Due to COVID-19 pandemic, art events have been canceled for almost a year. As the pandemic eases in Taiwan, CDF and China Life invited 130 teachers and students from three remote elementary schools in Yunlin and Nantou counties to attend the art show “Feng Sheng Baby and Uncle Wu Kong’s Tour to Hell” performed by “Feng-Sheng Children’s Theater Company.”
National Taichung Theater’s “Open-Door Project” sponsored by CDF and China Life not only arranges for schoolchildren and teachers to appreciate high-quality local performances, but takes them to visit the National Museum of Natural Science.
“Feng Sheng Baby and Uncle Wu Kong’s Tour to Hell”, adapted from the ancient Chinese literary work “Xi You Ji” (“Journey to the West”) in which the protagonist Sun Wu-Kong rampages through Hell, reinvents Taiwanese folk songs and music and blend in traditional Taiwanese opera and modern performance.
“We are more than grateful to National Taichung Theater, CDF, and China Life for their sponsorship and arrangement because schools in remote areas lack resources for doing so. The opportunity to have this kind of exposure is really important, and we hope this will be the first of many similar opportunities to come,” said Mr. Shieh Zheng-xian from Chang-Liu Elementary School of Nantou County. He also said that many of the kids had never been to the theater and museum before.
With vivid characters well known by Chinese-speaking audiences and a story involving a highly imaginative adventure to the underworld, this performance introduces kids to the topic of human mortality. “Such an entertaining performance with life lessons embedded! It is especially educational to the kids,” said Mr. Wen-Liang Ou from Gui-Lin Elementary School of Yunlin County.
CDF Foundation has long partnered with the National Taichung Theater on the “Open-Door Project” four years in a row and invited thousand students and educators from remote areas of Yunlin, Jiayi, and Nantou to attend art shows. The Foundation has also sponsored “TIFA” (Taiwan International Festival of Arts) and art programs hosted by the Concert Hall and National Theater, the NTT (National Taichung Theater) Art School, and the Guandu Art Festival held by Taipei National University of the Arts, among others.
