MEDIATHEK

Kuang Qi is experimentation on combining traditional Chinese opera arts, and contemporary music and theatre. It is a collaborative project joined by artists from different background and disciplines including Peking Opera Drumming, Western percussion, dance, theatre, and musical composition. The Taiwan Traditional Theatre Center originally commissioned M.O.V.E. Theatre and its contemporary artists to create a project to be in dialogue with the traditional Chinese theatre – an art form which not only has a long-historical tradition but is known for its interwoven relationships in singing, dancing and music. With a mission to create something new out of this rich tradition, Kuang Qi attempts to be free from stereotypical norms and rules of theatre by searching a continuous conversation with this traditional art form in the modern time. Therefore, Kuang Qi explore the possibilities of creating a musical style that combines Peking Opera percussion with Western percussion. The story revolves around two noted female characters of Chinese Opera, Du Liniang from The Peony Pavilion and Zhu Yingtai from The Butterfly Lover, and their encounter in an erotic dream driven by the most primitive desire. It is the dream that allows them to transform, to break the boundaries of sexual identities, and to liberate them from the form of existence. Bangkok Theatre Festival Awards gave Kuang Qi their Best Movement-based Performance, Best Script, Best Direction, and Best Art Direction in 2017.