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🇹🇼 Taiwan /Culture & Society

Kaohsiung Ticket Sales Too Low? Crosstalk Troupe's Remarks Spark Backlash Online

From Liberty Times · () Chinese

Translated from Chinese and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • The theater group "Xiangsheng Wase" (Crosstalk House) publicly questioned Kaohsiung's low ticket sales for their upcoming performances.
  • The group's founder, Feng Yixuan, asked Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai for help in directing "traffic" to their shows, implying the city is too busy with events.
  • Netizens criticized the group, referencing past controversial political statements by Feng Yixuan and questioning their reliance on government support.

The renowned theater troupe "Xiangsheng Wase" (Crosstalk House) has ignited a firestorm of online criticism after its founder, Feng Yixuan, publicly lamented the poor ticket sales for their upcoming performances in Kaohsiung. In a post on Threads, Feng directly addressed Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai, suggesting the city's vibrant event calendar might be diverting potential audiences, and cheekily asked for help in "directing traffic" to their shows.

Kaohsiung is really too lively, too good at organizing events. If the citizens' laughter is being diverted, can you help us divert some traffic?

· Feng YixuanQuestioning Kaohsiung's mayor about poor ticket sales for his theater group's performances.

This plea, however, has been met with a swift and harsh backlash from netizens. Many have accused the group of deflecting blame, with comments like "blaming the mayor for poor ticket sales" flooding the platform. The criticism intensified as users dredged up Feng Yixuan's past controversial remarks, including his questioning of the Chinese Communist Party's threat to Taiwan and his assertion that Chinese military incursions were mere "internal propaganda" by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). This has led to accusations that "Xiangsheng Wase" is hypocritically seeking support from a DPP-led city government while simultaneously downplaying perceived threats from Beijing.

Blame the mayor for poor ticket sales.

· NetizenCriticizing Xiangsheng Wase's public statement.

Further fueling the online anger are past instances where Feng Yixuan's public statements and actions have been perceived as contradictory or self-serving. His past promises regarding free performances during Han Kuo-yu's mayoral campaign in Kaohsiung, and his subsequent explanations, have been brought up as examples of questionable integrity. The current situation, where the group appears to be struggling at the box office and seemingly seeking external help, stands in stark contrast to their previous claims of not relying on government subsidies, particularly from the DPP administration. This has led to pointed questions about their financial independence and their public image within Taiwan.

Don't you think the Chinese Communist Party is a threat to Taiwan? Chinese military aircraft incursions are all DPP's internal propaganda.

· Feng YixuanRecalled controversial past statement made by the founder of Xiangsheng Wase.
About this summary

Originally published by Liberty Times in Chinese. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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