Taishin Bank Foundation for Arts and Culture

Comments on the Finalist

On Stage, claimed to be in a style that “combines Peking opera with contemporary theater,” is a continuation of the recent innovative production trend of Guo Guang Opera Company. With elements and sections of the classic play of Peking opera packaged in the format of modern theater, the play illustrates the development of Peking opera through relationships between master and apprentice, and actor and actress. The director shows profound knowledge in traditional opera and modern theater, and is able to integrate the best of each together. The play displays symbols and implications through a variety of methods, and the set design is also impressive. The ensemble of actors displays a high level of uniformity and showcases high skill levels. The script alternates between classic opera and theater seamlessly. The main actors display outstanding opera skills, further enhancing the artistic level and attractiveness of the play. The performance is of high quality, making it a masterpiece of the year.   Committee member:hang, Chi-Feng

Artwork Introduction

One Hundred Years on Stage is an all-new play celebrating the evolution of Chinese opera over the past one hundred years. The play includes three acts, representing the three major periods of Chinese opera over the past hundred years: Act I portrays an opera troupe in Beijing during the 1910s, when female roles were primarily performed by male actors. Act II illustrates the conceptual disagreement between the Hai School and the Jing School in Shanghai during the 1930s. Act III tells the story of a young actress who betrays her former teacher during the turbulent decades of the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and the 1970s—and afterwards, her attempts at atonement.

Scenes of the drama within three generations of the Hua family run throughout the play, parallel to the three major periods of Chinese opera. The final scene, in which the actors on the stage are seen moving suitcases and props for future performances, creates a symbolic gesture of how artistic exploration will continue to the end of time. Fundamentally, the play avoids merely singing the praises of the art and artistry of Chinese opera, or even writing opera history; instead, it chooses to reveal the dark side of its theatrical glamour by adopting the themes of betrayal and atonement. Its goals lie not in the indictment of betrayal, but in illustrating the process of healing through the warmth of the human heart—for in difficult times, it is the ability to own up to one’s misdeeds that reveals human virtue.

About the Artist

In 1995, the very best of three Chinese Opera troupes— Luguang, Haiguang and Dapeng, representing the respective armed forces—were selected through a strict screening process to form the National Guoguang Opera Company to carry on the task of promoting traditional drama and artistic education while integrating contemporary social issues with inspiration from literature, history, and folklore in order to capture the nature of humanity in its new programming.