A modern play titled "Passage to Lo-jin," which incorporates the traditional Chinese musical style of Nanguan, will be staged in Taichung and Kaohsiung in mid-December, according to the organizers.
First presented in 2017 in Lugang Township, Changhua County, the play is an adaptation of the first novel in the "Taiwan Trilogy," by Taiwanese writer Shih Shu-ching (???), comprising three books published between 2003 and 2010.
The first book tells the story of three visits to Taiwan by a cross-dressing male actor from China named Hsu Ching (??), in the early 19th century during the Qing dynasty, and it highlights the rise and fall of Shih's hometown Lugang.
Nanguan, an ancient style of classical music that originated in southern China, is featured in the play, said director Chen Yu-dian (???), who is working with Gang-a Tsui Theater to bring Shih's novel to life on the stage.
In the play, the fictional character Hsu switches from his actor's role to his personal life, highlighting the traditional Nanguan music on one side of the stage and a more contemporary art form on the other, Chen said.
The play, set in the commercial port town of Lo-jin, on Taiwan's west coast, demonstrates the Nanguan influences that remain in modern dramas, he said.
"Passage to Lo-jin" will first be staged at National Taichung Theater on Dec. 11-12, then it will move to National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts Dec. 18-19.
It will be performed in Mandarin, Taiwanese and the Quanzhou dialect, with Chinese and English subtitles. Tickets are available on the OpenTix ticketing service.
"Passage to Lo-jin" was performed at the Festival OFF d'Avignon in France in 2019, after it was selected by the Ministry of Culture as one of Taiwan's presentations.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel