Theater
Based on the Chinese classic The Water Margin, (水滸傳) What is Man? (水滸傳) by Hong Kong director Edward Lam (林奕華) was first performed last year at the National Theater. The work is an investigation of man's so-called heroic nature with the themes of masculinity explored using an audition for a play as the plot. A somewhat unflattering look at men's egos, the nine male characters reveal much about themselves through their desire to win various parts in the production.
▲ National Theater, Taipei City
▲ Today and tomorrow at 7:30pm; tomorrow and Sunday at 2:30pm
▲ Tickets are NT$500 to NT$2,000 and are available through NTCH ticketing or online at www.artsticket.comLong-term Taipei residents often remember with fondness the exotic China Plaza (中華商場) before it was torn down in the 1980s. The market has now become part of the setting for Ping Fong Acting Troupe's (屏風表演班) play Apocalypse of Beijing Theater (京戲啟示錄). The work combines writer/director Hugh Lee's (李國修) childhood experiences with the market as a backdrop, his relationship with his father and the day-to-day reality of running a theater group. Li's father was a famous haberdasher for Beijing opera companies, which allowed the writer free reign to explore the operatic tradition throughout the 20th century.
▲ Taipei Cultural Center (台北市立社教館), 25, Bade Rd Sec 3, Taipei City
(台北市八德路三段25號)
▲ Today, tomorrow and Sunday at 7:30pm; tomorrow and Sunday at 2:30pm
▲ Tickets are NT$500 to NT$2,500 and are available through NTCH ticketing or online at www.artsticket.comThe Robber's Daughter (強盜的女兒), by Song Song Song Children's and Puppet Theater (九歌兒童劇團), is a performance in which the protagonist assumes a child's point of view to work out a feud between two families.
▲ Tainan Municipal Cultural Center Performance Hall (台南市立文化中心演藝廳), 332, Chunghua E Rd Sec 3, Tainan City (台南市中華東路三段332)
▲ Tomorrow at 2:30pm and 7:30pm
▲ Tickets are NT$300 to NT$1,000 and are available through NTCH ticketing or online at www.artsticket.comThe Butterfly Dream (夢蝶) by Contemporary Legend Theater (當代傳奇劇場) is based on the Beijing opera Tian Breaks Open Her Husband's Coffin (田氏劈棺). It tells the story of the great Taoist philosopher Zhuang Zhou (莊周), and how he tests his wife's love for him after returning from 10 years of spiritual and magical training. He pretends to die, returns as a handsome prince while his wife is still in mourning, woos her unsuccessfully but finally convinces her that he is about to die and that only a preparation made from a human brain will save him. Tian, who by this time has given in to the handsome prince's cajoling, decides to break open her deceased husband's coffin to obtain what is required. The prince reveals himself to be her husband in disguise, and in a fit of anguish, Tian commits suicide.
▲ Chiayi Performing Arts Center (嘉義縣表演藝術中心), 265, Jianguo Rd Sec 2, Minsyong Township, Chiayi County (嘉義縣民雄鄉建國路二段265號)
▲ Tomorrow at 7pm
▲ Tickets are NT$400 to NT$2,000 and are available through NTCH ticketing or online at www.artsticket.com
Classical music
What the Ladies Want to Say? (國樂話匣子系列之四-女人心事) is a concert by the Taipei Chinese Orchestra (台北市立國樂團) under the direction of Amy Chang (張佳韻) and features a discussion on Chinese music from a female perspective and includes performances of some well-known classics.
▲ Tomorrow 7:30pm
▲ Zhongshan Hall (台北市中山堂中正廳), 98 Yenping S Rd, Taipei City (台北市延平南路98號)
▲ Tickets are NT$200 to NT$800 and are available through NTCH ticketing and at the venueNew Music From Formusica (2008新台灣音樂鋼琴作品發表會-大音希聲) a concert featuring compositions from aspiring Taiwanese composers.
▲ Thursday at 7:30pm
▲ National Recital Hall, Taipei City
▲ Tickets are NT$200 and are available through NTCH ticketingEvergreen Orchestra with Fan-Chiang Yi (元大新年禮讚-范姜毅與長榮交響樂團) will feature pianist Fan Chiang-yi (范姜毅) and include works by Stravinsky, Mozart and Brahms. Gernot Schmalfuss will conduct the orchestra.
▲ Today at 7:30pm
▲ National Concert Hall, Taipei City
▲ Tickets are NT$500 to NT$1,500 and are available through ERA ticketing
2008 Yen Jun-jie Solo Concert (2008年嚴俊傑的鋼琴獨奏會) will feature the highly regarded pianist performing a program including Bach's Partita No. 4 in D Major BWV 828, Haydn's Sonata in E Flat Major, Scriabin's Fantasy in B Minor and other works.
▲ Tomorrow 7:30pm
▲ National Concert Hall, Taipei City
▲ Tickets are NT$250 to NT$1,000 and are available through ERA ticketing
Contemporary
Tonight Bliss showcases the post-rock sound of Emily (艾蜜莉), followed by alt-rock band Johnny and Eeyore. The bar's weekend shows regularly pack the recently renovated upstairs performance space.
▲ 148, Xinyi Rd Sec 4, Taipei City (台北市信義路四段148號), one block east of Dunhua South Road (敦化南路). Call Bliss at (02) 2702-1855 or log on at www.bliss-taipei.com
▲ Tonight's music starts at 10pm. Bar and kitchen open daily at 7pm
▲ Entrance to the bar is free. Cover for the shows upstairs is NT$200Singer-songwriter Wiiky (胡瑋琪) takes to the stage this evening for the Xue Xue Institute's (學學文創志業) latest concert featuring a contemporary musician.
▲ 207, Tiding Blvd Sec 2, Neihu Dist, Taipei City (台北市內湖區堤頂大道二段207號). Log on at www.xuexue.tw/events/pm/opening.html for information on this and upcoming performances
▲ 7:30pm tonight
▲ NT$350 tickets can be purchased online at www.artsticket.com.twFolk band Smoke Ring (煙圈) and Two Gods' Soup (兩神湯) appear tonight in the intimate confines of Witch House (女巫店). Tomorrow, Shantaal plays the sounds of India, Central Asia, the Middle East and Spain.
▲ 7, Ln 56, Xinsheng S Road Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市新生南路三段56巷7號). Call (02) 2362-5494 or visit www.witchhouse.org
▲ Performances start at 9:30pm. Restaurant/bar with queer/feminist bookstore and large collection of board games opens 11am to midnight Sunday to Wednesday; 11am to 1am Thursday to Saturday
▲ NT$300 entrance includes one drinkThe Wall (這牆) presents pop-punk/indie-rock band Pa Pang (怕胖團), alt-rock/nu-metal group Overdose and nu-metal act Respect (尊敬) tonight. Pretty boy pop-rock group Rock Oriental Express (搖滾東方) plays two sets tomorrow. "Soul boy" Mando-pop singer Khalil Fong (方大同) croons Motown-style on Thursday.
▲ B1, 200, Roosevelt Rd Sec 4, Taipei City (台北市羅斯福路四段200號B1). Call (02) 2930-0162 or log on at www.the-wall.com.tw for more information
▲ The music starts at 8pm. The downstairs arcade's indie-rock and heavy metal record stores, cafe, tattoo parlor and fashion shops open daily
▲ Entrance for shows is NT$400 tonight and tomorrow, NT$600 Sunday and NT$300 Wednesday and Thursday. Admission includes one drinkAlt-rock band Neon and 17-year-old singer/songwriter Chris Huskey take to the stage tonight at Underworld (地下社會). Electronica artist Salamander (沙羅曼蛇), formerly of Toxaphene (毒殺芬) and DJ Island mixes things up tomorrow night. Pop-punks Peppercats (胡椒貓) and Twice a Week (一週兩次) play on Wednesday.
▲ B1, 45 Shida Rd, Taipei City (台北市師大路45號B1). Call (02) 2369-0103 or visit www.upsaid.com/underworld for more information
▲ Bands start playing after 9pm. The bar is open from 8pm daily, except Mondays
▲ Entrance for shows is NT$300 and includes one free drinkTonight at Riverside Cafe (河岸留言), it's jazz/Latin percussion virtuoso Rich Huang (黃瑞豐) and friends. Biung (王宏恩), a Golden Melody Award-winning singer from the Bunun tribe, performs tomorrow with acoustic guitarist Angela Loo (盧家宏) and the Hound Dogs (獵狗樂團). Indie-pop band Joker and singer/guitarist Wing (羅文裕) play on Sunday. Monday is Open Jam Night. On Tuesday, it's Ah-jie (阿杰) and friends, Don't Go Band plays on Wednesday, and on Thursday, it's singer and multi-instrument whiz Suming (姜聖明), also of indie-rock band Totem (圖騰), and Echo G.S. (艾可菊斯), followed by Bibi Chao (趙之璧) and her band.
▲ B1, 2, Ln 244, Roosevelt Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市羅斯福路三段244巷2號B1), next to Taipower Building (台電大樓). Call (02) 2368-7310, or visit www.riverside.com.tw
▲ Shows start at 9:30pm
▲ NT$400 tonight, tomorrow; NT$350 Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Admission includes one drink. There is a one-drink minimum on Mondays
Tuesday is Tarot Night at the Living Room (小客廳), with house regular Eiffel (艾菲爾), who - for a cool grand - promises to read your future and offer useful life tips. Folk guitarist Shotetsu (舒吉吉) returns to the Living Room this Thursday
▲ 3F, 8, Nanjing E Rd Sec 5, Taipei City (台北市南京東路五段8號3樓). Call (02) 8787-4154 or visit www.livingroomtaipei.com
▲ 7:30pm to 11am Tuesday; 8pm to 9pm Thursday
▲ NT$1,000 admission and purchase of one drink required for Tuesday's tarot; NT$300 admission and NT$50 recommended donation on Thursday
Japanese folk/rock singer Kenya performs tomorrow at Grooveyard.
▲ 2F, 105 Huamei W Rd, Taichung City (台中市華美西街105號二樓). Visit www.grooveyardtaiwan.com or call 0939-574-737 for more information
▲ 9:30pm to midnight tomorrow
▲ Entrance is NT$200
Exhibition
Surrealists in Taiwan (台灣超現實展). Featuring 80 works by 10 local artists, the exhibition tracks the Surrealist movement back to 1945 when artists in Taiwan began developing the style to release their primitive impulses and express their subconscious.
▲ Taipei Fine Arts Museum (台北市立美術館), 181, Zhongshan N Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市中山北路三段181號). Open Tuesday to Sunday from 9:30am to 5:30pm. Call (02) 2595-7656
▲ Until March 2
Collection Exhibition from Wei Qing-de (魏清德舊藏書畫捐贈特展). A Taiwanese journalist and art collector during the Japanese Occupation, Wei amassed a great number of Chinese and Taiwanese art works that ranged from calligraphy and oil and ink paintings to pieces by Japanese artists who resided in Taiwan at the time. The exhibition offers a window onto the society in which Wei lived, when the country began a spurt of modernization.
▲ National Museum of History (國立歷史博物館), 49 Nanhai Rd, Taipei City (台北市南海路49號). Open Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 6pm. Call (02) 2361-0270
▲ Until Jan. 27
Fountain of Taiwan Literature: an Exhibition of Donations From 1997 to 2004 (灌溉文學的花園-1997-2004捐贈文物特展二部曲). The second installation of the series features a selection of works picked from about 70,000 items that represent the rich history of Taiwanese literature and which were donated by more than 100 individuals. The great number of works on display includes books, manuscripts, journals, newspapers and personal letters.
▲ National Museum of Taiwanese Literature (國家台灣文學館), 1 Zhongzheng Rd, Tainan City (台南市中正路1號). Open Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 5pm. Call (06) 227-1201
▲ Until March 30
Art Kaohsiung 2007: Mechanical Art in Kaohsiung (機械總動員). Featuring nearly 100 art works by 22 artists whose creative practices focus on mechanical structures, kinetic movements and other mechanical characteristics, the exhibition aims to address the region's distinctive art history, which was heavily influenced by the development of the industrial city itself.
▲ Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts (高雄市立美術館), 20 Meishuguan Rd, Gushan Dist, Kaohsiung City (高雄市鼓山區美術館路20號). Open Tuesday to Sunday from 9am to 5pm. Call (07) 555-0331
▲ Until March 2
Across Oceans and Time - Art in the Contemporary Pacific (超越時光-南島當代藝術). In collaboration with the Tjibaou Cultural Center in New Caledonia, this large-scale exhibition features more than 90 art works by 80 Aboriginal artists from about a dozen South Pacific countries. Divided into themes of "who we are," "where we come from" and "where we head to," the exhibit, the first of its kind in Taiwan, introduces local audiences to the thriving contemporary arts produced by the Austronesian cultures.
▲ Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts (高雄市立美術館), 20 Meishuguan Rd, Gushan Dist, Kaohsiung City (高雄市鼓山區美術館路20號). Open Tuesday to Sunday from 9am to 5pm. Call (07) 555-0331
▲ Until March 30
The slashing of the government’s proposed budget by the two China-aligned parties in the legislature, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), has apparently resulted in blowback from the US. On the recent junket to US President Donald Trump’s inauguration, KMT legislators reported that they were confronted by US officials and congressmen angered at the cuts to the defense budget. The United Daily News (UDN), the longtime KMT party paper, now KMT-aligned media, responded to US anger by blaming the foreign media. Its regular column, the Cold Eye Collection (冷眼集), attacked the international media last month in
On a misty evening in August 1990, two men hiking on the moors surrounding Calvine, a pretty hamlet in Perth and Kinross, claimed to have seen a giant diamond-shaped aircraft flying above them. It apparently had no clear means of propulsion and left no smoke plume; it was silent and static, as if frozen in time. Terrified, they hit the ground and scrambled for cover behind a tree. Then a Harrier fighter jet roared into view, circling the diamond as if sizing it up for a scuffle. One of the men snapped a series of photographs just before the bizarre
Feb. 10 to Feb. 16 More than three decades after penning the iconic High Green Mountains (高山青), a frail Teng Yu-ping (鄧禹平) finally visited the verdant peaks and blue streams of Alishan described in the lyrics. Often mistaken as an indigenous folk song, it was actually created in 1949 by Chinese filmmakers while shooting a scene for the movie Happenings in Alishan (阿里山風雲) in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投), recounts director Chang Ying (張英) in the 1999 book, Chang Ying’s Contributions to Taiwanese Cinema and Theater (打鑼三響包得行: 張英對台灣影劇的貢獻). The team was meant to return to China after filming, but
Power struggles are never pretty. Fortunately, Taiwan is a democracy so there is no blood in the streets, but there are volunteers collecting signatures to recall nearly half of the legislature. With the exceptions of the “September Strife” in 2013 and the Sunflower movement occupation of the Legislative Yuan and the aftermath in 2014, for 16 years the legislative and executive branches of government were relatively at peace because the ruling party also controlled the legislature. Now they are at war. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) holds the presidency and the Executive Yuan and the pan-blue coalition led by the
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