"The Princess and Her Magic Fan" Arrives at Weiwuying After Acclaimed Paris Tour

(CNA, by reporter Lin Chiao-lien, Kaohsiung, 21st) After receiving enthusiastic acclaim during its tour in France, the cross-national tech-theatre production "The Princess and Her Magic Fan," co-produced by the Guoguang Opera Company and France's Théâtre Nouvelle Génération (TNG) in Lyon, is set for its first stop back home in Kaohsiung, gracing the stage of the Weiwuying Playhouse from the 22nd to the 24th. The National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying) held a press conference for the production today, where the National Center for Traditional Arts' Guoguang Opera Company presented exciting excerpts from the show. Chang Yu-hua, head of the Guoguang Opera Company, stated that the play's sold-out performances in Paris and Lyon, along with unanimous praise from numerous French media outlets, serve as a major encouragement for both the company and Taiwan. She described it not only as a new milestone for Taiwanese performing arts in mainstream European theater but also as proof of the deep traditional foundations of Taiwanese Beijing opera and its contemporary, language-crossing charm. "The Princess and Her Magic Fan" is an adaptation of the classic "Borrowing the Fan" episode from "Journey to the West." The production was a three-year collaborative effort between the Guoguang Opera Company and the French theater team. During its 2025 tour in France, all eight performances were sold out in advance. The Paris shows even had extra seats added due to overwhelming audience response, attracting over 3,000 attendees. The company noted that during the French tour, the performing arts publication "La Terrasse" reviewed the work as "both refreshing and stunningly beautiful." Other media outlets described the Guoguang Opera Company as the "Comédie-Française of Taiwan," affirming its successful fusion of Eastern and Western theatrical vocabularies. In a media interview, Chien Wen-pin, Artistic Director of Weiwuying, expressed that this production doesn't simply place technology on stage but uses traditional Beijing opera as its core to reinterpret a classic story through modern tech. The work underwent three years of cross-national collaboration and adjustment to find a balance between different theatrical languages. "The fusion of traditional Beijing opera with modern technology is not just about visual effects but a practice of cultural exchange and artistic innovation," he said. "The Princess and Her Magic Fan" is co-directed by Taiwanese director Peng Chun-kang and French director Joris Mathieu. It utilizes the "Pepper's Ghost" optical principle and digital projection technology to create a stage where the virtual and real intertwine, presenting magical visual effects for scenes like the Monkey King's clones from "Journey to the West." The music, composed by Wang Yih-yuh, blends operatic vocal styles with Western musical elements, creating an auditory experience that is both traditional and modern. Weiwuying stated that the plot reinterprets the character of Princess Iron Fan from a female perspective, through the dual narratives of a modern French girl and Princess Iron Fan.