Performing Intercultural Trauma: State, Land, and Women in Troy, Troy… Taiwan

In 1997, 2005, and 2015, Taiwan's Golden Bough Theatre performed Troy, Troy… Taiwan in three different productions at a derelict winery, a historical fort, and an outdoor theatre respectively. Using the form of environmental theatre, the Golden Bough Theatre presented a hybrid version of the Greek Trojan War in Taiwan Minnan by incorporating forms of Taiwanese opera, folk songs, popular music elements, and local religious rituals. Focusing on the significance of the Trojan story as a tantalizing subject for the Golden Bough Theatre, this paper argues that it is the traumatic connotations of the Trojan myth that instigated the theatre to produce three versions of Troy, Troy… Taiwan, and that the traumatic connotations are shown respectively via the issue of state power (1997), land (2005), and women (2015). This study further suggests that such traumatic connotations are related to the establishment of identities: the 1997 production concerns the identity of the Golden Bough Theatre as a young theatre company, the 2005 production concerns the identity of Taiwan as a political entity, and the 2015 production concerns the identity of the director, Wang Rong-yu, as a confident and mature artist.