2026 TIPRF- approaching theatre: The Woman from Afar

Synopsis

On a sun-drenched afternoon in a peaceful park, a woman sits in the shade, her mind drifting through the fragments of her past: a destitute childhood, her husband, her dreams, and the recurring echoes of "escape" and "waiting." Beside her, a man pushes her wheelchair, patiently participating in her disjointed ramblings and reenacting her vivid yet chaotic memories. However, beneath the calm chatter and nostalgic songs lies a collective trauma shared by her family and the city itself. The very ground they sit upon hides a secret that no one dares to name.

Pai Sam-shik, one of the most internationally-acclaimed playwrights of Korea, is renowned for capturing the struggles of ordinary people caught in the currents of history. In The Woman from Afar, he masterfully juxtaposes personal dementia with social amnesia, suggesting that while forgetting may be a form of mercy in a painful reality, only through remembering can human dignity be reclaimed. For this work, Pai received the Cha Bum-suk Playwriting Award in 2015.

Pai Sam-shik, Playwright

Pai Sam-shik is a leading contemporary Korean playwright and a professor at the School of Drama, Korea National University of Arts (K-ARTS). He made his professional debut in 1998 with the play White Circle and became the resident playwright for the Michoo Theatre Company in 2003. His works are considered pillars of modern Korean drama, earning him the Daesan Literary Award and the Dong-A Theatre Award for Best Play for Inching Towards Yeolha (2007), followed by another Dong-A Theatre Award for White Cherry (2009). He also received the Cha Bum-suk Playwriting Award for The Woman from Afar (2015) and the Association of Theatre Critics’ Best Play of the Year for 1945 (2017).

approaching theatre

Founded in 2014 by artists Koh Choon Eiow and Cheng Yin-chen, approaching theatre is a theatre company which seeks to explore and approach the essence of theatrical art. The two artists have dedicated themselves to both directing and drama education. In recent years, approaching theatre has organized the "Performers of Individuality" training program, by highlighting conceptual enlightenment and physical/mental awareness as the core of art. As director, Koh specializes in conducting flow narratives in polyphonic presentations to explore the identity and agency construction of diasporic Chinese over multiple colonial histories. Cheng bases her performance on the long-standing connotation of traditional art, while being deeply involved in the speculation of theatre aesthetics. Since establishment, approaching theatre has frequently traveled to various Asian countries for exchanges with its works and training programs, including Hong Kong, Macau, Korea, Japan, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, etc. By actively pooling resources to nurture Taiwanese theatrical art, it endeavors to expand Taiwanese theatre and help it reach more cultural scenes both at home and abroad, while continuing to explore the practice of theatre aesthetics.

About the 2026 Taiwan International Play Reading Festival

The Taiwan International Play Reading Festival (TIPRF) is curated by the Prologue Center for New Plays and jointly organized with the Taipei Performing Arts Center, aiming to establish an international excahnge platform centered on playwrights and plays. Each year, the festival focuses on a specific country or cultural region, exploring the differences and resonances among theatrical traditions and textual aesthetics through staged readings and cross-cultural interpretation.

Here, plays are not only the starting point of theatrical creation, but also a medium for cultural exchange through which diverse social experiences and creative perspectives are reflected, opening up a space for cross-cultural dialogue.

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