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‘Taiwan Season’ garners starred reviews at Edinburgh Fringe

  • Date:2019-08-29
‘Taiwan Season’ garners starred reviews at Edinburgh Fringe

Offering three weeks of nonstop performances from Aug. 2 through 26, the 72nd Edinburgh Festival Fringe saw participation by international troupes hailing from 63 nations including Taiwan. It was the world's largest art festival where performers strove to showcase the cultural prowess of their respective countries over the course of three weeks.

 

Organized by the Ministry of Culture, the 6th edition of the "Taiwan Season" program at Edinburgh Festival Fringe featured Shinehouse Theatre's eponymous adaptation of writer Hwang Chun-ming's short novel "Fish," conveying Taiwan's distinctive local culture through sign language; B. Dance's first performance at Edinburgh Festival Fringe, "Floating Flowers"; Chang Dance Theatre and their first in-house creation, "Bout"; and Dua Shin Te Production's exploration of loneliness and confronting one's true self, "Monster."

 

Reflecting the years of curation and promotion dedicated to establishing the "Taiwan Season" brand at Edinburgh Fringe, the four Taiwanese troupes selected by open call this year not only received a steady stream of positive audience reviews and media reports but also captured several awards, marking the first accolades to be bestowed to a Taiwanese production at Edinburgh Fringe.

 

Coverage of Taiwanese participation included reports by Scottish outlets such as "The Scotsman" and "Herald Scotland," art reviewers "Broadway Baby," "The List," "FEST," "Edinburgh Festival Review," "The Wee Review," "Fringe Review," and "Edinburgh Guide," as well as global British newspapers "The Guardian" and "The Times."

 

Stars awarded by professional critics have always served as an important reference for theater-goers at Edinburgh Fringe, with all four Taiwanese troupes each capturing several four-star reviews. Moreover, "Bout" by Chang Dance Theatre and "Monster" by Dua Shin Te Production each garnered a five-star review. "Floating Flowers" by B. Dance was also awarded three separate five-star reviews, a Bobby Award for "best of fest" from Broadway Baby, and a showcase at Mervyn Stutter's Spirit of the Fringe Awards show. 



★★★★ The List: "Taiwan Season: Fish"

★★★★ The Scotsman: "Taiwan Season: Floating Flowers, Dance Base, Edinburgh"

★★★★ FEST: "Taiwan Season: Floating Flowers"

★★★★★ The Wee Review: "Taiwan Season: Floating Flowers"

★★★★★ Broadway Baby: "Taiwan Season: Floating Flowers"

★★★★★ Edinburgh Guide: "Taiwan Season: Floating Flowers, Dance Base"

★★★★ The Scotsman: "Taiwan Season: Bout Summerhall, Edinburgh"

★★★★ Seeing Dance: "Brotherly tensions: Chang Dance Theater in Bout"

★★★★ The Guardian: "Bout review – a ringside seat for the delicate battles of brotherhood"

★★★★★ The Wee Review: "Taiwan Season: Bout"

★★★★ Edinburgh Guide: "Taiwan Season: Monster, Dancebase"

★★★★ To Do List: "Taiwan Season: Monster"

★★★★★ The Wee Review: "Taiwan Season: Monster"