Atypical First Experiences: Literature and Musical theatre

As part of my extended study of Shakespeare’s works, I have followed the Taiwan Shakespeare Association on Facebook for related information, though I am not a member of the association yet. Last September, I attended a seminar hosted by the association, and learned, unbelievably, how to create a sonnet─using AI. Recently I saw two events promoted through the association that interested me, so I submitted my registration and it was accepted by both event organizers.

The first event was a lecture held at NTU and organized by the Comparative Literature Association of the Republic of China (CLAROC). I had no idea about this association really but was attracted by the theme of the lecture that included the words "island" and "postcolonial". As it turned out, though, the contents of this two-hour lecture were totally new to me, and I understood only about five percent of it, though I tried very hard. Still, it marked the beginning for me as a literature lover to further my journey in this field. To say the least, in the process I learned that comparative literature is also known as world literature, an interdisciplinary field whose practitioners study literature across national borders, time periods, languages, genres, boundaries between literature and the other arts (music, painting, dance, film, etc.), and across disciplines (literature and psychology, philosophy, science, history, architecture, sociology, politics, etc.). Defined most broadly, comparative literature is the study of "literature without borders". 

Moreover, I learned about the term sign process, or semiosis, which is any form of activity, conduct, or process that involves signs, including the production of meaning. A sign is anything that communicates a meaning, that is not the sign itself, to the interpreter of the sign. Signs are often communicated by verbal language, but also by gestures, or by other forms of language, e.g. artistic ones (music, painting, sculpture, etc.).  The systematic study of sign process is called semiotics, which is related to, but different from, linguistics. Unlike linguistics, semiotics also studies non-linguistic sign systems. Semiotics includes the study of indication, designation, likeness, analogy, allegory, metonymy, metaphor, symbolism, signification, and communication.

The second event was an international conference with the theme Musical Theatre in Contemporary Taiwan, the first of its kind ever held in Taiwan. It was a two-day event, organized by the Graduate Institute of Performing Arts at NTNU, the major institution that trains musical theatre talent in Taiwan. The conference also marked the 20th anniversary of the Institute.

The conference was held at the campus of NTNU, a reputable university first renowned for education and teacher training and now recognized as the center of learning in the arts, literature and the humanities in Taiwan. I had never been seated inside a classroom or a meeting room at NTNU before, so I felt excited and inspired throughout the conference which was held in the Education Building, the historical and iconic building standing behind the Confucius statue near the main gate of NTNU.

Between the opening speech and the closing remarks, the two-day conference agenda comprised a keynote speech titled Deregulation Drama and the Battle for Broadway in the 1970s and 1980s, six paper presentation sessions (with 17 papers presented) and two round table sessions, with four breaks properly scheduled. 20 scholars and experts were invited to speak at the conference, and half of them were from foreign countries, including the US, Canada, Australia, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and China. 

Musical theatre is a relatively new genre within Taiwan's performing arts landscape. The May 1987 production of The Chess King has been widely accepted as a milestone in contemporary Taiwanese musical theatre, so the history of original Taiwanese musicals spans just 38 years, in contrast to Western musical theatre, which dates back to the 19th century. While many works emulate Broadway-style musicals, there has been continuous innovation in creative approaches, with productions blending elements of pop entertainment, subcultures, and traditional theatre in Taiwan. To date, Taiwan's musical theatre creators have demonstrated an ever-expanding creative force. On the other hand, though the production of musicals in Taiwan has become increasingly diverse, and numerous graduate theses have examined musical theatre works and the industry, academic discussions on the subject remain relatively scarce, which is the main reason this conference was organized.

Compared to the two-hour academic event related to comparative literature that I first attended, I felt more comfortable with this two-day international conference, and could follow generally all the speeches, presentations, and panel discussions. Musicals were once a favorite art shared by my family. We─my wife, two kids and I─used to watch Notre-Dame de Paris, Les Misérables, and Phantom of the Opera, time and again, and my daughter could even recite the lines of the main characters in these musicals.

Throughout the conference, the locally produced musical that was most cited by speakers was Don’t Cry, Dancing Girls. It debuted in 2023 and achieved unparalleled success domestically with two sold-out tours. This past January, the performing team even visited New York City for a workshop performance at an Off-Broadway theater, a significant milestone in Taiwan's musical theatre history. Performed in Taigi and Mandarin and incorporating Taiwanese funeral rituals and folk traditions, the musical tells the story of three sisters who return to their childhood home in Yunlin in southern Taiwan after their uncle’s death to collect their inheritance. I will definitely watch this musical performance later.

It was the first international conference on musical theatre everheld in Taiwan, and as an outsider I was extremely lucky to be part of it. The challenges faced in the industry, as the conference concluded, are, first, insufficient funding─the box office income is still too small to sustain the running of musical theatre. Second, a lack of performing talent─while there are plenty of performers who can sing or dance, few of them are good at both, which is the essence of musical theatre. It was a very rewarding two days at NTNU. I found my long-lost passion for musicals, too.