Radio Drama
Venue： http://ajourneyonfoot.flying-group.com.tw/

” Chekhov Sounds “is a sound performing project Including reading, music and theatre.  Through downloading or listening to sound files online, the audiences get to experience the non-traditional way of viewing a work , and enjoy the performance anytime, anywhere.

 “Chekhov Sounds” is composed of four famous plays written by Chekhov: “The Cherry Orchard”,” The Three Sisters”, “The Seagull”and “Uncle Vanya”.In the project, the four plays are presented with sounds  and interpreted by different styles of music. “The Three Sisters” is the second show of the project.

Original: Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
Adapter/Director: Shia-Shia
Music/sound supervisor: Blaire Ko

Uncle Vanya

Do you always embrace every morning with a smile?

After the arrival of the beautiful Yelena, Vanya suddenly found that he had been working all his life, devoting himself to supporting his living and his family, but ultimately fell into poverty. He fell in love with a woman whom he shouldn’t have a crush on, yearned for a chance to rebegin his life, and was eventually overwhelmed by the hopeless future. He complained about life with frustration, expecting to be loved. The family hated each other yet couldn’t depend on anywhere else. “It’s neither crime nor fire that destroys the world, but hatred, hostility, and unnecessary quarrels.” So what’s the purpose of working? Reexamining each stage of life, what should we do to make ourselves feel at ease? 

Forests, land, bird flocks, and simple life, perhaps those are the real things we should rely on.

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The Three Sisters

 Which is harder, pursuing the dreams or living in reality?

The three sisters who depended on each other were planning to move to a big city, in order to pursue a new life. Although there weren’t a lot of obstacles stopping them, they were stuck by various factors in reality. However, as time passed by, the hidden challenges emerged from their ordinary lives.

“Even though we can’t achieve the aim now, we have to imagine, expect, dream, and even prepare for the upcoming chances. To reach the goal, we need to know more than the elder generations. “

Even if you have experienced the hardships of real life, will you still keep a wish in your heart and wait until it is realized?

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The Seagull

Are you on your way  to your dreams?

The art enthusiast yearning for a career as a writer, the young girl dreaming of becoming a star, the actress desiring for the power of forever young, the popular writer sparing no efforts on creating, all pursuing their dreams yet lost many precious things without notice. As they achieved their goals, the awaiting future, however, wasn’t as happy as they thought. The deteriorating relationship and the mother-son relationship with hostility put their lives into chaos and grief.

“Seems that you are satisfied with your life, that as if you have already gotten anything you want in your life. You act like you are cool and fearless about everything, but as the day death comes by, you will still be devoured by fear.”

Then what’s the lesson we’ve been learning for the whole life?

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The Cherry Orchard

Where would you be when the world is shifting?

The once prosperous cherry orchard was the place where the family had lived for generations, but it had to be auctioned to pay for the debt because of the shifting world. Varya, supporting her family on her own, was faced with her mom, who always threw money around; her sister, who kept daydreaming all day; and her cowardly uncle. Her youth gradually faded in the corner of the world, while her happiness never knocked on her door.

“Oh Lord, you have given us such a vast forest, such a broad field, and such a boundless land. We residents should have become someone with great success.”

 Lopakhin, the son of a peasant, successfully broke away from poverty and enjoyed a wealthy life. He quietly pushed the great wheel of change in the corner of the world.

 Change, or being changed. People spin around the dancefloor, dancing around like the shifting world.

Actor+ Singing／70 mints

Text／Director：Wang, Ching-Chun

Premiere
1-4 Jul. 2010 Guling Street Avant-garde Theatre

This is a story about turning, the secrets it keeps and the regrets it holds. Turning around and walking away often means separation; An intensive fight usually gets us turn on our heel; A warm embrace inevitably turns into a confrontation of harsh reality; We say goodbye and leave our childhood behind as we turn adult; We farewell our parents and turn over a new leaf since the day we apart from our home; As we turn and step into the boarding gate, there is sadness of reluctance caught in the eye; The moment of breaking up with our beloved, we turn around and walk away with our heads up while tears in our eyes; In the end, we turn and leave the world behind. There are so many words unspoken at each turn. There are so many life-time separations in every turn. This is a story about turning, the secrets it keeps and the regrets it holds.

Actor＋Mask ／80mins

Text／Director：Shiah Shiah

Premiere
24-27 Dec.2009 Fu-Xing Temple,Ching-Mei,Taipei 

Zhang Sheng Zhu Hai (Scholar Zhang Boils the Sea), is a Yuan drama written by Li Haogu in the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368 B.C.). It tells a story that Zhang falls in love with Qionglian, the third daughter of the Dragon King of the East Sea, and vows to become man and wife on the Mid-Autumn day at Shamen Island. Not only does the Dragon King disapprove of this marriage, but he also inundates the island with seawater. Thanks to the help of a celestial maiden, Zhang learns how to cause the sea to boil. As a result the Dragon King has to come out of the sea and gives his daughter to Zhang.

The One Who Boiled the Sea on the one hand adapts the four-act play from its original version, and on the other it delivers a modern interpretation by weaving into modern scenes, e.g. the western wedding, the gym, and the TV show. While Zhang and Qionglian depicting the old story of boiling the sea, an omniscient character performs a monologue in the modern scenarios. By Observing the postures of various people in the gym, the character assumes them as – decaying with flesh on the irreversible life path, barring with the memory from Mother Nature, and struggling silently and yet fiercely. 

By watching the plots of the wedding footage, the marriage proposal, and the TV show, we see various views on love. What it reflects is that people always long for things they don’t have on another person while pursuing of intimate relationship. Again and again, however, inappropriate expectations do make them feel a strong sense of loss.

Actor + Shadow ／20mins 

Text／Director：Shih, Pei-Yu、Shiah Shiah

Premiere
The 9th Taipei Poetry Festival
21-23 Nov. 2008 Guling Street Avant-garde Theatre

With the unique interplay of paper-cut shadows and live actors, accompanied by on-site music, this performance blends the works of two classic Japanese poets, Yosano Akiko and Taiwan’s Hakka representative poet Tu Pan-fang. It weaves together a fluid portrayal of female emotions and poetic imaginings.