- Date 2002-05-25
- Venue National Theater
Who’s Calling Eileen Chang？
Performance Workshop
Comments on the Finalist
Who’s calling Eileen Chang begins in the form of a televised game show, and proceeds with words, projection of images and a great deal of monologues to expose the nature of fiction and drama. New possibilities of acting occur on the performers when they shuttle between now and then, between fictional personae and dramatic characters on the stage.
Who’s calling Eileen Chang displays an entertaining fluidity of mise-en-scene with its succinct stage design and sufficient use of basic functions of theater. Its images are moderately selected and treated to effect a sense of poetry. Via wide open space and projections on the huge screen of gauze, its three dimensions of theatrical effects, imagery visions, and dramatic literature respond to one another lively.
As a cooperative creation of artists from Hong-Kong and Taiwan, this Hong-Kong-Government-contracted production should convey alternative reflections to local artists.
Artwork Introduction
Who’s Calling Eileen Chang? is a story about Eileen Chang, one of the most legendary Chinese contemporary female writers. The production began with a famous British television game program “Weakest Link” since this kind of programs was one of Eileen Chang’s favorites before she died. Then, through the dialogues and images, several Ms. Chang’s short stories were brought on the stage. It included brewing tea in Jasmine Tea, streetcar affair in Blockade, telephone games in A-Hsiao Grieves for Autumn, and staring each other at a distance in A Ruining City Love. Following these pieces, audiences could understand Eileen Chang’s love affairs, marriage, and strong personality for disputing with trifles.
About the Artist
Performance Workshop is Taiwan's leading contemporary theatre group, and has been called the leading theatre group in the Chinese language theatre world. Its plays have revived dying theatrical traditions as well as creating a new audience for theatre in Taiwan and the Chinese-speaking world.
Led by Artistic Director Stan Lai (Lai Sheng-chuan) and comprised of a core of Taiwan's leading theatre artists, the group makes extensive use of improvisation in the creation of its work, and over the past decade has performed successfully in Taiwan and on tour around the world, forging a rare mix of experimental methods and wide, popular audience base.
Writing in the Orange County Register, Paul Hodgins notes, “Since its inception…Performance Workshop of Taipei has been the catalyst for a vibrant, burgeoning theatrical culture in a country that, for decades, had virtually no dramatic tradition...”
Edward Lam
Edward Lam is one of the founding members of Zuni Icosahedron. He is also the Artistic Director of Edward Lam Dance Theatre, which he estabished in 1991.Thoughout these years, he has directed about 30 works performed locally and overseas. Recent works includ "18 ways to say goodbye to your lovers", "The Happy Prince". Lam's works "I dreamt i was an AV Actress last night" and "Who's Calling Eileen Cheng" also launched in Taipei in 1998 and 2002. Since 1997, Lam has been a lecturer for the General Education Department of the University of Hong Kong. In 2001, he initiated a series of educational projects called the "Ideal school lab". He also regularly contibutes articles to local magazines and newspapers. Publication such as Edward Lam on Love and Edward Lam on Cinema are collections of his writings.
Production Team
Production Company： Performance Workshop
Director : Edward Lam
Literary Consultant : Michael Lam
Art Director : William Chang
Stage Installation and Multi-media Design : Mathias Woo
Lighting Designer : Billy Chan
Original Music : Tommy Wai
Choreography : Yuri Ng
Video : John Wong
Actors : Ismene Nai-chang Ting, Juijun Fan, Lihua Chen, IPIS, Yihui Lu
Dancers : Bruce Wong, Dominic Wong
