traditional Taiwanese Opera and Taiwan Opera with musical and modern theater, Matinee in the Rain reveals some bitter-sweet legend of a male lead who lives a surging life fighting against fate which intertwines love with hatred in a mother-son relationship lasting for half a century.

Facing such standoff in life in which calm doesn't come after a storm, both performers and audience decide to plunge into the illusionary world of Taiwan Opera, using exaggeration to fight against sorrow, applying humor to crumble destiny, and ending regret with affection. It is a drama, a reverie, and also a trip of finding peace of mind.

  Pre-talk  

2022/2/26(Sat)13:50-14:10 Opera House 2nd Floor

2022/2/27(Sun)13:50-14:10 Opera House 2nd Floor

  Creative and Production Team  

Playwright｜CHI Wei-jan

Director｜WANG Rong-yu

Producer｜YU Hui-fen

Music Designer｜LEE Che-Yi

Vocal Designer｜CHEN Meng-liang

Stage Designer｜HUANG Yu-han

Costume Designer｜TSAI Yu-fen

Lighting Designer｜LEE Lulu W.L.

Co-Playwright｜LIU Hsiu-ting

Choreography｜LEE Yih-hsuan

Acting Choreography｜HUANG Yu-lin

Martial Arts Choreography｜PENG Wei-chun

Photography｜CHEN Shao-wei

Key Visual Design｜LIN Yi-heng@6423 Design Studio

Leading Role｜KUO Chun-mei, WANG Rong-yu, SUN Kai-lin

Co-starring｜SHIH Tung-ling, CHIEN Chia-yi, LEE Yun-chung, KAO Ming-chien, TSENG Hua-hsuan, LIAO Yue-chun, CHOU Yu-hsiang, HSIA Yue-rong, LIN Chun-hui, WANG Pin-kuo, HO Si-yu, FU Wei-han, HUNG Hsuan, CHEN Chang-fu

  Artists & Teams Introduction  

Chun-Mei Taiwanese Opera Troupe & Golden Bough Theatre

Chun-Mei Taiwanese Opera Troupe is founded in 2000 by the famous male lead, KUO Chun-mei; distinguished for being "innovative and trend-leading," Chun-Mei has toured around the island and is known for making bold and resplendent style of glamorous performance in Taiwan Opera. Chun-Mei has been selected for the support by the Ministry of Culture since 2004 and has been repeatedly nominated and won the Golden Melody Awards for Traditional Arts and Music.

Founded in 1993, Golden Bough Theatre insists on the idea that "The most affecting culture is the one that grows in the earth" to create domestically unduplicated aesthetics of Taiwanese musical. As acclaimed by LIN Hwai-Min, founder of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, as "unfolding the era of Taiwanese musical," yet praised as the most down-to-earth Taiwanese troupe, Golden Bough is a modern theatre that embodies the aesthetic cultures of contemporary Taiwan.

Playwright｜CHI Wei-jan

Playwright. Honorary professor at the Department of Drama & Theatre at National Taiwan University. Awardee of the 17thNational Awards for Arts of Taiwan. Acquired his bachelor's degree from the Department of English Language and Literature at Fu Jen University and PhD in English Literary Studies from the University of Iowa in the US. He has written scripts for more than 20 musicals, including A Thief in the Night, Ma Jian All Night, Who-Ga-Sha-Ga, Shakespeare at the Mahjong Game, The Prankster - A New Edition of Khu-bong-sia, and The Story of Anna and Chi. In addition, he has published novels, literary proses, and academic articles. In 2021, Matinee in the Rain was nominated for Best Theatre Script at the Golden Melody Awards for Traditional Arts and Music.

Director, Leading Role｜WANG Rong-yu

Founder and artistic director of Golden Bough Theatre. Born into a family of Taiwanese opera performers; his mother, HSIEH Yue-hsia, was a famous sheng performer for half a century. His works, incorporating the dramatic styles of the traditional and modern and the East and West, showcase rich Taiwanese culture, while his unique aesthetics has made him an influential figure in the Taiwanese drama world. He has directed The Con Game, Happiness series, Troy, Troy...Taiwan, and She is SO Lovely. He was nominated for Best Director at the Golden Melody Awards for Traditional Arts and Music for the show Matinee in the Rain in 2021.

Leading Role｜KUO Chun-mei

Head and the leading sheng performer of Chun-Mei Taiwanese Opera Troupe. Awardee of the 16th Global Chinese Culture & Arts Award Local Drama Award—Taiwanese Opera in 2010; nominated for Best New Performer at the 49th Golden Horse Awards in 2012; awardee of the 2014 Kaohsiung Culture and Arts Award; a 4-year successive nominee for Best Performer for the Golden Melody Awards for Traditional Arts and Music from 2016 to 2019, and she won the award in 2021 for her performance in Matinee in the Rain.

A renowned Taiwanese opera performer, Ms. KUO was born into a family of Taiwanese opera performers. She has attracted fans all over Taiwan with her skillful acting and has been acclaimed by the press as "the new idol in Taiwanese opera with a charisma that rivals Takashi KASHIWABARA" and "the Takeshi KANESHIRO of Taiwanese opera," and has even been compared to the leading actors of Takarazuka Revue. When acting onstage, her look is handsome and refined, her figure and style are neat, her singing is pleasing to the ear and touching, and her acting is of the highest standard of excellence.

Leading Role｜SUN Kai-lin

An exceptional young-generation actress and a leading sheng performer of Chun-Mei Taiwanese Opera Troupe. Growing up listening to Taiwanese opera, she first attracted attention by singing Hsiao-Chien-Feng (little sword edge)'s heart-wrenching duma tunes in The Shattered Dream, and has since been open to taking on new challenges. In 2017, she participated in Dorian Gray at the 4th Dadaocheng Theater Youth Xiqu Art Festival; in 2019, she was awarded Best Sheng Performer at the Taiwanese Culture Award of Rotary Club of Taipei West; in 2019 and 2020, she was nominated for Best New Artist two years in succession, and won this honorary award in 2021 for her performance in Matinee in the Rain. With a handsome stage appearance and deft skills in playing both masculine and elegant roles, she is a well-rounded performer and is critically acclaimed as an "exceptionally talented young sheng performer."

This work premiered in 2021 was commissioned by National Center for Traditional Arts.

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Photo ©陳少維