TAIWAN FESTIVAL: RIVERBED THEATRE - TAKING IT DOWN AND PUTTING IT UP Digital Programme

TAIWAN FESTIVAL RIVERBED THEATRE

RIVERBED THEATRE:

Recipient of the Best Immersive Experience award of Luxembourg City Film Festival, the VR360 Award of Kaoshiung Film Festival and part of the official selection for this year ’ s 2023 Tribeca Festival, we are delighted to welcome Riverbed Theatre with their new piece ‘taking it down and putting it up ’ .

25-27 Apr, 7:30pm

Running Time: Approx 50 mins

Experimental theatre group Riverbed Theatre have been astonishing audiences for over 25 years, exploring the intersection between theatre, movement, music and visual art.

Performing in the UK for the first time, they bring two pieces to the Taiwan Festival, taking it down and putting it up, and, throughout the festival, their award-winning 360 VR experience All That Remains.

taking it down and putting it up is a poetic meditation on connection, loss and renewal, using the human body as sculpture. This new piece is a collage of physical theatre, dance, opera, video projection with music composed by Yujun Wang and live visual art from acclaimed artist Carl Johnson.

This extraordinary piece of physical theatre is based on a manual by Marcel Duchamp on the experience of taking down and putting up Étant donnés, an installation he had secretly spent twenty years assembling in his New York studio apartment. Riverbed Theatre contemplate the artistic potential of construction and destruction, and the resulting constant changes that make each moment unique.

“Riverbed Theatre Company ingeniously unites time, space, sound, and movement in the theatre. Its dark, distinctly profound expressive form combined with its image-based non-linear performances, create a t il l l t t ‘i ld ’” (T i D il )

CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM

Director

Craig Quintero

Producer

Su-Ling Yeh

Composer

Yujun Wang

Lighting Designer

Shu-Ang Yeh

Scenic Artist

Carl Johnson, Chang-Chih Chen

Performers

Hsiao-Tzu Tien, Chia-Chy Chang, Yu-Hsin

Yu, Chih-Kai Huang, Carl Johnson

Soprano

Pi-Yu Shih

Assistant Producer

Yi-Ting Huang

TAIWAN FESTIVAL

The Coronet Theatre proudly unveils the Taiwan Festival, marking the capital's inaugural celebration of contemporary arts and culture from Taiwan.

Over the course of 16 captivating days, the festival will showcase the talents of more than 30 contemporary visual artists, theatre-makers, dancers, and musicians from Taiwan, many of whom are making their UK debut. This unprecedented gathering of artistic voices will delve into a myriad of themes, including Taiwanese identity, post-colonial history, politics, and the complexities of human desire.

The festival's diverse program reflects Taiwan's rich cultural tapestry, shaped by a complex blend of historical influences and modern innovations. From its colonial past to its present-day achievements, Taiwan's journey is highlighted through the artistic expressions of its talented creators.

LONDON'S FIRST SHOWCASE OF TAIWANESE CULTURE FEATURING DANCE, MUSIC, VISUAL ART, PHYSICAL THEATRE, VR AND IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCES

“I am delighted and honoured to witness the partnership between The Coronet Theatre, a renowned institution for contemporary arts in West London, and the Ministry of Culture, Taiwan. The Coronet Theatre has long been recognized for its unwavering dedication to showcasing the finest performing arts from around the globe.

The Taiwan Festival represents a significant milestone in this collaboration, as it continues The Coronet Theatre's tradition of presenting audiences with the best cultural experiences. By showcasing the richness and diversity of Taiwan's performing and installation arts scene, this joint effort not only enriches local audiences but also strengthens the cultural ties between Taiwan and the UK.

The immersive Taiwan programme, featuring dance, music, visual art, physical theatre, and VR experiences, promises to be a remarkable showcase of Taiwan's artistic talent. Furthermore, the two-week-long programme sets a remarkable precedent for future cultural exchanges and highlights Taiwan's role in diversifying the cultural landscape of the UK, as well as the power of collaboration in fostering mutual understanding and appreciation.

I extend my heartfelt wishes to The Coronet Theatre for a successful Taiwan Festival, and I hope that audiences will seize this exceptional opportunity to immerse themselves in the beauty and creativity of Taiwan's culture and arts.”

Representative Vincent Chin-Hsiang Yao Taipei Representative Office in the UK

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RIVERBED THEATRE

Riverbed Theatre was founded in 1998 in Taipei, Taiwan. The company ’ s imagebased, 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 the best works of Samuel Beckett and David Lynch.

CRAIG QUINTERO

As the Artistic Director of the Taipei-based Riverbed Theatre Company, Craig has written and directed over fifty original image-based performances, including productions in Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Singapore, China, France, Germany, and the United States. He is also a sculptor and installation artist whose work has been shown at the Asian Biennial, Venice Biennale Collateral Events, Kobe Biennale, Taipei Biennale, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei MOCA, and the Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art. His VR experience, ‘All That Remains’, premiered at the 79th Venice Film Festival (2022) and has been screened at festivals including the Thessaloniki Film Festival, FESPACO, FilmMakerFest, and the Luxembourg Film Festival (where the project won the prize for the Best Immersive Experience). Riverbed’s new VR experience, ‘Over the Rainbow’, premiered at the 2023 Tribeca Festival.

From Taiwan since 1959

WORKSHOPS

Alongside the Taiwan Festival we present a series of free workshops with world renowned installation artist Cheng-Tsung Feng, artist and choreographer Chou Kuan-Jou and award-winning experimental theatre group Riverbed Theatre.

CHENG-TSUNG FENG

A major site-specific bamboo installation and exhibition by stellar Taiwanese artist Cheng-Tsung Feng, encasing the Coronet Theatre’s historical façade and taking over the interior spaces with his dramatic and intricate structures.

THE CORONET THEATRE

“For me, the artist is at the heart of the programme, and I work closely with the makers of the pieces I bring to London, sometimes watching and encouraging them for years. In this increasingly fractious world, I feel strongly that one of the greatest uniting forces is the international language of and desire of all of us to engage with art, whether as a maker or spectator.

My goal is to fill the theatre spaces – the Main House, Print Room Studio, and bar – with diverse and wonderful arts from across the world, celebrating all its many forms and the audiences who enjoy them”

Anda Winters Artistic Director & CEO

The Coronet Theatre is a risk-taking, international arts venue in a restored and re-imagined Grade II listed building in Notting Hill. Both its programme and the building’s restoration are curated by Artistic Director, Anda Winters.

Our year-round multi-disciplinary programme of world-class drama, dance, music, poetry and visual arts in our main auditorium and studio space welcomes our own productions as well as visiting artists, including many UK and World Premieres.

We offer memorable and often unexpected experiences to audiences, while supporting established artists and nurturing new talent. Our mission is to entertain, educate and excite UK audiences with the art and cultures beyond our borders.

THE CORONET THEATRE TEAM

ArtisticDirector&CEO

AndaWinters

GeneralManager

AndyMcDonald

SeniorProducer

HettyShand

FinanceManager

AndrewMichel

Company&ProductionCoordinator

EmmaSmith Producer

DaphneSeale

AssistantProducer/PAtoArtistic Director

LolaGabellini

AssociateProducer

CathyLewis

DigitalMarketingOfficer

RiccardoTitoPescini

MarketingManager(Freelance)

ElliotHall

PressRepresentative

SharonKean

PoetryCoordinator

MarionManning

AudienceExperienceManager

AmeliaCampbell

BoxOfficeAssistant

IvanaDieli

Duty Managers

Francesca Battinieri, Adrielle

Feliciano, Maria LisbergJonasson, Sofia Bitelli

Front of House Staff

Brian Maitland, Andreane

Rellou, Ewa Emini, Sua

Tsubokura-Aguiriano, Maya

Giulivi, Hazel Townsend, Daniel

Camou, Elias Giulivi, Kelsey

Moebius, Thea Gavanski,

Aishani Ghosh, Eugénie

Bakker, Emma Laird-Craig,

Daniel Timoney, Cooper

Tweedie, Dominika Jarečná, Hamza Mullick, Dong Ting

Huang

Taiwan Festival Production Assistants

Mika Shirahama

Arthur Pai

Trustees

Linda Bernhardt, Mike Fisher, Mimi Gilligan, Jane Quinn, Anda Winters, Bill Winters (Chair)