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Sponsored by the Cultural Affairs Bureau, the 2017 Taichung Arts Festival will take place from October 15 to December 31. The year’s theme will be the “Story of Taichung,” with which many performance groups arrange new works. Among them, Chio Tian Folk Drum & Arts Troupe has written a new play the Kingdom of Middag, which is going to be the highlight of the festival. At the press conference held on the 22nd to promote this play, Mayor Lin Chia-lung and Deputy Director Shih Chun-fu, Director Hsu Chen-jung of Chio Tian Folk Drum & Arts Troupe, and more attended the conference to invite people to come and watch this play in the National Taichung Theater together.
Mayor Lin expressed that in Taichung Dadu Mountain is the only barrier along the coast. With special geographical location, there was a hero 400 years ago, named “King of Middag” from the Pingpu tribe. He led the tribesmen to resist the Dutch invasion by diplomatic means. Conflicts were avoid, the event ended peacefully. However, this episode in history has forgotten by people. Therefore, 4 years ago, Director Hsu proposed to inherit and make innovation with the development of drama.
Director Hsu expressed that when he heard the story about “King of Middag” from Mayor Lin Chia-lung, he thought it would be the history that needed to be understood and develop further. Therefore, he wrote script the “King of Middag,” and expected to be a repertoire of Taichung. To present the spirit of the Kingdom of Middag, Chio Tian invited historians to study the history. As a result, the Kingdom of Middag is not a history play. With the unique performance manners of Chio Tian, it will present the dramatic tension with drum and dance.The Kingdom of Middag has invited Tseng Yun-fang, the winner of the Best Original Soundtrack in the Golden Horse Award as the music designer. She has participated in the stage designer of Lin Shih-lun in the Republic of China Centennial in 2010 Taipei International Flora Exposition, the image designer working with an animation director Wang Yi-sheng for the opening of the documentary Beyond Beauty - TAIWAN FROM ABOVE directed by Chi Po-lin, and the collaborative special effect director for National Taiwan College of Performing Arts. Produced with a strong production team, it is expected to be an exciting play.
The whole new Taiwanese epic the Kingdom of Middag will be performed in National Taichung Theater from November 3 to November 5 for 4 shows. The play is about the story of inter-tribal governance by the King of Middag in Dadu Mountain. With historic re-investigation and image re-shaping, it is performed with the fusion of drum and dance, leading audiences to the history and culture of the Pingpu tribe in Taichung. Likewise, their tradition will demonstrate new look in order to be inherited and promoted sustainably. It is laden with the historical rooting and educational meanings.
The “2017 Taichung Arts Festival” will be held grandly from October 15 to December 31, as a warm up activity for 2018 Taichung World Flora Exposition. There will be about 200 exciting shows and performances. The Cultural Affairs Bureau has chosen the Kingdom of Middag and 26 other performances to be released by ticket selling. Starting from today, its tickets are sold in the Arts Ticket system. When purchasing tickets before September 3, art lovers will enjoy the early bird discount at 30% off. For further details about the festival, please visit the website of Cultural Affairs Bureau, Taichung City Government (http://www.culture.taichung.gov.tw/).