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SMAP X SMAP Brings You Back to the Good Old Days of the 1990s, Igniting Classic Pop Elements
SMAP X SMAP, performed by Shakespeare's Wild Sister Group, with record-breaking ticket sales, will have its Southern premiere this weekend at Weiwuying. The play explores the influence of Japanese pop culture, taking cues from popular Japanese TV dramas such as Long Vacation and True Love; the manga series Slamdunk and YuYu Hakusho; Japanese pop singers Amuro Namie, Hikaru Utada, Komuro Tetsuya, and of course, the Japanese boy band SMAP. Similarly, 1990-99 was a highly unpredictable decade in Taiwan, and Director Wang Chia-Ming extracted important social events from this period to create this SMAP X SMAP play, including the devastating 921 Earthquake in central Taiwan. As for this upcoming play, the regional election in Kaohsiung this year plays an important role, hoping to create a contemporary aura for the audience in one night.
SMAP X SMAP had its debut in Taipei in 2013 and has been enthusiastically welcomed by fans ever since. In order to celebrate Weiwuying's grand opening season, we are delighted to invite Shakespeare's Wild Sister Group to perform in Kaohsiung. Director Wang revised the original play to a more precise version, announcing that contemporary elements will be added to the performance exclusively for the fans of Weiwuying, and aiming to bring joy and surprises for the local audiences. According to director Wang, “In order to perform at Weiwuying, we included regional elections and other celebrity-related themes in our play. This is definitely a limited performance exclusive to Kaohsiung!” The play not only takes you on a joyous and light-hearted trip down memory lane of the 1990s but also illuminates contemporary life experiences. This performance comes just in time, as we say farewell to 2018 and welcome the arrival of 2019.
For SMAP X SMAP, the entire stage is constructed as a green-screened studio with 18 top players performing at the same time, including renowned Mo Tzu-Yi taking one role of the SMAP band members. Performers become actors/actresses and photographers via live time images projected on the screen to unfold duality of stage and screen simultaneously. The plot aims to bring confusion and humor due to the ever-changing scenes. Because it has been five years since SMAP X SMAP's debut, the upcoming performance poses a special challenge to these players, whose energy levels could have been affected by rapid changes in the Taiwanese society. All the performers have to act, jump, and walk while actively engaging in nostalgia of the past.
Producer Yukio Nitta remarks, “The play is extremely difficult and challenging to perform. We agreed to stage the show due to the warm invitation from Weiwuying since we all look forward to performing at the new theatre. We are also very grateful for the warm hospitality and heartfelt support of the audiences. We heard that all the tickets are sold out. We hope to impress you all with our performance this weekend.”
Wang Chia-Ming, the renowned Taiwanese theatre director, based his theatre series Popular Culture Trilogy on Taiwanese every life. Using a decade as the basis for his main creative concept, Wang has showcased three representative episodes, including Bruce Lee—Welcome to the 1970s, Michael Jackson—Back to the 1980s, and SMAP X SMAP—In Love with the 1990s. Even though these topics adopt the names of foreign pop cultures, the contents fuse with Taiwanese life elements. Wang believes that Taiwan is like a stomach, capable of digesting other cultures to transform them into its own culture, integrating memories and affections of various eras. Apart from his Popular Culture Trilogy, Wang is contemplating and composing two other works signifying the 1960s and the 21st century, hoping to continue recording glimpses of the Taiwanese culture.
This play will be the last show for 2018 at Weiwuying. Fans of Taiwan's most innovative theatre company will not want to miss this modern classic at 19:30 on Friday and Saturday, December 28-29, 2018.