Taishin Bank Foundation for Arts and Culture

Comments on the Finalist

In Li Kai-hsien’s original Ming-dynasty script “Afternoon Dream in the Garden,” the widely-known figures Cai Yingying and Li Ya transcend space and time to appear to a fisherman during his afternoon nap.  The two women are similar, neither appreciating one another amid their biases, sarcasm, and contentious squabbles.  When the fisherman awakes, he laments the tumultuous human world and can only smile.  “Pure” opera takes this scene as the opening of the prologue to the opera, but it is transformed here into a new work by sacrificing the passive female types of Wang Zhaojun and Cai Yan in favor of a fisherwoman’s dream with political subtext.  The author first selects two females from different historical circumstances, whose mutual understanding brings forth a swell of emotions.  Furthermore, the figures speak across their historical condition, distancing themselves from their current realities through the outpouring from within their hearts.  Other people are presented in complete opposition to the pair’s subjectivity.   The two women begin by explaining themselves, bragging, and later nitpicking and quarreling.  The fisherwoman then awakes from the dream, feels deeply the contentions of human nature and the many worries, and cannot help but smile.  This play displays a richly-layered structure, careful and exquisite writing, and successful presentation of the pure lyrics expressed in traditional fine arts. Actor sing with subtle and moving expressions, at times rolling or punctuating, all the while preserving the quality of the play. （By Committee Member He-yi LIN）