The story unfolds in real-life settings with street theater
Have you ever heard of street theater? It’s a kind of play that takes place in public spaces like a street, with the story unfolding in real-life settings. Last year, the National Theater and Concert Hall made its first-ever street theater production with a Japanese director and a Taiwanese cast. In the streets of New Taipei’s Sanxia and Taipei’s Wanhua, the audience followed the lead actor to help an elderly neighbor find his missing wife. What is slowly revealed is a poignant story about dementia and how it affects the patients’ family and friends. Here’s our special report.
A large audience follows the lead actor on the streets and alleyways. With the plot of the play integrated with everyday life, the audience also becomes a part of the story. Yes, this is a theater production. But instead of the stage in a theater building, the plot unfolds right on the streets.
- You’re Big Nose.
- Big Nose.
- You’re the Big Nose that used to come to my home as a kid?
- It’s been so long, grandpa. How about this? I’ll help you find grandma. If we still can’t find her, then we’ll call the police.
- I’ll go over there myself.
- Take care, grandpa. Watch your steps and don’t rush.
As the story unfolds, the audience begins to understand that the main character A-jung has returned to his hometown, Sanxia in New Taipei as an adult. He bumps into the neighbor of his childhood home, an elderly man and helps him search for his wife, who has dementia.
- I wonder if you’ve seen a lost grandma. She was wearing yellow and carrying a red bag.
- Yes, I think I’ve seen her.
- It was right over there, near the bear statue when I saw her this morning.
- Yes, right there.
Every plot twist appears on the street corners. The scene changes not by shifting set pieces, but by traveling with the actors. The production took place in Sanxia’s Taipei University Special Zone, taking the story to the streets. It’s a play about dementia.
Tsai Min-ni
Assistant director
They need to help the grandpa find grandma, so the journey on foot begins. The male lead has to track down grandma in the place where he grew up with clues he gathers along the way. Through this production, we’re not only allowing the audience to immerse themselves into the plot in ten different settings, but also allow them to experience the Taipei University Special Zone.
We followed the theater company backstage, a week before the show was premiered, getting a glimpse of the rehearsals.
Naoki Sugawara
Director
I’m really excited to see what kind of work will be produced. It would be great if the audience and crew will enjoy themselves too.
Japanese theater director Naoki Sugawara was invited to produce the play on dementia with a Taiwanese team, titled “FormosArt: Night Never Gets Darker.”
Naoki Sugawara
Director
I believe the issues of dementia and aging societies can be shared with everyone in the community through theater. I hope to encourage the audience to think about how to solve the issues arising from dementia in the community through street theater. I also hope that the end of the play isn’t an end, but that the stories in the play can continue at the location where it took place.
- Hi grandma, are you alone?
- Excuse me. I’m grandma’s care companion. How can I help you?
- Oh, sorry. It’s just that there’s a grandpa asking me to look for his wife. She happens to be wearing yellow too, so I thought it was her.
- Why didn’t you call the police if you’re looking for her?
In order to find actors who can accurately portray dementia, casting took the production team almost a whole year.
Actor Huang Chiu-chin is 71 years old and plays an elderly woman with dementia. Her nuanced body language perfectly captures what it’s like to live with dementia. It’s because she had experience caring for elderly family members with this condition.
Huang Chiu-chin
Actor
It’s mainly because my husband had a stroke. He had vascular dementia. Later on, my mother also had Parkinson’s disease dementia, so she also developed dementia. I once had to take care of three family members. Now, two of them are gone. My 100-year-old father is still alive. I incorporate these experiences into my performance in the play.
Another cast member, Chang Cheng-I, like Huang, has real-life experience dealing with dementia in the family. In the play, he’s an elderly man taking care of his spouse with dementia.
Chang Cheng-I
Actor
My father-in-law passed away at the age of 96. He had dementia at 85. My father is still alive. He’s 97 years old now and also has dementia. In the beginning, their conditions were pretty mild, but gradually worsened. All I had to do in the play was to recall my experience with them and embody that naturally in the play.
The two actors brought their real-life experience into their performance. They’re not alone in having to take care of aging family members. In Taiwan, around 350,000 older adults suffer from dementia, the burden of care on their immediate family.
- Have you seen an old lady wearing yellow and carrying a yellow bag? She walked past here earlier. She’s been missing since this morning.
The main character A-jung is played by Talum Isbabanal. He’s the one leading the audience throughout the play and through the winding streets, in search of an old lady with dementia.
- I’m A-jung. Do you remember me? I used to visit your noodle shop often, and you’d make me noodles. Remember?
Talum Isbabanal
Actor
Our performance takes place in a real-life setting, so there’s no need to exaggerate anything. After the performance, a member of the audience came to me and said that they felt understood. For those who are unfamiliar with the subject matter, they’ll be prompted to think about elders in their families. Maybe this will change their attitude towards elder family members with chronic illnesses.
Talum Isbabanal used to work at a senior daycare center, so he’s very familiar with older adults. His role deals with feelings of anxiety and helplessness when looking for someone with dementia. His real-life experience makes his performance all the more convincing.
Through this production, street theater becomes a medium to advocate for issues in an aging society, thanks to the National Theater and Concert Hall’s FormosArt Initiative.
Liu Yi-ruu
NTCH General and Artistic Director
We have a relatively large outdoor production every year. At one point we wondered how we could go further instead of maintaining the same format. A large outdoor production can feel like staging fireworks. It’s brilliant for that one night. But what happens afterwards? Did we really make an impact on the local community?
The FormosArt Initiative was inaugurated in 2015, bringing stage productions out of stately performance theaters into cities and townships all over the country. But what more can be done for locals after the credits roll in? That seeded the FormosArt 2.0 Initiative and resulted in the very first street theater production in Taiwan.
Liu Yi-ruu
NTCH General and Artistic Director
We were really attracted to stage theater then, not only for its unique format, but also because dementia is something that occurs in our daily lives. And so we thought this topic must be explored in a way that’s close to our surroundings. Because the performance deals with something so mundane, it fully immerses the audience very easily.
The production took place in a new neighborhood and an old town: Sanxia in New Taipei and Wanhua in Taipei. In the future, it’s hoped that street theater can enter a greater number of neighborhoods and create stories that belong to the communities.
Liu Yi-ruu
NTCH General and Artistic Director
FormosArt 2.0 is special in that we invite local government to become co-producers. So they’re not just bringing in an audience. They’re more or less also involved in the production. And because local production teams are involved, they can replicate it in the future, whether on their own or with the local government.
- Cherish the opportunity right now to see those you hold dear, and tell them what you’ve yet to say to them.
Audience member
Watched the production
The whole play was really touching. As you walk with the cast, you’ll notice that you’ve walked past the older parts of Sanxia into the newer and bustling part. It also touches upon many issues related to societal aging. It really got me thinking how I should seize the day and cherish all that I have.
Audience member
Watched the production
I find the topic to be quite dark, but a play is another way to get to understand dementia.
Even a serious topic can be explored through a play, while keeping the audience grounded in reality. With the initiative, fiction and reality become one.
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2026-06-18
