Taishin Bank Foundation for Arts and Culture

Comments on the Finalist

Isle of Dreams ingeniously combines Nanguan and Beiguan and creates the music that possesses both traditional charm and innovativeness without straying from the tradition. Original as the work is, it contrarily aims to explore traditional music and the beauty of ancient literature. The four actors (CHU An-LI, TSUEI Tai-Hao, WANG Chin-Chun, and LIU Ting-Fang) each perform multiple roles. In terms of their puppeteering, their delivery of the gods' body language, and the godly language created by the director LEE Yi-Hsiu, the performers' acting, speaking, singing, and physical performance are truly moving and amazing. The director's creativity and scope of vision, the performers' commitment, and their teamwork have produced an outstanding theatrical work that transports the audience to an enchanting world of mythology and demonstrates new aesthetics of the theatre that reinvents tradition. (Commentator:  CHEN Hui-Mei)

Artwork Introduction

Isle of Dreams is the second episode of the revolutionary mythological trilogy by LEE Yi-Hsiu, the playwright-director of La Cie MaxMind, and is sponsored by Quanta Arts Foundation. The story tells how the beheaded god, Xing-tian, is called by the spirits on the Isle of Ghosts, and departs on a journey of seeking the key (the heart of the isle) to the divine garden, eventually exposing an earth-shattering secret. The script is inspired by Classic of Mountains and Seas. In the two episodes, some parts were connected and continued, whereas some were developed with unexpected twists. However, they have both revealed the people, incidents, and things that are implicitly linked to the people's life in contemporary Taiwan. The multiple characters are represented through switching between masked performance and contemporary puppetry, and with a newly invented mythological language that integrates Taiwanese, Hakka, the Suzhou dialect, and Cantonese, the work successfully creates a distinctive atmosphere and the sense of space and time of the mythological world.

The contemporary reinvention of "traditional nanguan and beigung music" lies at the heart of this series of mythology musicals, which re-imagine and construct new myths that portray modern issues, such as the conflicts between individuals and communities, the clashes between nation and class, and the contention for living environment and resources. While introducing the unique and exquisite Taiwanese musical art to a more modern audience, the work also expands the expression of the genre in an innovative and inviting way.

About the Artist

The playwright-director of La Cie MaxMind, LEE Yi-Hsiu, has been immersing in traditional Chinese opera and music as well as modern theatre. His work is often inspired by Taiwan, and in his opinion, one could only find the perspective and attitude to create a dialogue with the world through creating works based on traditional Taiwanese culture. His work integrates aesthetic elements of traditional and contemporary performing arts to demonstrate the Taiwanese artistic characteristics and humanistic thinking. Deeply rooted in Eastern culture his theatrical work has been positively received by international audience and critics alike.