Chang Ta-chun's take on 'Water Margin' is revolutionary

Published on Taipei Times
Friday, Oct 05, 2007, Page 13

By Ian Bartholomew
STAFF REPORTER

Contemporary Legend Theater members rehearse their adaptation of the Chinese classic novel Water Margin. PHOTOS: TAIPEI TIMES AND COURTESY OF CONTEMPORARY LEGEND THEATER

Taipei Times: Why did you participate in this project?

Chang Ta-chun: I have been following Beijing opera for many years. ... I have been working as a creative artist for many years, but always as a lone creator. Many of my works have been adapted for TV, and I have participated in some productions, but ultimately, these were my works. But in joining in this project, I knew I had come to learn. And unless you are actively creating something, you cannot learn anything.

TT: Is this your own version of Water Margin?

CTC: The folk stories of China have a unique tradition. Novels like Water Margin and The Three Kingdoms (三國演義) have been pulled together from shorter stories that were already transmitted among the people. Vernacular tales have always had people adding bits, editing bits, everyone sharing material ... the stories belonged to everyone. There was never a problem about royalties. Everyone is free to make changes, because the story (as it exists today) has evolved through a process of changes. The story changes constantly with changing times ... so if there is anything about the story that I am dissatisfied with, then I am free to change it. I have never been that satisfied with Water Margin as a novel. Even in its various operatic forms, I have not always been satisfied. So I have added something of my own.

TT: Does the language of Chinese opera pose too high a barrier for young audiences today?

CTC: Everything Wu Hsing-kuo is doing is bringing in young audiences. As for difficulties with language (the language of classical Chinese opera), I was taken to the opera from around age four. The gap in understanding for me then was much greater than for a 20-something today. By taking in an opera once every two or three weeks, I learned to understand, even without the aid of subtitles. ... We don't have to dumb opera down for young people, nor do we need to go too far out of our way to cater to them.

PHOTO: TAIPEI TIMES FILE PHOTO

TT: What is the relevance of Water Margin to a modern audience?

CTC: The bandits of the story have their own conception of justice. And the priority of this justice is higher than that of officials in the government, though it is below that of the emperor, who represents god, or heaven. The question that 108 Heroes addresses, is about a group of men, each with their own reason for not fitting into society. They may be discontented with mainstream society. ... They have been forced out of society, so they must create their own society. Then they need to find a way of making this created society fit in with the mainstream or use it to change the mainstream.

The first half of the show is about men trying to overturn a mainstream society about which they are dissatisfied. The second half is about women trying to overturn a masculine (social order) about which they are dissatisfied.

'108 Heroes' tests the limits of artistic fusion as it tries to mix opera, pop music and hip-hop

Published on Taipei Times
Friday, Oct 05, 2007, Page 13

By Ian Bartholomew
STAFF REPORTER

Water Margin PHOTO: COURTESY OF CONTEMPORARY LEGEND THEATER

Contemporary Legend Theater (當代傳奇劇場, CLT), under the direction of Beijing opera innovator Wu Hsing-kuo (吳興國), has, since its inception, taken a bold path in its efforts to give the centuries-old Chinese artistic tradition relevance to the modern world. 108 Heroes (水滸108) is its most ambitious project to date, potentially part of a three-part series which aims to radically reinterpret the Chinese classic novel Water Margin (水滸傳), also widely known as Outlaws of the Marsh and All Men Are Brothers in various English editions.

To achieve this goal, CLT has drawn on a powerhouse of talent, most notably contemporary novelist and literary figure Chang Ta-chun (張大春), who wrote the script, and pop idol and composer Emil Chow (周華健), who contributed contemporary music and songs, in addition to Wu himself. That these three names should appear together is remarkable in itself, for the worlds of high-brow contemporary literature, pop music and Beijing opera would seem unlikely bedfellows. Whether the CLT team has managed to bring these worlds together into a single unified production remains to be seen, for the work was still undergoing fine tuning this week prior to its world premiere at Taipei's Metropolitan Hall tonight.

The novel, of uncertain authorship and with many versions, came into wide circulation in the 14th century and tells the story of a band of outlaws who were active in the early 12th century during the Song Dynasty. It is very much a boy's book about honor among sworn brothers and the nature of justice in a corrupt world. It contains an interminable series of violent encounters between various characters, often for the most trivial reasons (slighted honor or excessive drinking), and in many respects is the ancient equivalent of the First-Person Shooter of today. It is also notorious for its appalling treatment of its female characters, when it can be bothered with the doings of women at all.

Sections of this massive novel have been adapted through the ages for opera, but 108 Heroes makes a radical revision of even some basic elements of the story to make it more relevant and interesting for a contemporary audience. Most notably, the roles of female characters have been expanded, in some cases drawing on other related source materials.

PERFORMANCE NOTES What: 108 Heroes by Contemporary Legend Theater Where: Metropolitan Hall (城市舞台) located at 25, Bade Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市八德路三段25號) When: Today and tomorrow at 7:30pm; tomorrow and Sunday at 2:30pm Tickets: NT$500 to NT$2,000, available through NTCH ticketing or at the door Details: Performances will have subtitles in English and Chinese

Moreover, Wu has brought in five aspiring opera performers to play a multiplicity of roles that the show demands. This is something of a Wu specialty, showcased most notably in his adaptation of King Lear, in which he played all the roles himself. These performers, though only in their early 20s have over a decade of experience behind them already (opera training starts young), are pushed to the limit. "This is for their benefit," Wu said. "The thing performers lack most these days is stage experience." Wu's direction has allowed them the space to present their own perspectives and personalities, giving this opera a youthful edginess that is new to CLT, which has usually had Wu as the focus of major shows.

Wu, who has made a career of reinterpreting classic Western works such as Macbeth and The Tempest for modern audiences using the forms of traditional Chinese opera, says that staying relevant and retaining audiences has always been at the heart of his endeavor. "I was forced into doing Western works, for only in this way could I find audiences for Chinese opera," he said of his early days as a young opera performer. These ideas where at the heart of his break from the opera establishment and the founding of CLT in 1986. "When we adapt a work, we must look at how it connects with the modern world. This is our central concern."

The idea of crossing boundaries, of mixing media, of fusing Eastern and Western forms, of bringing traditional arts in the 21st century, have all become cliches of the modern performing arts. Critics are inclined to say that what emerges is simply a hodgepodge, that by trying to be everything, it ends up being nothing. Wu, in mixing up various styles of opera, and even bringing in pop and hip-hop musical elements in his new show, believes that he manages to remain true to the essence of Chinese opera.

Commenting specifically on the mix of various opera styles, Chang said: "Let's look at American music, the period when jazz was developing. I think that what Wu is doing with Chinese opera is similar to the situation of when jazz was emerging. All sorts of music, such as gospel, soul, blues were mixed up together. This is the same sort of thing."

Herman the German paints icons for peace

A modern-day icon maker, Herman the German has arrived in Taipei with a small show that he hopes will lead to bigger things

By Ian Bartholomew
STAFF REPORTER

Works by Herman the German. PHOTO: COURTESY OF HERMAN

He goes by only one name, Herman, and the images he makes have become recognized around the world, in all sorts of places, ranging from club logos to monumental icons. He is in Taiwan to launch a small show at the German Cultural Center here in Taipei. This is Herman's first visit to Taipei, and in his optimistic way, he is sure that from small things, great things will grow.

His paintings have a rough, simplistic look, but are full of verbal and pictorial humor. A professional cartoonist, Herman gave up his battle against the big cartoon syndicates, and decided to adopt a style of drawing that would differentiate him from the smooth, fluid lines of comic strips such as Garfield and Alfie.

His images are now notable for their jagged lines, which make them distinctive, as does the direct, innocent humor. It is this innocence and simplicity that is behind their appeal to a wide audience all over the world.

"Lots of artists have tried to imitate me, but it doesn't work," Herman said in an interview with the Taipei Times last Tuesday. "When I paint a picture, it is like I write the words ... for me, when I paint, it is like writing. All that I put inside the picture comes out if you like it and look at it. This is perhaps the reason for its success. They don't see the edgy (jagged lines), but they see the round meanings behind them."

Herman's work, often initiated on a monumental scale, is then reproduced in limited-edition prints. These are the tools with which he conducts his charity work, auctioning them at various events where they often fetch high prices.

His painting Angel, stands 50m high, and at its base there is a button with a counter attached. "[People] can press the button and can be counted as someone who wishes for peace. If lots of people push the button, there is the addition of many people looking for peace, and the wishes come up to the universe, and then float back down into the world. I would like to make a network with this angel and the counter, ... but you need sponsors, for it is a lot of work." A limited edition of an A4 silk-screen print signed by the artist fetches around US$112.

Exhibition notes What: Herman the German - First Time Crazy About Taiwan Where: German Cultural Center located at 12F, 20, Heping W Rd Sec 1, Taipei (台北市和平西路一段20號12樓) When: Monday to Friday, 10am to 8pm Until: Oct. 26

Herman is unabashed at his commercial success. "In Germany, to go the museum way, you must be quiet and shy and paint two pictures a year. But there is only a small community who likes it. When many people like my work, I am commercial: I don't understand this." He talks about merchandising his images in ways that would make the quiet, shy, two-pictures-a-year artist blush, but Herman responds that "I do not make some nobody-understanding pictures ... . I catch some of people's smallest wishes, what everybody wants. It is not a marketing strategy. I do not think in marketing terms. At first, I paint a picture because inside there is something that has to come out, but after that, it is not for me, this picture. It is for anybody. Or everybody."

Herman's language of colors and lines translates all around the world. "It allows me to work with children or adults from all around the world, for I show them the picture and they know what I mean." Some of the jokes in the current exhibition, based on word games in the title, might require an understanding of German, but even in these the humor is simple and direct, once the joke is explained, and it is easy to see how the artist's mind works at capturing people's "smallest wishes" for such things as peace, or the enjoyment of the simple pleasures of life.

These tiny vignettes which zoom in on a single idea, with all the external detail ruthlessly cut away, is what makes Herman such an adept maker of icons.

Published on Taipei Times
Thursday, Oct 04, 2007, Page 15