Now entering its sixth year, at the curatorial core of the Play Arts Festival are “games” and “gathering.” This year’s curatorial axis was derived from phenomena observed by curator Betsy Lan while living in southern Taiwan over the past decade. The focus is on keywords, such as #land, #slowliving, and #futurity, in an attempt to create encounters in downtown Taipei based on the bond between people and land and “Taiwaneseness.” Topics include folk festivals, environmental awareness, labor experience, and elf-actualization…etc.. Through the transformation of contemporary performing arts groups, these serious topics become accessible performances to the audience.
Under the influence of globalization, qualitative changes in land and people have become irreversible trends. It is hoped that ethnic, class, gender, and age diversities can be presented through the gathering of artists working with different styles. Artistic practices of non-mainstream communities allow us to see an alternative futurity and to redefine “locality.” The 2023 Play Arts Festival – SHOW ME A PLATE collects the vigor energy of the land in cultural landscapes , taking diverse and alternative artistic practices as ingredients and cooking them in forms of market fairs, games, theatre, music and film.As you look back on this year, enjoy this vast and rich performing arts buffet.
For this year’s outdoor performances, independent punk rock and reggae bands made up of members from Southeast Asia and a dance company that blends traditional Indonesian style and modern moves, present a fun and lively series of performances under the title Southerners Come to Play. Our Theatre’s Tsí-á-tshiū thuân-suat combines local elements and the beauty of the Taiwanese (Hokkien) dialect to tell the heart-warming story of a friendship between two girls and a tree. The dance performance line-up also includes Ku & Dancers X Bagmaster International Co., Ltd., with environment- and space-inspired improvisations. Led by HUANG Huai-Te, Dashing Theater brings an energetic and enthusiastic interactive performance, which serves to rid the heaviness that has accumulated over the year. Day and Night Co-Performances make up this year’s special project and include collaborations by Hoochuu Breakfast X circus and acrobatic group HoooH, as well as by Beer to Go and playwright Uray CHEN. They explore daily life, filled with joy, anger, love, and hate, through two important routines, eating breakfast and drinking.
Among the indoor performance highlights is an electronic music party designed for children under the age of 12, based on the theme of plant conservation, created by Midnight Sound Maker. L’Enfant S. Physical Theatre’s Oui Chef Oui is a mime performance that also presents delicious cuisine, moving between fiction and reality to describe the mindset of a middle-aged actor. Uncertain Studio has created an accessible board game and an exhibition based on issues related to environmental protection and petrochemicals, in which players immerse themselves in various roles and situations. In cooperation with the Women Make Waves Taiwan International Film Festival, Going, Going to the Movies includes screenings of specially selected films, with themes such as family, gender, life and nature, to provide audiences with diverse perspectives and encounters.
More information can be found at：
Official website：https://playarts.clab.org.tw/
Facebook：https://www.facebook.com/playarts.clab