Taiwanese opera is a traditional folk performing art in Taiwan, with different performance forms as the times evolve. The Taiwanese opera portrayed in the photo is a touring set-up, so it is also called “wild stage opera”. In the early postwar period, wild stage opera was an important recreational entertainment in Taiwan’s civic life. During religious folk festivals, the stage was built at the square in front of the temple, and the jubilant occasion was well-received by the public.
The Xinyile in the photo taken in 1950 was a well-known theater company in the northern Taiwan, specializing in historical drama. The work does not focus on the performance of the drama, but the entire stage of Taiwanese opera and the surrounding people. The stage is placed in the center of the composition. People in the foreground wear bamboo hats with hands on other’s shoulders, and watch the show attentively with their backs to the camera. The crowd accumulates at the stage while random bushes scatter in the background. This photograph does not focus on recording the performing Taiwanese opera. A simple stage made of bamboo becomes the main structure like a window, supporting the performance of the drama and the surrounding crowd.
Lin Yi-luo, “2021 Compilation and Research Project of Metadata in Photography.”