Department of Cultural Affairs

A series of performances in the ongoing Taipei Culture Week at the World Expo Shanghai kicks off tomorrow with the Taipei Day event, which falls on one of the most celebrated holidays in Chinese culture, the Dragon Boat festival.
 
“We have chosen the best of Taiwan’s performing arts to wow Shanghai citizens,” said Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin yesterday in Shanghai, “the scale of this cultural exchange is so far the largest between the two cities.”
 
Taipei Culture Week launched June 3 features a comprehensive selection of both visual and performing arts, forums and expositions. The Taipei Day starts with drum group U Theatre, followed by Taipei Symphony Orchestra with singer Wang Lee-hom and Hu De-fu, and then Taipei Chinese Orchestra.
 
“We arrived yesterday to rehearse and check out the stage,” said Liu Rou-yu, artistic director of U-Theatre, “tickets for both shows have sold out already.”

Drummers of U Theatre usually practice in natural surroundings. They do the same when they are abroad for shows. This time in Shanghai they do their routine martial arts on the lawn of their hotel.
 
Another highlight of Taipei Culture Week is Legend of the White Snake presented by Taiwanese opera company Ming Hwa Yuan tomorrow evening at Shanghai’s Hongkou soccer stadium. The company will mesmerize the audience with 400 tons of water flowing down the stadium of 25,000 seats.
 
“We received warm and passionate welcome from our audience and fans in China; some of them even took an overnight train ride to see me today,” said Sun Tsui-feng, leading performer of the troupe, “Ming Hwa Yuan show is something you have to watch at least once in your life.”
 
Three days after Taipei Day, Taiwanese famed Peking opera diva Wei Hai-min from the Guoguang Opera Company will play the tormented female lead Cao Chi-chiao in the Golden Cangue, adapted from Chinese author Eileen Chang’s same-title novel.
 
The Contemporary Legend Theatre will present Kingdom of Desire, an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth, in a way that integrates the traditions of two drama cultures, an innovation itself.
 
Photo by Eva Tang, Taiwan News
Sun1and2:
Sun Tsui-feng (right) of Ming Hwa Yuan performs at a media event in Shanghai yesterday.