Ever felt like yelling out in a theater performance, but were too afraid? Or felt that shouting out your opinion was inappropriate or rude? Well beginning tonight at The Mayor's Residence Art Salon prepare for a performance in which the audience can become the actor and passive spectators are frowned upon.
"I always emphasize [to the audience] that in this show we work together," said Taiwan's Guts Improv Theater (勇氣即興劇場) founder and this weekend's Theatersports' emcee Wu Hsiao-hsien (吳效賢), referring to the relationship between audience and actors.
It's a sentiment shared by Japan's Impro Works and Hong Kong's Champion Arts Association (青皮人藝術合作社), the other two companies that have come to Taiwan to compete in the Theatersports contest.
PHOTOS: COURTESY OF GUTS IMPROV THEATER
"Competition is just the format," said Shirley Chan (陳明慧) of Champion Arts. "We are still working together and we are playing." Though it"s cloaked in competitiveness, the purpose of the performance is to suck the audience into the action on stage, turning them into creators as well as observers.
Let's rumble
Theatersports is a performance style that finds its origins in improvisational theater (improv or impro, depending on the dictionary you use) and stresses the importance of the audience's active participation. It involves two different formats: long and short. Short form is more competitive in the sense that two teams take the stage at the same time. The long form involves one team and lasts for 30 minutes. This weekend's performances will be held in English and Chinese.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF GUTS IMPROV THEATER
Though each improv company approaches Theatersports in a slightly different manner, the basic format includes teams of actors - professional or otherwise - performing in front of judges while an emcee implores the audience to shout out their ideas, suggestions and criticisms, particularly to the judges.
"In Japan, the judges' status [in society] is very high, so it is seen as very rude to criticize them. So I explain before the performance begins that judges are supposed to encourage the audience to criticize them," said Yuri Kinugawa, art director of Japan's Improv Works.
Champion Arts Association uses a different format. "We ask the audience to be the judges. We will explain [the format] before the show and ask for suggestions because that will involve more [of the] audience. Though some audience members really don't want to get involved in the performance or even give any suggestions, they are always willing to give marks," said Chan.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF GUTS IMPROV THEATER
The Taipei competition will employ three judges and suggestions will come from the audience.
Communicating with the audience members and making it clear they are to be active participants, the three companies agree, remains the biggest obstacle confronting Theatersports in Asia.
Cultural obstacles?
"Because there are conceptual and cultural differences here, it is necessary for the audience to gain an understanding of what they are going to encounter on the stage and that, yes, they are going to be participants," Chan said.
She added that audiences in Hong Kong are so used to traditional theater they often remain silent in the theater, even though the emcee is imploring them to speak up. "It is very different from what we have seen ... in Canada and the US, where the audience members will shout and scream and get involved," Chan said.
Still, with an energetic emcee on the mic, even the most reticent of crowds may turn from speechless statues to raucous participants.
"You (the audience) make the show, it's not just us performing for you. We need your input to complete this show," Wu said.
It's an attitude that should keep the audience members on the edge of their seat.
On Jan. 17, Beijing announced that it would allow residents of Shanghai and Fujian Province to visit Taiwan. The two sides are still working out the details. President William Lai (賴清德) has been promoting cross-strait tourism, perhaps to soften the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) attitudes, perhaps as a sop to international and local opinion leaders. Likely the latter, since many observers understand that the twin drivers of cross-strait tourism — the belief that Chinese tourists will bring money into Taiwan, and the belief that tourism will create better relations — are both false. CHINESE TOURISM PIPE DREAM Back in July
Taiwan doesn’t have a lot of railways, but its network has plenty of history. The government-owned entity that last year became the Taiwan Railway Corp (TRC) has been operating trains since 1891. During the 1895-1945 period of Japanese rule, the colonial government made huge investments in rail infrastructure. The northern port city of Keelung was connected to Kaohsiung in the south. New lines appeared in Pingtung, Yilan and the Hualien-Taitung region. Railway enthusiasts exploring Taiwan will find plenty to amuse themselves. Taipei will soon gain its second rail-themed museum. Elsewhere there’s a number of endearing branch lines and rolling-stock collections, some
Could Taiwan’s democracy be at risk? There is a lot of apocalyptic commentary right now suggesting that this is the case, but it is always a conspiracy by the other guys — our side is firmly on the side of protecting democracy and always has been, unlike them! The situation is nowhere near that bleak — yet. The concern is that the power struggle between the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and their now effectively pan-blue allies the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) intensifies to the point where democratic functions start to break down. Both
This was not supposed to be an election year. The local media is billing it as the “2025 great recall era” (2025大罷免時代) or the “2025 great recall wave” (2025大罷免潮), with many now just shortening it to “great recall.” As of this writing the number of campaigns that have submitted the requisite one percent of eligible voters signatures in legislative districts is 51 — 35 targeting Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus lawmakers and 16 targeting Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers. The pan-green side has more as they started earlier. Many recall campaigns are billing themselves as “Winter Bluebirds” after the “Bluebird Action”
RSS