Terrence McNally’s A Perfect Ganesh proves to be the most ambitious and challenging play that LAB Space has undertaken this year.
Director Brook Hall admits to seeking the challenge, showing how LAB Space’s black box theater can do a play involving multiple scene and costume changes as well as including the intriguing exoticism of India.
A different challenge comes from McNally himself who pairs two stereotypical middle-aged Connecticut women. They are friends, but each has her secrets. Together they have foregone another “boring” vacation in the Caribbean to take on a personal and spiritual “passage to India.”
Photo courtesy of Fabian Hamacher
McNally frames the play as a situation comedy, but he also has other thematic goals in mind such as gay acceptance, AIDS, personal loss and redemption.
The play’s successful denouement depends on a better understanding of the origin and role of omni-present Ganesh, the god of wisdom in the Hindu pantheon.
Stephen Rong, who plays the character Man, comes through in a role that requires much diversity as he plays many separate supporting parts.
The two women face separate secret demons as they bond. Margaret (Sue Desimone) must overcome a buried past, hidden behind a brassy front. (“I’ve had my day.”) Katherine (Sharon Landon) grieves at not being able to tell her “imperfect gay” son that she loved him before he passed away. (“All I have left is my anger.”) The women work well including a number of humorous moments as they attempt to handle the diversity of India.
The script, however, is lengthy and creates too much of an ambivalent challenge by further playing this against each woman’s separate redemptive pathos. EM Forster found it best not to mix sit-com with seriousness. This might be why McNally didn’t receive the Pulitzer for the work, though it nominated.
The Taiwan-born Manav Mehta, completes the cast. He wears the challenging Ganesh mask and conveys the compassionate acceptance of life’s diversity.
All in all, Hall continues to build a solid group of actors in Taiwan. The opening night had a few kinks with sound and props, but that did not alter the solid performances.
Jen-Jacques Chen, whose brief puppet animation cleverly explained Ganesh’s origin, deserves mention.
A Perfect Ganesh, partially sponsored by Taipei’s Department of Cultural Affairs, is worth seeing and LAB space is worth supporting.
The play continues tomorrow through Sunday with all shows beginning at 8pm. Tickets are NT$600 and can be bought through www.accupass.com/go/ganesh
For more information on the theater troupe and directions to get there, go to: www.thelabtw.com.
That US assistance was a model for Taiwan’s spectacular development success was early recognized by policymakers and analysts. In a report to the US Congress for the fiscal year 1962, former President John F. Kennedy noted Taiwan’s “rapid economic growth,” was “producing a substantial net gain in living.” Kennedy had a stake in Taiwan’s achievements and the US’ official development assistance (ODA) in general: In September 1961, his entreaty to make the 1960s a “decade of development,” and an accompanying proposal for dedicated legislation to this end, had been formalized by congressional passage of the Foreign Assistance Act. Two
President William Lai’s (賴清德) March 13 national security speech marked a turning point. He signaled that the government was finally getting serious about a whole-of-society approach to defending the nation. The presidential office summarized his speech succinctly: “President Lai introduced 17 major strategies to respond to five major national security and united front threats Taiwan now faces: China’s threat to national sovereignty, its threats from infiltration and espionage activities targeting Taiwan’s military, its threats aimed at obscuring the national identity of the people of Taiwan, its threats from united front infiltration into Taiwanese society through cross-strait exchanges, and its threats from
Despite the intense sunshine, we were hardly breaking a sweat as we cruised along the flat, dedicated bike lane, well protected from the heat by a canopy of trees. The electric assist on the bikes likely made a difference, too. Far removed from the bustle and noise of the Taichung traffic, we admired the serene rural scenery, making our way over rivers, alongside rice paddies and through pear orchards. Our route for the day covered two bike paths that connect in Fengyuan District (豐原) and are best done together. The Hou-Feng Bike Path (后豐鐵馬道) runs southward from Houli District (后里) while the
March 31 to April 6 On May 13, 1950, National Taiwan University Hospital otolaryngologist Su You-peng (蘇友鵬) was summoned to the director’s office. He thought someone had complained about him practicing the violin at night, but when he entered the room, he knew something was terribly wrong. He saw several burly men who appeared to be government secret agents, and three other resident doctors: internist Hsu Chiang (許強), dermatologist Hu Pao-chen (胡寶珍) and ophthalmologist Hu Hsin-lin (胡鑫麟). They were handcuffed, herded onto two jeeps and taken to the Secrecy Bureau (保密局) for questioning. Su was still in his doctor’s robes at
RSS