Alternative Theater in Taiwan: Feminist and Intercultural Approac ...

The audience sitting in the castle would be able to experience the reification of colonialization, and feel a sense of determination to fight the hegemonic power structures.

The stage choice of Antigone not only had colonial significance, but also brought up gender issues. Wu stated in a newspaper report that one reason she chose the castle was because its walls were concave like a vagina. Thus both colonialization and gender set the stage for the play. The re-theatricalization of Antigone therefore implies a post-colonial and feminist critique.

Semiotics is the study of signs. Each sign is composed of a signifier and a signified. I apply Semiotics to Taiwanese theater in my book, and interpret the signifiers of these performances through a careful exploration of the productions. I also apply the lenses of Western Feminism, Third World Feminisms and Post-Colonialism in this examination in order to take a critical stance and strengthen my arguments.

Chapters Four and Five are an attempt to deconstruct two monolithic entities—the East and the West—in their referential and performative contexts. I will examine their potentially contradictory relationships and explore the permutations of their complex cultural dynamic. In Chapter Four “Intercultural Theaters in Taiwan,” I deal with three agendas: Interculturalism, Orientalism, and Performance Studies.

With respect to the first agenda, Interculturalism, I examine Richard Schechner’s direction of Oresteia, which was produced by Wu Xin-Kuo of The Contemporary Legend Theater in Taiwan. I illustrate how Schechner’s use of Chinese classical acting was similar to Bertolt Brecht’s misreading of Chinese classical music drama, and discuss Antonin Artaud’s misinterpretation of Balinese Theater by using Haiping Yan’s criticisms. Using Erika Fischer-Lichte’s notion of “retheatricalization,” I critique Schechner’s intercultural ideas of “Culture of Choice” and “Utopian Dream.”

For my second agenda,Orientalism, my investigation deals with Western theories of performance and the production of Tsou Oedipus in Taiwan.