Department of Cultural Affairs

Step into Dadaocheng. Can you still hear the clang of gongs and drums echoing through its lanes? In the 1950s, whenever someone staged a play on Liangzhou Street, the entire street came alive, teahouses negotiated performance schedules, stationery shops served as contact points, and puppet troupes moved in and out. A performance was never just a show, but a cultural event in motion.

The Dadaocheng Theater, under the Taipei City Arts Promotion Office, has long been dedicated to the promotion and preservation of traditional performing arts. Located in the historic Dadaocheng district, it continues to deepen its ties with local culture. This 2026 special exhibition on the theater’s 8th floor, titled “Hosting the Play: The Glove Puppetry Street,” looks back to the 1950s, when glove puppetry troupes gathered along Liangzhou Street. It reconstructs the cultural network in which theater troupes and local businesses such as teahouses and stationery shops coexisted and supported one another. Visitors can step back in time and experience the golden age of glove puppetry.

Often called a “theater hub,” Dadaocheng has long been one of Taipei’s key centers of commerce and culture. Since the late Qing period, it has been a vibrant site for a wide range of artistic activities. Glove puppetry, in particular, flourished and became a defining symbol of Taiwan’s traditional performing arts. 

The 1950s was a period of rapid growth for glove puppetry in northern Taiwan. Driven by the folk custom of staging performances as a way of offering thanks to the gods, and in an era before widespread communication technology, many troupes partnered with shops on Liangzhou Street to establish contact points. 

A distinctive collaborative model formed, with groups such as I Wan Jan, Syau Wan Jan of the Wan Jan Puppet Theater (宛然戲館), Hsiao Hsi Yuan, Hsin Hsi Yuan, Ming Hsu Shih (名虛實), along with the Xiyuan Teahouse (西園茶室), and the Haha Xiao Troupe (哈哈笑劇團) with the Haha Xiao Stationery Shop (哈哈笑文具行). To put on a performance, one had to visit Liangzhou Street in person, earning it the name “Glove Puppetry Street.”

This exhibition focuses on three iconic troupes from Liangzhou Street: I Wan Jan, Hsiao Hsi Yuan, and Haha Xiao (哈哈笑). It consists of four sections, Overview (總說), Asking for a Performance (請一臺戲), Onstage and Offstage (戲棚上戲臺下), and Opening the Puppet Trunk (戲籠開箱). 

The exhibition uses puppets, musical instruments, historical artifacts, archival images, and audio recordings to show the process of hosting a performance, its key figures, and signature plays. Immersive scenography recreates the lively atmosphere of the street, while visitors can also take part in an interactive game and receive a randomly assigned limited edition puppet character card, a whimsical way to engage with traditional theater culture.

“Hosting a play” was more than asking a troupe to perform; it was a cultural practice that brought together belief, commerce, and everyday neighborhood life. By reanimating these local memories, the exhibition allows visitors of all generations to experience a time when glove puppetry was woven into daily life, and to better understand the role of Dadaocheng Theater in sustaining traditional arts and strengthening connections with local culture.

This year, take a visit to Dadaocheng Theater and host a play yourself to rediscover Taipei’s cultural memory through the rhythm of gongs and drums.

▍ Hosting the Play: The Glove Puppetry Street Special Exhibition

Dates | Thursday, March 12–Sunday, December 6 

Time | Tue–Sun, 09:00–17:00

(Closed Mondays, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival)

Location | 8F Special Exhibition Area, Dadaocheng Theater

(8 F., No. 21, Dihua St. Sec. 1, Datong Dist., Taipei City)