Audiences outside of Taiwan will finally be able to catch the critically-acclaimed play, Apostate. The 2023 production swept the Grand Prize at the 22nd Taishin Arts Award and Jury Prize at the 35th Golden Melody Awards for Traditional Arts and Music.

A collaboration between approaching theatre and Gang-a Tsui Theater, Apostate interweaves two stories – a classic Nanxi play of a Song Dynasty envoy named Zhu Bian who was captured and forced to marry his captor’s daughter along with a modern story of a prisoner held against his will. Both are forced to decide between their personal dilemma and the bigger picture of their beliefs and loyalty to family and State. 

Performed in Mandarin with some Quanzhou dialect and English surtitles, Apostate features 12 actors and musicians. Audiences will have a chance to experience a taste of Nanguan, inscribed in 2009 on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, as the play experiments with traditional opera postures and songs while incorporating modern sound design and multimedia design.

​It also marks the much-anticipated homecoming for Taiwan-based Malaysian director Koh Choon Eiow, an Asian Cultural Council grantee.

Apostate marks the third consecutive collaboration of the Taipei Economic & Cultural Office in Malaysia and klpac that has produced best-selling shows Luna and Jingju Magic with support of the Ministry of Culture (Taiwan). Original pre-production supported by National Taichung Theater and co-produced by National Center for Traditional Arts & National Taichung Theater.

《感謝公主》演出將南管、梨園戲和劇場新文本並置，該作於臺灣首演時即收穫熱烈迴響，榮獲第22屆台新藝術獎「年度大獎」及第35屆傳藝金曲獎「評審團獎」。

《感謝公主》由窮劇場與江之翠劇場聯手打造，以傳統為經，當代為緯，跨時空地交織了兩段故事。作品將宋元南戲《朱弁》入題，宋朝使臣朱弁身陷敵國，受公主深情相待得以生存；現代囚犯為求生存背叛同伴，出獄後在文化事業中重塑人生。英雄或叛徒，信念、意志、犧牲，以及現實處境中的欲望和倫理角力，進進退退之間，要如何辨析得失、明暗？

本節目由12位演員及樂師共同演出，主要以中文呈現，部分演出使用泉州話，附英文字幕。旅居臺灣的馬來西亞導演高俊耀，也是ACC亞洲文化協會獲獎人，今攜作品重返家鄉，與觀眾探討關於朱弁的流離和變節者的轉向，透過世代間的對話反思人性與抉擇。

《感謝公主》重新調度南管經典劇目，觀眾在演出中不僅可以看到被聯合國教科文組織列為「世界非物質文化遺產」的傳統戲曲南管與實驗現代聲響的融合，還有極簡的舞台再搭配以影像創造空間方式進行空間實驗。

本次亦為《感謝公主》國際首演，也是吉隆坡表演藝術中心及駐馬來西亞台北經濟文化辦事處繼《路呐》及《魔幻京劇》之後，第三度聯合呈獻臺灣優質演出，獲臺灣文化部支持。本作前期創作獲得國家表演藝術中心臺中國家歌劇院支持，並於2023年由國立傳統藝術中心及臺中國家歌劇院共同製作。

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