Taishin Bank Foundation for Arts and Culture

Comments on the Finalist

With a fragmented set and suspended conversations, as time and space are getting more and more undefined, the vocabulary and form of the work linger between the realistic and the allegorical. This work is a metaphor for the present environment, disaster, and problems that young people are facing today, such as issues of employment and poverty. However, it does not intend to discuss social reality by representing it. Its language creates another battlefield of politics in the theatre, not reflecting the reality yet continuously rattling it. (Commentator: LIN Yu-Pin)

Artwork Introduction

The play’s original script, Modern Fable, won the Best Play of the 2014 Taiwan Literature Award. LEE Ming-Chen associated the play with the symbol of a hashtag, on account of his observation about the common use in the social networks. “#” represents label and index. It is a sign of reference, but this symbol has evolved into something that no longer has a direct relationship with the written text. The words following hashtag are rather derived from the text, it becomes the derivative text of the original one. Also, visually speaking, “#” looks like the Chinese character for "well," which is metaphoric and diverse in meanings. So, LEE changed the title from Modern Fable into #.

Each allegory-like scene introduces an object or animal as the main character: the yellow duck from the zoo, the panda, the artificial chicken created to meet the fast-food market demand, the polar bears working in food factories for survival, the last human being that survived the doomsday, etc. With a sarcastic and humorous tone, the play corresponds to the humanity and life conditions in the real world, addressing issues such as food security, global warming, and apocalyptic scenes caused by natural and man-made disasters. Meanwhile, the highly concentrated, interwoven monologues and dialogues reflect the characters’ agitation and anxiety, revealing the most candid and undisguised fable of the modern world.

About the Artist

Creative Society Theatre GroupCreative Society Theatre Group (CS) was established by a group of experienced directors, playwrights, theatre scholars, arts administration professionals as well as media workers in Taiwan in May, 1997. Realizing the intrinsic connection between the contemporary theatre and socio-cultural trends, CS dedicates itself to the creation of original plays, exploring new theatrical aesthetics and discovering diverse ways of creative collaborations, all in the name of innovation. The fact that CS’s core members include a diverse group of creative directors and playwrights sets it apart from other theatre groups in Taiwan, and allows CS to further realize the multi-faceted creativity in the Taiwanese contemporary theatre world. CS has produced 31 works by its core members, including CHI Wei-Jan, CHOU Hui-Ling, WEI Ying-Chuan, and Michael LI, theatre veterans, including FU Hong-Zheng, WANG Chia-Ming, LIU Shou-Yuo, FU Yu-Hui, LU Po-Shen and HSU Yen-Ling, as well as young-generation directors and playwrights, including YANG Ching-Hsiang, Birdy FONG, ZHAN Jei, Sharon WU, LEE Ming-Chen, WEI Yu-Chia, ZHU Yi, Andrew CHAN, and WANG Zi-Chuan. The high artistic quality of CS’s works has received critical acclaim of the audience, art circle, media and academia.

WEI Yu-Chia

WEI YU-Chia holds an MA in Scriptwriting from the Department of Drama and Theatre, National Taiwan University. Her script, Modern Fable, won the Best Play of Taiwan Literature Award in 2014. (The title was changed into # and was produced by Creative Society Theatre Group in 2016.) Her other script, Mother/Singer, won the Excellent Prize in Scriptwriting of Taipei Literature Award in 2015. Her other work includes Youtube (playwright; the play was produced by The Deadend Flowers in 2015).

LEE Ming-Chen

LEE Ming-Chen was born in Yonghe, New Taipei City. He majored in directing and graduated from the Department of Theatre, Taipei National University of the Arts. He also engages in theatrical creation, performance, and graphic design. Since 2009 onward, he has been publishing and producing works in the name of Style Lab. His works focus on the texture of site and space as well as the relationship between material and people, seeking inspiration from the present condition and social atmosphere with an emphasis on collaborative creation and improvisation. LEE's active engagement in various creative fields and approaches enables him to continuously explore and experiment in the attempt to achieve a more organic way of theatrical expression that transcends the existing boundaries. His recent works include Tragic Inaction by Wind and Ear Studio at Fantasy 321 Festival hosted by Tainaner Ensemble, play reading and performance in To Meet Again by Our Theatre's Script Farm Project, The Inn - Room Service by Creative Society Theatre Group, # by Creative Society Theatre Group, Who Killed the Elephant by Dark Eye Performance Lab at In-Yer-Face Festival, Leave it Rotten at Taipei Fringe Festival, and New Idea Theatre - Love Song 2010.