2024 NTT Fall for Great Souls

2024 NTT Fall for Great Souls (Photo credit: National Taichung Theater)

Push Through the Theater Door to the Other Side 

Great storytellers have the remarkable ability to transport audiences into entirely new worlds, exploring the wonders of life through the excitement of tragedy, comedy, or sheer artistry. Upon welcoming the fall-winter season, the National Taichung Theater (NTT) presents its beloved annual series Fall for Great Souls. This year, the series offers an extraordinary feast of masterpieces, from opera to drama and dance, highlighted by the return of the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks (BRSO) to Taiwan after six years, under the baton of renowned conductor Sir Simon Rattle. Guided by these masters of performing arts, 2024 NTT Fall for Great Souls invites you to turn the doorknob and step into the side of a world that you’ve never ventured into before. 

Falstaff by Giuseppe Verdi (Photo credit: Rikimaru Hotta, New National Theatre, Tokyo 2023)

From 25 October to 22 December, the 2024 Fall for Great Souls will present 11 programmes, including 5 international performances from Germany, Spain, and Belgium, 4 Taiwanese productions, and 2 featured operas. Among them, Giuseppe Verdi’s Falstaff, a light-hearted yet skillfully challenging opera draws the main attention of NTT’s annual opera production. This adaptation, originally from the New National Theatre, Tokyo (2004), will be staged in the Grand Theater with Jun Märkl, the distinguished Artistic Director of Taiwan’s National Symphony Orchestra (NSO), as the conductor. Meanwhile, in the Playhouse, Franz Lehár’s Das Land des Lächelns will be reimagined through the creative collaboration of conductor CHANG Chih-yuan, director WANG Chia-ming, and composer/music Design LIN Fang-yi. The Western elements of this new production will be expressed through gothic rock, featuring guitar, bass, and drums, while the Eastern aspects will be envisioned as a spiritual realm. The approach hopes to blur the lines of dualism, brought to life by Taiwanese singers, including the NTT & CHEN-YUNG FOUNDATION Choir. 

The Sheep Song (Credit Card: Kurt Van der Elst)

Also returning to Taiwan after 6 years, Schaubühne Berlin brings their acclaimed adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s play, An Enemy of the People, to the Taichung audience. This powerful production, which runs for one weekend at NTT only, explores the failure of democracy and media dysfunction, with interactive elements that heavily rely on audience participation. Making its Asian debut, Belgium’s FC Bergman presents The Sheep Song, a silent, dark fable about the drive of leaving the safety of a shepherded flock in pursuit of becoming human, and the question of what it truly means to be human. Meanwhile, also from Belgium, Peeping Tom will perform Triptych: The Missing Door, The Lost Room, and The Hidden Floor, a haunting portrayal of primal fears through expertly designed inescapable scenarios and distorted body movements. Reimagined from three short pieces created between 2013 and 2017 in collaboration with Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT1), this acclaimed performance offers a glimpse into the darker corners of human nature. Additionally, Spanish flamenco superstar Israel Galván reinterprets Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring with groundbreaking flamenco dance in La Consagración de la Primavera, showcasing explosive, exquisite, and rapid movements. 

Three People, Two Lamps (Photo credit: GuoGuang Opera Company)

In the realm of Taiwanese productions, GuoGuang Opera Company will celebrate its 30th year anniversary with a revival of their classic Jinju performance, Three People, Two Lamps. Set in the harem of the Tang Dynasty, this traditional piece portrays the love desires of three handmaidens and challenges the norms of Jinju direction by incorporating women’s perspectives. While in Taiwanese opera, Tavern by the Lethe: A Lost Actress, performed by Tang Mei Yun Taiwanese Opera Company, will also revive one of its classic works originally created for television. This sitcom blends traditional Taiwanese opera with musical theatre, telling the story of Meng Po’s Tavern by the Lethe, interweaving song, dance, and humor. In Final Bow by Ming Hwa Yuan Arts & Cultural Group, the production steps beyond traditional Taiwanese opera production to present a modern play that tells the history of Taiwanese opera from its golden age in the 1960s and 70s to its itinerant days. Lastly, The Moment, a play by M.O.V.E.Theatre and Daniel WANG, focuses on the strength of facing challenging moments in life through a female perspective, delving into the issue of gender and family bonds. 

Each year, the Fall for Great Souls series at NTT honors inspiring masters and classics. Whether in the performing arts or in life, the pursuit of greatness involves the courage and vision to push through closed doors and reach new levels. As we stand on the shoulders of giants, let’s embark on a journey of exploration to discover what lies on the “other side.” 

For more info: https://www.npac-ntt.org/en/program/nttseries/greatsouls