2023 Fall for Great Souls – Theatre or Real Life

The annual fall-winter season of the National Taichung Theater (NTT), Fall for Great Souls, now welcomes its seventh year in 2023. The symbolic series has been entertaining and enlightening audiences for almost as long as the theatre has been established. From contemporary dance to timeless quality opera, the NTT curates the season with a diverse selection of masterful classics, blurring the lines between fiction and reality that makes one wonder whether it is merely the theatrical fantasy or a reflection of real-life.

From 6 October to 17 December, Fall for Great Souls this year continues to hold its position as the most prominent and highly anticipated series of 2023. Highlights include thrilling contemporary dance, traditional and imaginative theatre, the world’s renowned symphony orchestra Gewandhausorchester conducted by Andris Nelsons presenting Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 9, and the annual flagship NTT opera production: Jules Massenet’s Cendrillon directed by the world-celebrated French theatre director Laurent Pelly. This enchanting opera is a collaboration between the Royal Opera House, Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, L’Opéra de Lille and Gran Teatre del Liceu. The costumes and props are meticulously transported directly from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden to Taiwan. The NTT production will introduce a dual casting with both French mezzo-soprano Anne-Lise Polchlopek and Taiwanese mezzo-soprano SHIH I-chiao as Cendrillon; with the talented Taiwan conductor LIN Chin-chao, accompanied by the esteemed National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) and the NTT Choir. This vibrant fairytale promises to make NTT’s Christmas a dream come true for all ages.

Cendrillon by Jules Massenet (Photo credit: ROH Bill Cooper, 2011)

Kicking off the season with unparalleled talent, the young dancers of Nederlands Dans Theater 2 take the stage of Fall for Great Souls in October, featuring captivating works by renowned choreographers such as Edward Clug’s Cluster, Crystal Pite‘s Ten Duets on a Theme of Rescue, and Nadav Zelner‘s enchanting Bedtime Story. Along with NDT 2, world-class dance companies will also grace the stage of NTT. This includes the new double bill, Double Murder – Clowns / The Fix, presented by Hofesh Shechter Company in the UK; and WAVES, the exciting collaboration between Choreographer CHENG Tsung-lung, the artistic director of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan and Japanese digital artist Daito Manabe that experiments on the combination of artificial intelligence and body movements which also celebrating the 50th’s anniversary of Cloud Gate.

Cluster (Photo credit: Nederlands Dans Theater: Rahi Rezvani)

For Taiwanese productions, Whale Island leads as a passionate program by three groups of local artists: La Cie MaxMind, Puppet & Its Double, and playwright SHIH Ju-fang. The production combines incredible puppetry with the sounds of Nanguan and Beiguan that unveil the mythical part of Taiwan through picturing the geological wonders into poetic characters and adventures at NTT’s Grand Theatre. The 2007-seat theatre will also welcome the traditional performing arts group, Tang Mei Yun Taiwanese Opera Company and its latest production: Zhuge Liang：A Promise Never Forgotten. A reimagined tale skillfully portrays the father-and-son tenderness between ZHUGE Liang and ZHUGE Zhan from the historical tale of The Three Kingdoms.

Whale Island (Photo credit: Mile End Photography)

In the NTT Black Box, the Shakespearean classic of Romeo and Juliet gets a Taiwanese hipster twist in R＆J and others. Directed by emerging directors WU Jing and CHEN Jung, the play is a sustainable production featuring recycled costumes, sets, and props, aligning with the concept of green theater. Apostating Time, presented by approaching theatre╳Gang-a Tsui Theater, draws inspiration from ZHU Bian, a work of Song Yuan Nanxi Opera. The performance connects traditional Liyuan opera with modern theatre to tell a theme of loyalty, sacrifice, and personal identity.

In the realm of theatre, Romeo Castellucci‘s provocative production, BROS, features a large group of men, recruited through a public call, in police uniforms enacting enigmatic and violent scenes. A co-production with some of the celebrated venues in the world including the NTT, the show’s captivating exploration of human nature’s dark side leaves the audience worldwide in awe. Sharing the similar imagistic theatre concept, The Forgotten by Riverbed Theatre, is an immersive work that explores the plight of miners in 1980s Taiwan through dance, sculpture, lighting, music, imagery, and physical art, paying tribute to the unseen laborers.

BROS (Photo credit: Jean Michel Blasco)

The 2023 Fall for Great Souls invites all to come together in its theatre, witnessing the stories of lives whether they are fiction or honest recreations. As the end of 2023 approaches, the lineup of masterful pieces will surely hit the deepest part of our souls.

For more info: https://npacntt.tw/n00gzrA6