The Unnamed Island: The Hagseed and the Wizard

2022 Taiwan Traditional Theatre Festival: Flagship Production  
Ming Hua Yuan Tian Zi Art & Culture Group X Shakespeare’s Wild Sisters Group 
The Unnamed Island: The Hagseed and the Wizard 

Performance Dates 
6 May 2022, 7.30pm  
7 May 2022, 7.30pm  
8 May 2022, 2.30pm 

Video Link | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHOYeWqVv88 
Website | https://tttc.ncfta.gov.tw/home/en-us/activities/11942  

the Unnamed Island

The Unnamed Island: The Hagseed and the Wizard, the flagship production of the 2022 Taiwan Traditional Theatre Festival, was created by the most mind-boggling and unprecedented combination: Ming Hua Yuan Tian Zi Art & Culture Group and Shakespeare’s Wild Sisters Group. Working hand in hand for the first time, the two directors Wang Chia-Ming and Baboo co-directed the show. The leading cast members include Chen Chao-Hsiang, Chen Li-Chiao, Sun Shih-Wen, Chen Chin-Hsin, and Wu Yi-Hsuan from the Ming Hua Yuan Tian Zi Art & Culture Group. The production juxtaposes tradition and modernity, exploring the beauty of the hybrid and paradoxical nature of contemporary Taiwanese opera. 

金玉滿堂

虎虎生風

松鶴長春

The Unnamed Island was inspired by Shakespeare’s legendary play The Tempest, serving as a prototype of the story and the starting point of imagination. To echo the freedom, inclusivity, and vigor of Taiwanese opera and to make O-pei-la truly become a kind of stage spirit, the adaptation borrows the “stage counts” style of an outdoor Taiwanese opera and incorporates the plot elements of a classic Shakespearean play: betrayal, revenge, disguise, mistaken identity, magic, play within a play, etc. 

The magic in The Unnamed Island has multiple implications. In the play, it is a tool for revenge and transformation. Outside the play, it refers to the singular stage illusions of Taiwanese opera: it is the co-imagination and co-participation of the humble outdoor stage and the audience; it is the electrifying moment when Xiao Sheng and Xiao Dan meet their fans; it is an enchanted time and space which people fall into, just like they did lingering in front of the stage in their childhood. 

The crossover collaboration does not aim at amalgamation, but instead focuses on accentuating their respective features. The performance is tailored to the actors from the Ming Hua Yuan Tian Zi Art & Culture Group, highlighting their individual characteristics and finesse. In terms of visual aesthetics, elements of an outdoor Taiwanese opera troupe are dismantled and transformed into evil spirits and monsters on the island, rebuilding a surreal world beyond imagination, yet grounded in reality. 

Executive producer | Chen Yue-Yi 
Deputy executive producer | Zou Chiou-Chiang, Lai Ming-Ren 
Performer | Ming Hua Yuan Tian Zi Art & Culture Group, Shakespeare’s Wild Sisters Group 
Producer | Shakespeare’s Wild Sisters Group 
Director| Wang Jia-Ming 
Script| William Shakespeare  
Script Adapted | Wang Jia-Ming, Zhou Man-Nong 
Lead Performers |Chen Zhao-Xiang, Chen Li-Qiao, Sun Shi-Wen, Chen Jin-Xing, Chen Jing-Wei, Wu Yi-Xuan, Li Pei-Ying, Fa, Wang Jing-Dun, Wang Zhao-Yang, Wu Jing-Yi, Lai Wun-Jyun, Xiao Dong-Yi, and Les Petites Choses Production  

About Ming Hua Yuan Tian Zi Art & Culture Group  

With a wealth of performance experience, Ming Hua Yuan Tian Zi Art & Culture Group infuses modern theatre concepts into outdoor Taiwanese opera. The group is not only often fully booked for its outdoor Taiwanese opera performance, but also frequently invited to perform in Singapore. The group has repeatedly received accolades from the Ministry of Culture, the National Culture and Arts Foundation, and cultural affairs departments of local governments. Its large-scale performances are always well-received by the audience wherever they are held. Supported by the National Culture and Arts Foundation, the group will continue to pass down the traditions of Taiwanese opera and contribute to the inheritance of traditional arts. 

About Shakespeare’s Wild Sisters Group 

Founded in the summer of 1995, Shakespeare’s Wild Sisters Group owes its name to the fictional character in Virginia Woolf’s novel A Room of One’s Own, meaning to liberate women’s talents from the oppression of patriarchy. Limiting itself to no specific issues or conventional aesthetics, SWSG takes materials from all arts inspiring to create original theatrical works. Having been to Hong Kong, Macau, Beijing, Shanghai, Busan, Tokyo, Berlin, Singapore, Kobe, Paris, and New York, SWSG has been invited by various cities and countries to perform and takes an important role in international city culture and artistic exchange for many years.