As a part of the “Cultural Tour: Theaters at Villages” event, Ming Hwa Yuan Arts & Cultural Group (明華園戲劇總團), at MOC’s invitation, brought its classic production “Legend of White Snake (超炫白蛇傳)” to Chiayi County on Aug. 26, drawing a fifty thousand-strong crowd.
Hailed as the theatrical work that must be watched at least once in a lifetime, “Legend of White Snake,” based on a Chinese folk tale, has set a record of about 50,000 audiences for its outdoor theatre performance in Asia at that time since its premiere in 2004. In 2006 and 2007, respectively, the show attracted 100,000 viewers at the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying) and 150,000 at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Zhongzheng Riverside Park (永和中正河濱公園). Until the troupe decided to stop performing "Legend of the White Snake" in 2012, the show had been always the most anticipated Taiwanese opera for the audience every year.
Sun Tsui-feng (孫翠鳳) of Ming Hwa Yuan Arts & Cultural Group said that Taiwanese opera is the country’s native culture, hoping that, no matter what challenges they may face, the troupe will pass down the theatrical heritage from generation to generation and let it shine on the global stage. This is the main reason why Ming Hwa Yuan is willing to reperform its representative work after an 11-year hiatus, Sun added.
Aiming to boost the performing arts industry, implement equal cultural rights, and help organize performing arts tours in remote regions, MOC organized the “Cultural Tour: Theaters at Villages” event, with 10 performances taking place in 10 counties/cities across Taiwan from August to December. Over 60 local performing arts groups are involved in the event. For more information, please visit the event’s Facebook page.
