Taishin Bank Foundation for Arts and Culture│The Plague of Revenge (2023 Taiwan Traditional Theatre Festival)

Date 2023.05.27
Venue Taiwan Traditional Theatre Center

The Plague of Revenge (2023 Taiwan Traditional Theatre Festival)

Yi Shin Taiwanese Opera Troupe

Comments on the Finalist

LEE Yi-Hsiu, the playwright of The Plague of Revenge, combines various elements of Greek tragedies and elevates traditional questions of ethics to a philosophical level of fate. FU Yu-Hui, who directs the work, introduces different approaches to modern theater and uses mise-en-scène and actors’ body expressions to create a tragic sense of metaphysical rituals, delineating the working of the characters’ psyche and the subtext underlying their relationships in this traditional theatrical production. SUN Shih-Pei and SUN Shih-Yung perform the roles of Zhou Ren and his son in a magnificent manner and with vivid layers. Their virtuosity successfully brings together a traditional performance with an innovatively modern style. Overall, The Plague of Revenge is an entertaining new-style Taiwanese opera with great depth. After the three-year pandemic that forced people to be self-preserving, this production engages the audience in rethinking the traditional values of benevolence and righteousness. (Commentator: HSU Jen-Hao)

Artwork Introduction

The Plague of Revenge draws inspiration from the three-year pandemic that has just subsided not long ago. In the play, playwright LEE Yi-Hsiu wrote about two pandemics that occurred ten years apart and wreaked havoc in a remote fishing village called “Chen-Kang.” The leading actresses of the Taiwanese opera troupe, Shi-Yong and Shi-Pei, play a father and his son who treat sick people in their journey. In the process, however, they are drawn into the darkness of human hearts, which is far more horrific than any disease. Instead of performing a live outdoor play of “GeZaiXi” (Taiwanese opera), the production utilizes a descriptive structure with two storylines playing simultaneously in a non-linear manner. Blocking used in modern drama is applied to replace the traditional theater style, which emphasizes main characters, allowing supporting characters to become part of the overall narrative.

About the Artist

The name Yi-Shin Taiwanese Opera Troupe means “united as one,” which is the spirit of the troupe’s establishment. With strong ambition and an attitude of always seeking improvement, the troupe has produced numerous popular productions, and their performance has been reputed as “enriched with a directing style and bursting with the dramatic tension of indoor theater.” Until today, the 1st-generation director and the icon of the troupe, SUN Rong-Hui, is still active on the stage, having transferred the administrative work and the troupe’s development to the 2nd-generation director SUN Fu-Rui, who is dedicated to transforming the troupe into the embodiment of “both the traditional and the modern, with performances and a mindset that keep up with the times.”

Director | FU Yu-Hui

FU Yu-Hui holds a PhD in Theater Studies from National Taiwan University (NTU) and an MFA in Theatre Arts (Directing) from Syracuse University, New York, USA. Fu is currently a post-doctoral fellow in a National Science and Technology Council research project chaired by LIN Ho-Yi. She is also a board member of the National Culture and Arts Foundation (NCAF), and an adjunct lecturer at the NTU Department of Drama and Theatre. Fu is an established modern theatre and Taiwanese opera director. In 2013, she was invited to participate in a workshop of female directors in Seoul, Korea, and in 2011, she was selected for Cloud Gate Foundation’s “Wanderer” program, through which she traveled to northeastern China and North Korea. Fu was a senior editor at Performing Arts Redefined (PAR), a program curator of the 1st and 2nd Taipei Arts Festival, and a lecturer at the Department of Theatre Arts, Taipei National University of the Arts. She has been a Taishin Arts Award observer in the category of performing arts several times and has served as a juror at NCAF and local governments’ bureaus of culture affairs. She also writes play reviews for performing arts magazines.

Playwright | LEE Yi-Hsiu

LEE Yi-Hsiu is the founder and primary creator of La Cie MaxMind. He holds an MFA in Theatre Performance from Taipei National University of the Arts. He currently serves as the director of the Trend Education Foundation’s theater. Lee has participated in productions of various performing arts genres, including Nanguan music, Liyuan opera, Kunqu, puppetry, and modern drama. He has focused on playwriting and directing in recent years. His major works include Dreams on Manuscript, The Drought Goddess, Isle of Dreams, and A Bangle in Gold and Silver by La Cie MaxMind, as well as The Moon Was in Tears by Yi-Hsin Taiwanese Opera Troupe.

Production Team

Cast

Zhou Ren played by Sun Shipei
Zhou Tianhuai played by Sun Shiyong
Treasure Cherish played by Zheng Ziyun
Ajiao played by Sun Liya
Spring is Coming Played by Ke Jinlong
Shouyi played by Lin Guanfei
Village Chief Played by Liu Yuanyi
A Pi Decorated by Zhai Luoan
The incarnation of the prince Played by Cai Yuqian, Fan Shengzong, Fu Weihan
Villagers Luo Played by Bilian, He Caijie, Jia Xiangguo, Zhou Yukuan, Shi Yuxuan

Orchestra

Leader of Percussion- Lead Drum | Lin Xiquan
Large Flat Gong | Zheng Yuxiang
China Cymbal | Chen Yijing
Percussion, Suona | Jiang Jianxing