TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan director Stan Lai’s (賴聲川) biggest and longest production titled "A Dream Like A Dream," featuring more than 100 characters played by 30 performers, is set to open on Dec. 27 at the National Theater and Concert Hall.
Founder of Performance Workshop, Lai’s eight-hour-long show made its debut in 2000 at Taipei National University of the Arts (TNUA). It also toured Hong Kong, Singapore, and China, and hosted a workshop at the University of California, Berkeley.
When watching the show, the audience sits in the center of the theater and the actors move around them. This idea was inspired by a trip Lai took to India where he saw local Buddhists circle around a sacred object.
“For those who work in theatrical productions, the audience is secret, so their seats, dubbed as a lotus pond, are in the middle of the theater,” Lai said. “I want to send a gift to my beloved audiences.”
It is the Taiwanese award-winning actor Mo Tzu-yi’s (莫子儀) first time appearing in the show. He said that the first time he watched it was in 2000 at TNUA. He was a sophomore studying there and worked in the prop crew.
Mo shared that the show is fascinating because it condenses a variety of people’s lives from different generations and viewers project their own emotions into the roles unconsciously. “It was magical that the part enables me to meet people that will not show up in my real life.”
Lai explained that the plot can be deep and also entertaining as it begins in a hospital and looks at life and death with stories that happened in Paris, Shanghai, Beijing, and Taipei, spanning decades. People once told him that at the beginning of the show, when actors walked around silently on the stage for three minutes, it had made them cry because it felt like seeing their own lives flashing by.
Lai added that there are enthusiastic fans who have set up a club for those who have watched the show over 10 times. “There are quite a few members,” Lai joked.
The cast includes Hsiao Ai (蕭艾), Jian Man-shu (簡嫚書), and Chu Chung-heng (屈中恆). The ticket prices range from NT$10,000 (US$334) to NT$12,000.
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The cast of "A Dream Like A Dream." (Taiwan News photo)
