The Impossibility of Being Taiwanese in Chi Wei-jan’s Utopia Ltd.

Utopia Ltd., written by the important Taiwanese playwright Chi Wei-jan and produced by Creative Society in December 2001, dramatizes the gradual dissolution of a production company named Utopia Ltd. This play explores factors shaping Taiwanese identities and the impossibility of constructing a coherent grand narrative in postmodern, globalized Taiwan. The work stands out among allegories examining post–martial law Taiwan by capturing the complexity of identity formation in Taiwan. The play dramatizes how Taiwan’s colonial past, ethnic tensions, globalization, and relations with China and the United States all work together to shape the national imagination of the island.