Participatory Theater: A New Dramatic Movement

It has been a period of great innovation for theater in Taiwan. The actors on stage no longer hog the limelight. When the curtain lifts, the audience is also part of the show.

The Tainaner Ensemble specializes in performing Western classics in Taiwanese. Last year it broke down theatrical conventions by including the audience in its performances. Improvisation groups Guts Improv Theatre and NG Improv Club test the abilities of actors to ad-lib and respond to each other in the moment. Performing without scripts, they challenge audiences by pulling audience members up on stage or demanding they answer questions. By breaking down the distinction between actors and audience, they are redefining theater.

In 2009, over 200 Tamsui residents worked with Golden Bough Theatre to stage The Legend of Sino–French War in Tamsui. Annual productions of the play offer a new appreciation for history, and herald a grassroots movement of citizen participation. Meanwhile Shinehouse Theatre has put down roots in Wanhua, where it finds artistic material in every­day life. The company adapts local literary works for the stage, and creates theater from the stories of local homeless people and sex workers, giving a voice to local people through the theater.

The saying goes that “you have to be crazy to perform in theater and have to be a fool to watch.” When the boundaries between performers and audience are erased, who is crazy and who is the fool? Welcome to the splendor of theater in Taiwan. Laugh and cry with the actors. Go mad together!