Making the environment a stage
In 2014, the high cost of moving company members back and forth between its Tainan base and its Taipei performances prompted the Tainaner Ensemble to relocate its primary rehearsal and performance center to Taipei. Lee, however, chose to remain in Tainan, moving the Tainan-based portion of the ensemble into the 321 Alley Arts Village and building a new performance space there.
Lee says that the ensemble’s new location is an old army dormitory, one of eight remaining at what was a Japanese-era munitions factory. The Tainan City Cultural Affairs Bureau administers the facility, which it received from the Ministry of Defense, but had left it derelict for years because it lacked the funds to renovate. That began to change when the CAB invited the ensemble to move in, after the lease on the troupe’s old offices expired last year.
While the dormitory retains its original Japanese structure, there’s now no space in the residence hall or rear courtyard that can’t be turned into a stage at any moment. Lee sees these open spaces, which lack permanent lighting and any distinction between stage and seating, as an inspiration and inducement to push beyond the traditional confines of the theater.
In July 2014, the ensemble launched a seven-day “Mini 321 Arts Festival” in conjunction with That Theater Troupe and the New Visions New Voices Theatre Company. The festival featured three 20-minute pieces while limiting the audience to just 99 people, who were also encouraged to explore the historic site.
In May 2015, the ensemble will present another mini-festival featuring even more troupes and events. The idea is to create a “theatrical night market” that “sells plays rather than snacks,” says Lee.
Over the years, the ensemble has nurtured a more vibrant theatrical environment in Tainan. Lee hopes that operating in this new space will serve to make the troupe stronger in much the same way.
Lee notes that the first-generation alumni who helped found Huaden have since gone on to found companies including the Xibalian Children’s Theater, the experimental That Theater Troupe, and the 50-and-over Modern Form troupe, Taiwan’s first theater company exclusively for older performers. “Huaden was Tainan’s equivalent of the Lanlin Theater Troupe.”
Theatrical attendance in Tainan has grown greatly over the last 30 years, from just 20–30 theatergoers in the city in the old days to audiences of more than 1,200 per year today. While the gross numbers are far below Taipei’s 12,000-plus figure, Tainan has a much smaller population than Taipei and has managed to create a thriving theatrical “ecosystem” in a city with far less in the way of artistic resources.
As Ju Tzong-ching, the former president of the National Taipei University of the Arts, has put it, the Tainaner Ensemble has progressed from just fooling around to taking theater seriously. Now a mature 28 years old, the company continues to have fun while playing for keeps.