In what promises to be one of the most topical cultural happenings in London this spring, The Coronet Theatre has announced Taiwan Festival, London’s first-ever major celebration of contemporary arts and culture from Taiwan.
Spanning 15 days, the unprecedented Festival will bring to London more than 30 contemporary visual artists, theatre-makers, dancers and musicians from Taiwan, most of whom never before seen in the UK. The astonishing variety of the programme draws on Taiwan’s complex cultural identity shaped by its colonial past and vibrant present, reflecting the island’s most recent claim to fame as the purveyor of the world’s most sought-after semiconductor technology, and as Asia’s first and only liberal democracy to legalise same-sex marriage, in 2019.
Anda Winters, Artistic Director & CEO of The Coronet Theatre, said,
Upon visiting Taiwan, I was immediately inspired by the diversity and innovation driving its arts scene. Having fallen in love with the bold creativity of Taiwanese arts, I am thrilled to share this adventurous and varied programme with our audiences.
For the duration of the Taiwan Festival, artist Cheng Tsung FENG will create a major site-specific installation for the historic façade of The Coronet Theatre. Winner of Red Dot, IDEA and iF Awards with international commissions from Hermès, Cartier, Loewe, Bottega Veneta, Apple, Nike and HBO, Feng’s in-demand creations encompass large-scale pavilions and objet d’art made from bamboo, reflecting the artist’s deep fascination with handmade objects by traditional craftsmen from different parts of Taiwan. An exhibition of his works will be held throughout the theatre in addition to traditional fish trap making workshops.
A highlight of the Festival’s theatre programme will be the World Premiere of taking it down and putting it up by the award-winning Taipei-based Riverbed Theatre. The company’s image-based productions blur the boundaries between visual and performing arts and have been compared to works by Samuel Beckett and David Lynch. Riverbed’s latest creation is a poetic meditation on the work of Marcel Duchamp. Alongside the new work, the Festival will also present the UK Premiere of Riverbed’s ground-breaking VR experience All That Remains, first seen at the 2022 Venice Film Festival and winner of the Best Immersive Experience Award at the 2023 Luxembourg City Film Festival.
Taiwan’s rich tradition of contemporary dance will be represented by Anarchy Dance Theatre, Hung Dance and dancer-choreographer CHOU Kuan-Jou. Anarchy Dance Theatre makes its UK debut with Second Body, an immersive audio-visual spectacular blending dance and 360º full body-length projection. Hung Dance presents the UK Premiere of Birdy, a delicate duet which blends the movement of the human body, the flutter of birds, traditional Chinese opera and contemporary dance. Chou Kuan-Jou brings her sensation from the 2022 Edinburgh Fringe Festival to London. In TOMATO, lust and desire take centre stage in a canny, capricious combination of live performance and live-camera documentation.
Acclaimed multidisciplinary singer-songwriter Yujun WANG will launch her new album – Dawn to Dawn in two intimate concerts as part of the Taiwan Festival. Wang’s concert performances are interdisciplinary explorations blending music and visual elements.
The Coronet Theatre’s Taiwan Festival follows the theatre’s acclaimed Japanese Festival: Electric Japan and Korean Festival: Tiger Is Coming in 2022. Founded in 2009 by the Artistic Director and CEO Anda Winters, The Coronet Theatre is London’s international theatre, offering a year-round multi-disciplinary programme of world-class drama, dance, music, poetry and visual arts in a uniquely intimate 195-seat auditorium and 90-seat studio space. The 2024 season marks the company’s 10th anniversary in residence at the historic 1898 building. The special anniversary programme reflects The Coronet Theatre’s core mission to engage, educate and empower audiences with the arts and cultures beyond borders.
TAIWAN FESTIVAL 2024 Booking Details: thecoronettheatre.com/whats-on/taiwan-festival/
Art & Design 12th–27th April 2024 Façade Installation & Exhibition Artist: Cheng-Tsung FENG / ??? No ticket required
Throughout the Taiwan Festival, installation artist Cheng-Tsung Feng will take over The Coronet Theatre with a major external commission on the historic facade, as well as an exhibition of his past work throughout the building. Cheng-Tsung Feng has captivated audiences around the globe by using traditional Taiwanese materials in an exciting and innovative way. His large scale bamboo installations are both rooted in rich cultural history and forward-thinking in their expression.
12 – 27 April 2024 All That Remains (VR experience) / Artist: Riverbed Theatre, dir Craig Quintero / , dir Tickets: TBC – Premiered at the 2022 Venice Film Festival and winner of the Best Immersive Experience Award at the 2023 Luxembourg City Film Festival, Riverbed Theatre’s ground-breaking VR experience All That Remains explores possibilities that exist beyond everyday patterns and truisms, that blur the lines between truth and fiction. The Coronet Theatre, as a pioneering venue dedicated to pushing the ever-expanding boundaries of art, is proud to present this immersive experience showcasing Taiwan’s cutting edge fusion of technology and performance.
Theatre 26 & 27 April 2024 taking it down putting it up Artist: Riverbed Theatre, dir Craig Quintero /, dir Tickets: £30, £20 Award-winning Riverbed Theatre makes its London debut with the world premiere of taking it down and putting it up, a poetic meditation on the work of Marcel Duchamp, the acts of construction and deconstruction, and the hereness of the present moment. Founded in 1998 in Taipei, Riverbed Theatre’s image-based, total theatre productions blur the boundaries between visual and performing arts. Critics have praised the organic, sculptural quality of Riverbed’s ‘subconscious’ theatre, likening the performances to works by Samuel Beckett and David Lynch.
Director Craig Quintero, Performers Tien Hsiao-tzu, Zhang Jia-zhi, Amber You, Ollie Huang, Composer Yujun Wang, Scenic Design Carl Johnson, Lighting Wang Tianhong
Dance, 12th & 13th April 2024, Second Body Company: Anarchy Dance Theatre Tickets: £30, £20
Award-winning Taiwanese contemporary dance collective Anarchy Dance Theatre make their UK debut with Second Body, an immersive audio-visual spectacular. Blending dance and 360º full body-length projection, Second Body utilises technology to interrogate the boundaries of dance and immerse audiences in an unforgettable visual experience. Founded in 2010, Anarchy Dance Theatre builds its norm-breaking productions that explore time, space, objects, and the relationship between humans and their society, blending conventional theatre, dance technology and art installation.
19th & 20th April 2024 Birdy Company: Hung Dance, Choreographer: LAI Hung Chung
Tickets: £30, £20 Taiwanese contemporary dance company Hung Dance present the UK premiere of Birdy. The Audience Award winner for Best Choreography in Tanzplattform Bern, Birdy is a delicate duet which blends the movement of the human body, the flutter of birds, traditional Chinese opera and contemporary dance to create a truly memorable performance. Hung Dance was founded in 2017 by choreographer/artistic director Lai Hung Chung, who draws on the subtle relationship between people and nature, and integrates elements of Tai Chi with contemporary thinking to cultivate a new dance vocabulary. The company has toured to Europe, Asia, America, and Africa in over 70 performances.
23rd & 24th April 2024 TOMATO Artist: CHOU Kuan-Jou Tickets: £20- Following a hugely successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2022, gifted dancer-choreographer Chou Kuan-Jou presents TOMATO, a playful, provocative and experimental exploration of gender issues. Created by Chou Kuan-Jou for herself and two other performers, not to mention a few ripe and shapely red fruit, TOMATO is a unique experience. Lust and desire take centre stage in a canny, capricious combination of live performance and live-camera documentation. This enticingly tasty work is an absurdly funny expression of Chou’s ongoing interest in gender issues from a feminist perspective. Here, private manifestations of sexuality receive a rib-ticklingly public spin. Ideal for anyone curious about seriously tongue-in cheek, cross-art form exploration.
Music 16th & 17th April 2024, Dawn to Dawn, Aritst: Yujun WANG- Tickets: £30, £20 – Acclaimed multidisciplinary music artist Yujun Wang will launch her new album ? Dawn to Dawn in two intimate concerts as part of the Taiwan Festival 2024. Wang draws on numerous art forms in her unique concert performances. Her music revolutionises the relationship between music and visual elements, entrancing audiences creatively and intellectually. Having worked with the likes of Nick Cave, been resident artist at the Treasure Hills Artists Village in Taipei and learned oud in Istanbul, Yujun Wang is a radically diverse artist. Artist / Director / Sound Designer Yujun Wang, Lighting Designer Fang-Ning Wang, Sound Engineer Shih-Wei Liu, Clothing Adviser Hong-Ling Sam
