Nation in crisis
What exactly is the relationship between a historic fortress in Taiwan and Greek mythology of 3,000 years ago? Wang opens up Edith Hamilton's Mythology, which describes an ancient city on the eastern edge of Asia Minor, unparalleled at the time in its wealth and power, and throughout history in its fame: Troy.
"Whenever I read about Troy, tears come to my eyes. But what resounds in my mind is not Troy. Indeed, if you change some of the words around, this could easily be a description of Taiwan. Taiwan is a young island, yet has passed through so many trials. In each era, there have been stories that match those that happened in Troy, just slightly different in form. Even today, we are under threat and awaiting deliverance." Wang has found a way to reflect on his own cultural plight through the lens of a Western classic.
In order to make the play ring true, Wang has staged the epic in Taiwanese. He says, "I've poured folk sentiment into this mythic epic. As Cassandra says, 'If the roots of one's homeland are uprooted, one is like a withered leaf that cannot sprout new life.' I hope that through this play I can bring my mother tongue back into daily life. I don't want it to become something that has to be preserved and studied as a dead language someday."
Taking its basis in an imagined myth of an ancient Taiwanese kingdom, the play reinterprets the decade-long war between Troy and Greece. It describes battles, the people, freedom, idealism, and other great issues, achieving a kind of spiritual aesthetic that seeks to preserve home and hearth, unbending in the face of adversity.
The Golden Bough Theatre's insistence on retaining the native language is not only manifest in the script, but also in the way that elements of popular songs have been woven into the play. According to Yu, "The lyrics themselves are a dramatic piece through which a pure and beautiful past can be portrayed, and familiar melodies allow our audience to feel a sense of beauty."
Another example is She Is So Lovely, first performed in 2001, a hilarious story of the trials of love that creates a wonderfully nostalgic mood. The play deftly weaves in songs that were popular in Taiwan from the 1930s to the 1970s. This kind of pop cultural collage fuses these utterly familiar songs into the eclectic aesthetic of o-pei-la.
She Is So Lovely uses a light-hearted, humorous approach to tell a different kind of love story: "If no one loves you, then of course it's your fault. If too many people love you, then it must be their fault!" The play swept through university campuses in Taiwan, and in 2003 the troupe was invited to Beijing to perform there. Local online fans received it enthusiastically as in the following account: "The play brings marvelously unexpected details out of well-worn themes and figures, using startling dramatic techniques and exaggerated body language to shed pretense and speak to the common man."
The Saga of Kuanyin Mountain, coming out in 2002, resurrected interest in the historic sites on the old Shell Oil facilities in Tanshui, giving audiences an experience of wooded, open-air performance space. Viewers could sit under the night sky and delight in the fusion of fantasy and reality.