Taishin Bank Foundation for Arts and Culture

Comments on the Finalist

In this work, the intricate structure of detective fiction, the bare, black-box stage setting of experimental theater and the closed aesthetic of traditional Taiwanese singing techniques serve as the fundamentals for reconnoitering creative possibilities for performance and stage. Strong use of light and shadow, theatrical tone, space, time and the fourth wall successfully create the atmosphere of mystery that a detective play should have. These elements also propel a breathtaking pace while barely interfering with the musical or narrative flows. The writing and composition are both fluid and precise, and the tunes are pleasing to the ear. This gezaixi (Taiwanese opera) surpasses other recent compositions, especially in adapting traditional themes of parental love, filial gratitude and scholarly rectitude and making them a perfectly natural fit for a modern theatrical context. A deeply moving piece, this is a masterful work of traditional theater with a strongly modern edge.

( Committee member/ Ji Huei-Ling )

Artwork Introduction

Taiwan-Zephyr Opera Troupe’s Murder in the Blizzard Night Inn premiered at the Experimental Theater at NTCH on January 2, 2009.

Murder in the Blizzard Night Inn, based on the detective novel Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha ChristieMurder on the Orient Express, was a daring attempt to stage a dramatic thriller as a Taiwanese Operaopera, with the audience acting as amateur sleuths trying to solve the murder in this adapted version of the classic whodunit.

The stage setting of a two-story inn was both practical and aesthetic with simplicity emphasized.  The second floor, the murder spot, was unseen with a stairway leading between the two floors. Since the setting was a snowed-in inn where a murder was going to occur; , all the lodgers were trapped in, it becoming suspects. Therefore, the setting design focused especially on the claustrophobic atmosphere of a Chinese-style innthe tricky air. Props were kept at a minimum and only used for plot development, which facilitated the concept of performers being the most crucial element of Taiwanese Operaopera.

In traditional Chinese opera, such as in court plays, the audience knows everything that happens even if some of the characters do not. Typically, a judge and suspect present the case with narration and song and then the crime is resolved during the trial scene. In Blizzard, the audience did not have an omniscient perspective, but found out clues in the complex plot, bit by bit through the modified techniques of traditional opera.

Blizzard based the music on the idea of abovea movie score. Tunes, repeated interludes, and percussion were combined in a bead-to-string musical structure enhancing the drama. At times, characters acteding like electricalonic dolls, moving in fast-forward or rewinding motion.restating  Modified from traditional opera poses, these animated gestures helped remind the audience the details and chronology of the detective story while merging the two genres of art.