Taiwan Season Begins At Edinburgh Fringe On August 1
The 11th edition of the award-winning Taiwan Season showcase has been announced at Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
By: A.A. Cristi Jul. 29, 2024
The 11th edition of the award-winning Taiwan Season showcase has been announced at Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Launched in 2014, the award-winning Taiwan Season has during the past decade developed a strong and sustained presence at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe thanks to its world-class range of dance, theatre, circus and music performance for both adults and children.
Presented under the umbrella title A Glimpse of Taiwan, this year's roster of carefully chosen productions runs a gamut from endearingly silly shenanigans (I Am The BOSS) and innovative, environmentally-aware and sound-driven storytelling (Little Drops of Rain) to acute and seriously beautiful investigations of human bodies (Palingenesis) and socio-cultural behaviours (Lost Connection)
These four European and Fringe premieres can be seen at Taiwan Season's valued partner venues Summerhall, Dance Base and Assembly.
Taiwan Season 2024: ‘A Glimpse of Taiwan
August 1-25
About the productions:
Taiwan Season: Little Drops of Rain by Bon Appetit Theatre
Dates: Aug 1-25 (no performance Aug 7, 12. 19)
Performance time: 11.50
Length: 40 mins
Venue: The Box, Assembly George Square
Box office: https://assemblyfestival.com Tel: 0131 623 3030
Prices: Aug 1 preview £7 / Aug 2-6, 9-11,16-18, 23-25 £12.00 (£11:00) / Aug 8,13-15, 20-22 £11.00 (£10.00)
Family tickets: Peak - £40 / Off Peak - £36 (Family ticket prices must be divisible by 4 and there can only be 1 family ticket per dateline: 4 people - either 2 adults and 2 children or 1 adult and 3 children)
Age Suitability: 3+
Category/genre: children, puppetry
European premiere
A family show like no other from a company that specialises in creating original, innovative theatrical stories. Plucky young Hope lives in a drought-ridden time and place. Then a chance encounter with a single precious, resilient drop of water sends her on an adventurous and life-changing quest. Brimming with inviting, imagination-tickling charm, director Hsin-Huei Hung's production is a feat of non-verbal, environmentally-conscious storytelling ingeniously led by Foley sound. Lighting, live sound and music and disparate performance techniques combine here to enchanting and urgent effect. There is also a varied and surprising use of non-traditional puppetry. Bonus feature: many of the props and set-pieces will be locally-sourced. European premiere.
Founded in 2018, Bon Appetit Theatre embraces the idea of 'taste' and 'appetite' whereby the artists are the chefs and audiences partake of their creations. Every production is a discussion of contemporary issues, the natural environment and observations of humanity realised through physical theatre, puppetry, music narration and other diverse devising methods.
Taiwan Season: Lost Connection by Seed Dance Company
Dates: Aug 1-25 (Mondays off)
Performance time: 13.35
Length: 40 mins
Venue: Main Hall, Summerhall
Box office: https://festival24.summerhall.co.uk/ Tel.: 0131 560 1580
Prices: Aug 1-2 previews £10 / Aug 3-4, 6-11, 13-18, 20-25 £16.00 (£13.00)
Group ticket: £52.00
Age Suitability: 8+
Category/genre: dance, physical theatre
European premiere
Addicted to any mobile devices or maybe know others who are? If so, Wen-Jen Huang's restlessly swift, hot-wired dance quartet should produce jolts of recognition. Her dynamic new work is based upon the contemporary socio-cultural phenomenon of phubbing. i.e., paying more attention to one's mobile, etc. than to the people you're with. Reality jostles and juts up against tyrannical virtual reality in a stripped-down, heads-down examination of the great global disconnect. Guided by the choreographer's laser-like kinetic intelligence, the dancers slice and slide through space with a desperate, unpredictable energy. Fair warning: their self-absorbed, pressure-cooked state of being could be both exciting and distressing. Who are these glassy-eyed beings? They are us!
Seed Dance Company was founded in 2008 by artistic director Wen-Jen Huang, a choreographer who grew up in Yan-pu Township, Pingtung County in southern Taiwan. She has a penchant for presenting rural farming phenomena and imagery in her work, contrasting strong and powerful movement with slow rural life attitudes. This makes Lost Connection something of an anomaly for her. Nevertheless, she advocates for creating in the countryside, inviting international and young artists to present their work at the company's 907 Theatre Space, and providing opportunities for remote village communities to get closer to the arts.
In its original staging, Lost Connection won the gold medal in the 2017 National Creative Dance Competition.
Taiwan Season: I Am The BOSS by 0471 Acro Physical Theatre
Dates: Aug 1-25 (no performance Aug 7, 12, 19)
Performance time: 15.05
Length: 50 mins
Venue: Piccolo, Assembly George Square Gardens
Box office: https://assemblyfestival.com Tel: 0131 623 3030
Prices: Aug 1 preview: £8 / Aug 2-6, 9-11,16-18, 23-25 £13.50 (£12.50) / Aug 8, 13-15, 20 -22 £12.50 (£11.50)
Age Suitability: 3+
Category/genre: family circus, dance, physical theatre
European premiere
What kind of crazy hijinks can three slightly lazy, competitive yet playful siblings get up to when they're left home alone? This fizzy, highly acrobatic and gently interactive family entertainment will provide some admirable and comic answers. It is the brainchild of 0471 Acro Physical Theatre, the award-winning makers of Fringe 2023's hit circus-dance show Duo. ('Right on the money' - Scotsman. 'Makes the heart race' - Broadway Baby.) Loaded with all manner of adroit balances, flips, springs, flings and spins, this new production is a light-hearted, personality-driven delight. As an evocation of childhood, 0471's mix of humour and daring physicality is guaranteed fab fun for all ages. European premiere.
Founded in 2020 by Cheng-Hsueh and Sun Ling Hsia, 0471 Acro Physical Theatre combines a precise and norm-defying use of the body with theatre and music. Aiming to create new artistic styles conveyed with both wild imagination and great discipline, 0471 uses extraordinary physicality to turn performance into a space of dialogue, reflection and discovery.
Taiwan Season: Palingenesis by D_Antidote Production
Dates: Aug 2-25 (Mondays off)
Performance time: 18.40
Length: 40 mins
Venue: Assembly @ Dance Base (Studio 3)
Box office: https://assemblyfestival.com Tel: 0131 623 3030
Prices: Aug 2-4, 6, 9-11,16-18, 23-25 £15.00 (£14.00) / Aug 7-8,13-15, 20-22 £14.00 (£13.00)
Age Suitability: 14+ (partial nudity)
Category/genre: dance, physical theatre
European premiere
Three lithe, masked bodies emerge as if from some primordial ooze and proceed to morph their way through a series of carefully crafted chain reactions. Are they individuals, a single organism or both? Inspired by what has been variously used as a biological. theological, political and philosophical concept of regeneration, hot-shot Taiwanese choreographer Po-Hsiang Chuang's timeless, absorbing dance trio is an extreme expression of intimacy, trust and transformation. Dream-like audio-visuals enhance the cast's remarkable kaleidoscopic control. Pinned to themes of rebirth and the life cycle of both nature and human nature, the net effect is intense, strangely arresting, possibly ecstatic and a reminder that what the body can do might well be limitless.
Founded in 2022, D_Antidote Production is an aesthetically multi-disciplinary company dedicated to making work that isn't limited by form but for which the body is often the best vessel or vehicle for ideas and feelings. Drawing inspiration from both societal life and imaginative landscapes, the company wants to construct a creative mirror in which spectators might seek their own life remedies. The ultimate aspiration is to unite people and be a source of warmth.
Please note: All groups offer 2for1 and group bookings.
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