Performance Workshop stages 30th anniversary show

2015/06/08

New Taipei City-based contemporary theater company Performance Workshop is holding a 30th anniversary play in June, combining popular segments from its celebrated crosstalk series spanning three decades.

Crosstalk, or xiangsheng in Mandarin, is a traditional form of Chinese stand-up comedy. Reinvented in the hands of University of California, Berkeley-trained playwright Stan Lai, the once hackneyed art found a new, younger-generation audience starting with the group’s inaugural 1985 production “That Evening, We Performed Crosstalk.”

“Lai’s play set a milestone in Taiwan theater for incorporating social and political critiques into a time-tested comedic format,” PW Director Ismene Ting said. “With backdrops in a local dinner theater, it became the definitive play of the 1980s in capturing the zeitgeist.”

The 30th anniversary edition “Every Night Crosstalk” comprises episodes from “The Complete History of Chinese Thought,” “Millennium Teahouse,” “Mumble Jumble” and “Total Women,” Ting said, adding that they have updated the comedy by moving the action to Taiwan’s thriving night market scene.

“Our streetside setting further brings out the bite of satire in the crosstalk series, casting a wry eye over current affairs in Taiwan,” she said. “From political conundrums to job crisis and food scandals, we aim to chart local society from the perspective of a stand-up comedian.”

In addition, the cast is expanded from the usual duo of male talents to four actors of both genders. Another enhancement is introducing the elements of dance, rap and vaudeville to strike a chord with the youth.

Debuting June 12 at the Culture Hall of Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Store in Taipei City, the play is also touring Kaohsiung, Nantou, Tainan and Taoyuan through September.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=231221&ctNode=413)