“Things are not always what they seem,” says Tanya, the blonde.
If so, then how much self-deception enters the imaginings of our everyday lives?
Butterfly Effect’s production of Robert Hewett’s The Blonde, the Brunette and the Vengeful Redhead, presents this question and we, the audience, can only rely on the Roshomon Effect monologue stories of the seven characters, male and female, ranging from four to over 60.
Photo courtesy of Michael Geier and LAB Space
There is a death but who, how and why? Kim Chen (程鈺婷) is the tour de force storyteller taking on all roles and if you weren’t a fan of hers before taking your seat, you will be by play’s end.
Kim deftly personalizes the gestures, language and intonation of each of the seven in a tale that begins after Rhonda’s husband Graham has cowardly ended their seventeen-year marriage over the phone.
However, what makes Hewett’s play a gem for the audience is that even while enjoying the performance, we are forced to examine the isolation of everyman’s limited perceptions.
Photo courtesy of Michael Geier and LAB Space
Different pieces of the puzzle will come from each character, but it is only “years later” at play’s end that the never seen but previously mentioned Ellen brings resolution.
Time sequences and Chinese translations of dialogue are found on stage right. Yang Chih-yi’s (楊之儀) set, Jenna Robinette’s costumes and Anton Botes’ sound design skillfully keep pace with each changing monologue.
This summer classic is not to be missed.
This month Taiwan received a brutal Christmas present as the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) passed all three of its desired amendments, making recalls of elected officials more difficult, gutting the Constitutional Court and altering the budgetary allocations to local governments. The nation at present has no ultimate authority to determine the constitutionality of government actions, and the local governments, largely controlled by the KMT, have much greater funding. We are staring into an abyss of chaos. The amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法), if they become law (as of this writing President William Lai
Dec. 30 to Jan. 5 Premiering on Jan. 4, 1956, Xue Pinggui and Wang Baochuan (薛平貴與王寶釧) unexpectedly packed theaters for the next 27 days. Taiwan’s first 35mm Hoklo-language (commonly known as Taiwanese) movie beat out the top Hollywood blockbuster, Land of the Pharaohs, and the Mandarin-language Peach Blossom River (桃花江) in box office sales, kicking off a craze that lasted until around 1970. More than 800 Hoklo-language films were made despite government attempts to promote Mandarin. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) owned the nation’s three major production houses, mostly creating Mandarin films filled with anti-communist messages and patriotic propaganda. But most
Charges have formally been brought in Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je’s (柯文哲) bribery, corruption and embezzling of campaign funds cases. Ko was briefly released on bail by the Taipei District Court on Friday, but the High Court on Sunday reversed the decision. Then, the Taipei District Court on the same day granted him bail again. The ball is in dueling courts. While preparing for a “year ahead” column and reviewing a Formosa poll from last month, it’s clear that the TPP’s demographics are shifting, and there are some indications of where support for the party is heading. YOUNG, MALE
When the weather is too cold to enjoy the white beaches and blue waters of Pingtung County’s Kenting (墾丁), it’s the perfect time to head up into the hills and enjoy a different part of the national park. In the highlands above the bustling beach resorts, a simple set of trails treats visitors to lush forest, rocky peaks, billowing grassland and a spectacular bird’s-eye view of the coast. The rolling hills beyond Hengchun Township (恆春) in Pingtung County offer a two-hour through-hike of sweeping views from the mighty peak of Dajianshih Mountain (大尖石山) to Eluanbi Lighthouse (鵝鑾鼻燈塔) on the coast, or
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