This spring, Silver Grass Theatre Group (秋野芒劇團) is on the road again to bring the art of children theatre to elementary schools. The troupe will travel throughout eastern and northern Taiwan, making 24 appearances with three original productions: The Wishing Tree (許願樹), Missing Stories (故事不見了) and The Song of Little Dolphin (小海豚的歌聲). Each story revolves around themes of environmental awareness, friendship, courage and hope.
“We have a big dream … that elementary school children in rural areas can enjoy theatre every school year,” says producer and screenwriter Hsu Tzu-han (許子漢), who teaches Chinese literature at Tunghua University.
In 2000, Hsu and a group of theatre-loving students formed a Chinese drama club that was renamed Silver Grass in 2007. The name refers to the feathery cascades of plants that grace the nation every autumn and winter. Like the plant, which grows easily and in abundance, the group aspires to plant the seed of theatre arts across Taiwan.
photo courtesy of Josh Lee
“Our goal is to develop 6 plays to be performed by 6 theatre troupes 120 times per year,” says Liao Hong-shen (廖宏霖), former actor of the Silver Grass group.
Liao currently serves as the executive secretary of the Silver Grass Association, a foundation established in 2015 to provide funding support for the theatre group. With most of its funding going to production costs, Silver Grass performances rely on volunteer students from Tunghua University, who undergo a two month training session before joining the tour.
Silver Grass debuted their first performance at Hualian Cultural and Creative Industries Park in 2012. While the show received a flurry of positive responses, several local elementary schools approached the group to perform for their students.
These collaborations grew to become regular school appearances and in 2013, Silver Grass began a partnership with Ministry of Education’s Digital Opportunity Center program to bring their theatre to rural areas of Eastern Taiwan.
This year’s spring tour consists of three sequential plays about a group of animal friends living in an endangered forest. The series begins with The Wishing Tree, which was originally inspired by Stars of a Wishing Tree (許願樹上的星星), a children’s book written by Taiwanese illustrator Smart.
The Silver Grass group studied Smart’s story during a theatre workshop led by Wang You-hui (王友輝), a children’s literature professor at Taitung University. Expanding on the book’s premise of personified animals making wishes upon a magical tree, The Wishing Tree is a 60-minute play catered to third and fourth graders.
“Our plays are written for mid-level students, but other age groups appreciate the experience from different levels,” Liao says. “The younger kids for example, may not get the plot of the story, but appreciate the body gestures, movements of light, and overall theatricality.”
Silver Grass began its spring tour this month at Yicang Elementary School in Hualien County’s Jian Township (吉安鄉). Golden wishing stars, made out of cardboard, were passed out at the entrance to children and their parents as they eagerly filed into the school auditorium.
The show began with six actors dressed as an orangutan, rabbit, cat, dog, pig, and fox speaking of their plight in an endangered forest. They stood against a wooden panel painted with triangular shapes that solemnly represented the forest as an abstract backdrop. As the story unfolds the animals make their journey towards a legendary wishing tree in the hope of a more prosperous future.
At one point the audience follows the actors through a green archway as a gesture of travelling together on this shared journey of hope. As the animals finally approach the wishing tree, the audiences raise their golden stars to make their wishes in a moment of silence.
Full of witty lines and interactive activities, the show was received with laughter and cheers. On an educational level however, the play conveys an impression of environmental conditions but does not offer much detail about how our natural habitat is endangered and what we can do.
“The show encourages kids to think about the relationship between human and nature from an imaginative perspective of animals,” Liao says.
While the affectionate portrayal of animals serves as a starting point to building interest in environmental concerns, “I feel like the show can expand more on its themes,” said one parent in the audience. As a developing program, the Silver Grass productions continue to evolve with great potential.
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