A renovated sugar mill
The idea of repertory shows is a little new to domestic audiences, but has recently become a hot topic of discussion. In the case of Ten Drum, which was founded in 2000, the group was performing fixed programs at a fixed location long before it received government funding. In fact, it moved into the sugar mill in Rende Township, Tainan, in 2005. Renovated and renamed the Ten Drum Culture Village, the former mill has been the troupe’s main stage ever since.
At the time, Ten Drum founder Hsieh Shih was just looking for a place to practice without disturbing the neighbors. But he was also fond of old buildings, and when he stepped onto the mill grounds, possibilities immediately began springing to mind. “The moment I saw the mill’s warehouses, I started thinking, ‘We can practice over here and perform over there….,’” recalls Hsieh, gesturing excitedly.
But it was the enthusiastic response his troupe received abroad that got him really thinking about developing a repertory program. Hsieh spent 2005 actively planning the cultural village while also booking more and more performances abroad. Reveling in the group’s international acclaim, he began nurturing the secret hope that Ten Drum would one day not only perform around the world, but would also draw international visitors to theaters in Taiwan. That dream has now come true.
Hsieh’s memories of the rocky road his troupe traversed are still fresh. He recalls that when they were first looking at the mill site, it was an overgrown mess that hummed with mosquitoes in the summer. The troupe, which with Hsieh then consisted of only six people, laid paths and planted trees themselves. But their efforts did little to turn the mill into the venue they envisioned, and their lack of capital remained a serious problem.
Hsieh plunked down NT$25 million for just the first stage of the renovations. The second, third, and fourth stages brought the total investment to over NT$100 million. The renovation took place before banks began offering “creative and cultural loans,” and before the film Cape No. 7 had had its enormously successful theatrical run. Banks had only limited understanding of the creative and cultural industries, and were unwilling to provide Hsieh with a loan even with the Credit Guarantee Fund of the Ministry of Economic Affairs acting as guarantor. As a result, Hsieh was forced to turn to fellow members of the group, friends, and relatives for funding.
Hsieh raised the curtain on the Ten Drum Culture Village two years later. But when only 500 visitors dropped by in the first month, it was clear that the way forward would be difficult.
Hsieh believes that repertory programs can’t be too highbrow, and has therefore sought to balance the demands of art and the market. The village integrates performance, education, and sightseeing, and even tailors the content of its shows to different types of audiences. That is, its repertory shows include very sophisticated performances, as well as more commercial programs tailored to the tastes of the mass market.
“It’s like when a good chef tweaks the seasonings in a recipe,” says Hsieh. “Repertory shows have to be comprehensible to more than just the critics.”
Introduced to drums by his father, Ten Drum founder Hsieh Shih has made the creation of music for drums his lifelong mission.