2022TCAF:Sun Son Theatre Above the Water

In a place called Water City, the whole city wase located above water. All of its residents walked on colorful stilts. There was this one child, he wore the tallest, straightest, the most solid stilts. He was closer than anyone else to the sky, and was able to touch the cloud. However, no one was able to talk to him because he was just too high in the sky.

When the winter solstice came around, the habitants were going to burn a huge fire for the festival. However, all the logs prepared for that purpose fell into the water, and there were no logs left for the festival. So the high-stilted boy made a decision.

Above the Water was selected by the Developing Scripts for Children’s Theatre Program of the 2020 edition of Taipei Children’s Arts’Festival. Adapted from the French picture book Les échasses rouges ( Red Stilts), the play is the first in Taiwan to create a play featuring stilts performances, combining live music, physical acts, theatre, and other milti-disciplinary techniques. It creates one after another poetic and magical scenes. Using stilts as a metaphor, it tells a story of understanding others and accepting oneself, displaying the kindness and warmth among people.
 

Sun Son Theatre

Sun Son Theatre is a unique contemporary theater company that combines live music, physical movement and drama in its productions. Sun Son seeks to study the pure power and creativity. The artistic director Leonson Ng believes that everyone has one’s own unique way of expression through body and sound. Through collaborate with company members from different field (music, theatre, dance and fine art) , with collective creation, develop acting, live music playing and dancing in one production. Their production includes ritual theatre, contemporary theatre, children theatre, percussion theatre, street theatre, stilt walkers and environmental theatre. They also lead community theatre workshop. They also found Sun Son Da Di Music Room, a platform which provide Theatre educational and outreach program, and play a role in introducing world musical instrument.

Leonson NG

One of the founders of Sun Son Theatre, Leonson is currently the Artistic Director and Leading Director of Sun Son Theatre. He graduated from the Drama Department of Malaysian Institute of Arts, and has been expanding the diversity and the freedom of his performance language. He feels a strong emotional connection to the language of primal rituals and arts, which is beyond all cultural languages and can connect common human experiences. In 1998, after founding Sun Son Theatre with a few theater workers, he gave his full attention to discovering the most natural of the sound and aesthetics of the human body. From the training that fuses sounds (instrumental, vocal), physical acts, theatre, rituals, and environmental elements, he studies and presents pure and organic performance energy, delivering plays that are without racial or cultural boundaries, and are even more open and liberated in its physical and sound performance.

Chang Wei-Loy

Chang joined Sun Son Theatre in 1999. He’s the most senior of the crew. Apart from directing and performing, he is also adept in stage and mask design. He had worked as Head of Production Design of Tamsui Art Fest. In recent years, he is often invited to Malaysia as the director to lead the production design for community city tour workshop. His experiences include leading the New Era University College students in making large-scale productions of outdoor performances of The Legend of Mending the Sky, The Islanders from Pangkor Island Festival, The Mouse Bride from the Malaysian school tours; he also directed for Hoong Siamang Hoong of Hongjiejie Work Station, Anemophily and the Holy Beasts for Kwang Tung Youth Dance Company. He was also involved in Legend Lin Dance Theater’s Flora’s Rite and performed as an actor at Head Spring Theatre. He also performed at Step Out, a Macanese festival in 2018. In 2020, he was invited to direct The Puppet Show by Shan Puppet Company.

 

編劇｜莊惠勻

2008年加入身聲劇場至今，共同演出與創作身聲劇場作品，近年國際參與包括愛丁堡藝穗節、檳城喬治藝術節等主要演出者。劇場創作包括2013獨角戲惡女之花《餐桌上的詭故事》、編導演作品《春釘》、《續．春釘－告別作者》、《蟑螂越過山丘》。劇本創作作品《厝邊皮影班》（2015年廣藝基金會委託創作）、《填海．移山．追太陽》。

 

舞台與戲偶道具設計｜李樹明

畢業於台灣藝術大學，2012參與身聲劇場至今，協力製作舞台設計、道具設計。多年擔任新北市淡水環境藝術節踩街造型設計指導、花車製作、淡水藝術節《西仔返傳說》道具製作、2010精靈幻舞《破解佛朗明哥》裝置製作、青藝盟《迴》舞台設計、身聲劇場《阿勇的黑白人生》、《厝邊皮影班》皮影設計、《噬》舞台設計助理、《老鼠娶親》戲偶道具設計、《春釘》打擊樂造型設計、《蟑螂越過山丘》舞台設計等。

 

音樂設計｜Ivan Alberto Flores Moran

2004年獲得印尼教育部獎學金在 Surakarta城的STSI藝術學院學習傳統音樂 ，2008年獲得印尼政府獎學金Darmasisiwa在峇里島藝術學院學習傳統音樂， 2011至2012年獲得印尼政府在東爪哇萬隆市藝術學院學習的獎學金。曾與來自捷克、美國和台灣的藝術家合作，由美籍藝術家 Adam Ende 領導台灣兒童木偶戲《Pigdeer》巡迴演出。2010年由夢想社區贊助，與塞爾維亞藝術家組成《The Dragon Car》的音樂車，為台灣原住民社區的孩子們巡迴表演。專長為打擊樂器、弦樂器、皮革木偶雕刻、峇里島傳統舞蹈、傳統樂器的鑄造和製作。2013年起為身聲劇場駐團藝術家擔任擊樂指導、音樂設計及表演者。

 

音樂設計｜劉佩芬

2001年加入身聲劇場。曾參與無垢舞蹈劇場演出作品《花神祭》、匯川聚場任演員。曾參與廖克發導演電影作品《雨落誰家》任配角。於2007年身聲劇場作品《祕徑》首度擔任編曲、《在大水之中》擔任音樂統籌、《吞噬》與《第一百零八個巴奈》擔任音樂與影像設計。劇場創作獨角戲「歪斜的平衡－身聲2006河岸獨角戲」《嫁》、「2013惡女之花」《我家有本簽字圖》、《群婆亂舞》任編創。以作品《噬》獲選為2017愛丁堡藝穗節臺灣季節目並獲得Summerhall Lustrum Award傑出表現表揚。

 

服裝設計｜劉婉君

2001年加入身聲劇場，曾任新北市淡水環境藝術節踩街團隊造型服裝設計與指導。除了負責身聲劇場多部作品服裝設計外，亦共同演出與創作身聲劇場作品，近年重要國際參與包括愛丁堡藝穗節、檳城喬治藝術節等主要演出者。服裝設計作品包括《祕徑》、《希望之翼》、《尋龍記》、《樂鬧人生》、《摘星星的人》、《阿勇的黑白人生》、《厝邊皮影班》、《群婆亂舞》、《春釘》、《老鼠娶親》、《在自己的房間》、《續．春釘－告別作者》、《填海．移山．追太陽》。