Chinese Name: EX-亞洲劇團
Establishment: 2006
Founders: Lin Pei Ann (林浿安), Chongtham Jayanta Meetei (江譚佳彥)
Official Website: https://ex-theatreasia.com/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/extheatreasia/?locale=zh_TW
Did You Know That…?
The “EX” in the name of EX-Theatre Asia has multiple meanings. It can refer to the troupe’s “existence,” “exploration,” “experiment,” “exchange,” “expression,” and “extension.”
Established in 2006 in Miaoli County, Taiwan, EX-Theatre Asia was co-founded by Lin Pei Ann and Chongtham Jayanta Meetei.
Graduated from Intercultural Theatre Institute, an independent acting school based in Singapore, Lin, a Hakka from Miaoli, is a veteran theater worker and actress. She was nominated for the Golden Bell Awards in 2006 for Best Supporting Actress in Miniseries. In addition to being the leader of EX-Theatre Asia, Lin also wears several hats: producer, acting teacher, board member of a cultural foundation, and artistic consultant.
Meetei, the other founder of the troupe, is from Manipur, a state in northeast India. He immersed himself in the culture of traditional dance, martial arts, and yoga from a young age. In 1988, he joined a local theater. Meetei received his master’s degree from National School of Drama in New Delhi and later further his studies in Intercultural Theatre Institute in Singapore. As a new immigrant artist in Taiwan, Meetei has been active in cultivating theatrical talents, attempting to explore a blend of Taiwanese culture and different Asian arts.
Combining various artistic elements, including music, dance, and poetry, the theater is a space for storytelling and provoking philosophical thoughts. It is regarded as the main medium for the dialogue and debate between actors and scripts. EX-Theatre Asia’s major experimental task is to redefine traditional performances from the contemporary perspective.
EX-Theatre Asia debuted in 2006 with “The Day I Met The Prince (我要上天的那一晚),” a work created by Singaporean playwright Kuo Pao Kun (郭寶崑) in the 1980s based on “The Little Prince” by French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The theatrical production was an India-Singapore-Taiwan collaboration.
“The Day I Met the Prince” presents today’s society where money rules and anxiety aggravates, human beings face insecurity and uncertainty. It portrays how one, vacillating subconsciously because of various mainstream ideas, is tamed by rules and assimilated into the mundane world. It questions whether one can find his own value of existence as he faces his true self.
In 2011, EX-Theatre Asia challenged themselves with a performance of “When We Dead Awaken,” the iconic play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. In their rendition, the actors added elements of Japanese kabuki dance to present the inner struggle of the characters. Whether taking inspiration from Eastern or Western traditions, adapting scripts or utilizing oral literature, the troupe adheres to a single guiding principle: to capture the essence of humanity through theater arts. This principle, which views theater as a dialogue between artists and society, is evident in their interpretation of “When We Dead Awaken.”
In 2023, EX-Theatre Asia rolled out their new piece “Karna.” It is a story about the most intriguing hero in the Indian epic “Mahabharata,” who has the origin as complicated as Moses, as well as the loyalty of Jing Ke, cleverness of Odyssey, courage of Achilles, and suffering of Prometheus. In the Mahabharata, Karna is known for his multiple identities and generosity. Despite being “misplaced” from the very beginning, he is obsessed with his “nature,” redefining the richness of humanity, and living out the value of being a person through continuous action.
While setting deep roots in Miaoli, EX-Theatre Asia is committed to cross-cultural theater creation and contemporary Asian theater aesthetics with an international vision. Upholding the spirit of experimentation and inheritance, it actively engages in contemporary theater, promotes art education, and cultivates talent. In recent years, many of the theatrical productions by EX-Theatre Asia have been shortlisted for important awards, and the troupe has been invited to perform at international arts festivals. Devoted to interpreting its works in multiple languages, EX-Theatre Asia is one of the few cross-cultural theater companies in Taiwan that has attracted much attention on account of its unique style.
