Taichung National Theater Unveils Autumn/Winter Season Featuring Mozart Opera, Taiwanese Troupes

The National Taichung Theater is set to present its "Encountering Giants" season, a curated selection of 11 productions running from October 16 to December 27. This year's program aims to bridge classic and contemporary arts, offering a diverse range of theatrical experiences.

Highlighting the season is Mozart's opera "Così fan tutte," celebrating the composer's 270th birthday. French director Laurent Pelly reimagines the classic comic opera, setting it in a 1950s radio recording studio to explore themes of love and fidelity through a "play within a play" concept.

Taiwanese performing arts will also take center stage, with three major troupes performing in December. Ming Hwa Yuan will present "The Oolong King," a new Taiwanese opera centered on the rise of Li Chun-sheng, the "Father of Taiwanese Oolong Tea." The Contemporary Legend Theatre will celebrate its 40th anniversary with a restaging of their cross-cultural classic "The Kingdom of Desire," a Peking Opera adaptation of Shakespeare's "Macbeth." Finally, the Tang Mei Yun Taiwanese Opera Company will perform "The Ghostly Tales of Nandu," a comedic ghost story set in a haunted house.

Other notable productions include Dan Colley's award-winning "Lost Lear," which intertwines Shakespeare's "King Lear" with themes of dementia, and "Resonance Project: Feeling and Sound" by resident artist Lai Chi-hsia. The season also features a performance by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra led by Sir Simon Rattle.