Shakespeare & the Black Box

There are, NO small actors, only small roles, from the experiences of watching the theatric performances around the world, translated…

From the Experiences of Theatre in London, It’d Made Me Start Paying Attention to the Roots of the Performance Arts, After My Return to Taiwan, I’d Not Just Entered into the National Theatre Halls to Watch the Performances, I’d Paid Close Attention to the Non-Urban Areas’ Musical Theatrics Too………

That Secret Place Inside the Pubs

Andy is my son’s friend in London, he works full-time at a charity, and the pays, enough to get him by.  But, his love was in the theatrics, whenever there is a lacking in performers in the troupes big or small, he’d gotten a role in it, and set up a small drama group with those who shared his same interest, written the scripts, directed the shows, and, performed them too, waiting, for someone who shared his appreciations for the theatrics.

Once, my son asked me to see Andy’s troupe perform.  I’d driven according to the address he’d given to me, drove around in the maze that was London, I’d, arrived at a pretty old neighborhood, with the only public place being a pub by the corner.  Couldn’t be here, could it?  The two of us, carefully, passed through the drinking men in the pub, made our way to the counter, and asked, the owner pointed to a small door close by, hey, it had, “Theatre!” on it!!!

this is by professionals…photo from online…

The poster right next to it said, that it was, Shakespeare’s “Tempest”, from March to May, performing Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays on the evenings, tickets were £5, the cost of a glass of beer.

I’d pushed the door on my way in, the room was about twenty square feet, with a small stage up front, fifteen seats, with a small light and sound control room at the back.  The owner of the pub surely is thoughtful, saved this small secret place.

The business is going well in the pub up front, but, there were, only five of us who’d attended the performances.  The show started at seven sharp.  It was, a roughly set up troupe, everything was very simplified, it’s just about a group of people that drifted along in the storms, to an island, so, there’s, no need for the extravagant costumes, a cloth draped over the body, with the belts, that made a robe, the one with the stick in his hand was the count.  Andy, the director, also managed the lightings, he’d boldly, switched up the roles of the male and female leads, meaning, that all the male roles in the original were performed by women, and the female roles, by men, challenged the acceptance levels of the audiences.

Without the captions, for me, a “foreigner” watching Shakespeare was not that easy, but I can fully feel how much the performers were into the show.  After the show, the five of us in the audience, gave them a huge round of applause.

And just like that, three times a week, rain or shine, they’d, performed in this pub, for two whole months.

The Black Box On Campus

From the experiences of theatrics in London, it’s started making me pay attention to the roots of the growth of art, after I’d returned to Taiwan, I’d not just entered into the national theatres to see the shows, I’d also, paid close attention to the musicals as well.

Once I’d gone to the Central University in Zhongli, to that quiet Black Box Theatre, wanted to see what’s developing in Taiwan’s theatres, along with what the younger generations are making of the performances these days.  There were only about a hundred seats in the Black Box, with a small stage up front, allowing the audience to view the performances up close and personal.  The tickets were $450N.T.s, way more expensive than the pub theatres in London.  Would the students pay to see it?  I’d, worried, but that day, the house was jam packed, other than the students, there were people from all aro0und there to.

On this days, it was, “After We’d Sold Out!”, the troupe was led by a group of young men, Jia-Shen Chen and his troupe members, directed, planned, and performed.  It was about the ironic wayward policies that the government has for the creativity, and how the media, the government official always kept cultural creations, culture, and platforms on their lips, but, all we, the citizens saw, were nothing but those mascots, those used repeatedly words, along with a huge volume of the government’s plans for it.

The five performers took turns, portraying the thirteen roles, they were all multitalented, can sing and dance.  From the reporter group that danced around, the professors who’d reviewed over the papers, the infomercial personnel, to the owner of a Hakka style restaurant, the performers were all excellent, became whatever role they’d taken up.  The script was full of suspense, humor too, the audience applauded endlessly, there wasn’t a moment of dead air there.

illustration from the papers…

London was the city of the arts, the productions greatly exceeded that of Taiwan’s, but, the passions from the younger generations of the two countries were one in the same, they’d started someplace small, build up the foundations, worked hard, perfecting their acting skills, hoping that one day, they will, get on that huge stage.  All of us, fans, perhaps, just five, or, a hundred, we’d not held back, in applauding them, hoping, that the performers will get to live out their dreams soon, to shine brightly on stage.

So, this, is from the writer’s experiences of watching the performances abroad and here in Taiwan, and, no matter how huge or small the theatres are, the performers on stage go all out in each and every performance they do, and that, would be the attitude of how to make it, keep at it, relentlessly, and surely enough, you will, get your more than fifteen seconds of fame when the time comes.