Digital art has completely penetrated our daily life. The Ministry of Culture of Taiwan has partnered up with the Quanta Arts Foundation to organize a series of digital performances- 2012 Digital Performing Arts Festival. Last week October 26, I went to see Kellerman directed by the Imitating the dog Theatre Company. The play took place in Songshan Cultural and Creative Park in Taipei. I felt so fortunate to attend a fascinating performance, which normally took place in London.
Imitating the Dog’s Kellerman is a tense and atmospheric thriller. It was like looking at a graphic novel and at others like a warfare film, Kellerman swept back and forth across different time zones while allowing me to feel different perspectives on a story that is as shifting as time itself.
The plot of the play, main character Harry is receiving psychiatric treatment in a hospital. He believes that he has both a wife and child, whom his psychiatrist points out that do not exist. The play shifts through various time periods. A lover of Harry, Amy is a recurring character wearing bright color outfits. The psychiatrist is also an important key role in the play, because he plays dual roles as Harry’s devil versus his sympathetic shrink.
I heard from many professional artists before I watch the play, Laura Hopkin is one of the famous stage designers. I was impressed by her overall brilliant stage design, which telescopes up and down so you feel like looking through a peephole and at others appearing to look down on the action itself. This stage design creates its own layers of uncertainty.