歌劇院秋天上架的「遇見巨人」系列，帶領觀眾看見大師、重現經典。能夠親眼目睹舞台上的大師身影，我們要慶幸生對時代；「重現」不只是再次搬演，而是讓經典文本在舞台上轉繹、新創，和當代社會的價值、面臨的議題互相激盪，甚至運用新的科技再現。

《十日談》開啟歐洲短篇小說之先河，常與但丁《神曲》相提並論，被評論家譽為《人曲》。阮劇團的《釣蝦場的十日談》除了改編薄伽丘筆下中世紀的奇情故事外，還加入布袋戲、搖滾樂、雜耍特技等市井元素，以當代劇場手法為傳統劇藝尋找新風貌；曉劇場帶來作家黃春明的劇作《戰士，乾杯！》，講述屏東好茶部落的魯凱族一家4個男人，除了為部落奮戰外，還被日軍、共軍及國軍強迫徵召去打仗，其中3人還因此喪命的歷史悲劇。

舞壇傳奇說書人阿喀郎．汗於2019年在歌劇院的長篇獨舞作《陌生人》，取材自一次大戰印度傭兵投身歐洲戰場的殘酷傷痕敘事；今年他將帶來方於4月世界首演的《叢林奇譚》，以吉卜林的同名成長故事為本，探討氣候危機，更以降低碳足跡的原則製作，此次以動態影像豐富舞台視覺，全臺獨家只在歌劇院。

臺北木偶劇團的《水鬼請戲》靈感來自上世紀初嘉義鹿窟溝戲班傳聞，布袋戲團徹夜演出，卻遲不見天亮，直到團長大喊：「阿彌陀佛」，才發現已是中午，滿座觀眾頓時消失無蹤；還記得電影《倩女幽魂》嗎？真雲林閣掌中劇團與浪人劇場共製的《千年幻戀》，是歌劇院新藝計畫「經典新繹」的入選製作，在《聊齋》人鬼戀外的新關係…

傳說級的鉅作將重現，1992年國家戲劇院首演、前輩編舞家劉鳳學的代表作《布蘭詩歌》，以德國作曲家卡爾・沃夫（Carl Orff）同名清唱劇，完美結合舞蹈、音樂語言的完全劇場，被譽為不可能的任務；醞釀9年，無垢舞蹈劇場藝術總監林麗珍的「天、地、人」三部曲終章《觀》，2009年首演，以白鳥與鷹族的故事為引，延續無垢一貫的舞蹈美學與莊嚴純淨的儀式劇場風格，是一部大地靈魂的神話。

給歌仔戲迷的重量級2大獻禮！明華園八仙傳奇經典系列，從1987年首部《蓬萊大仙》，到2022年7月推出《東海鍾離》，共歷時35年。這次重新搬演18年前的經典《韓湘子》，由當家小生孫翠鳳擔綱主角韓湘子；歡慶25週年的唐美雲歌仔戲團，以團慶新戲《冥遊記─帝王之宴》刷新紀錄，由當家唐美雲女裝上場，與京劇天王唐文華精彩對陣！

歌劇迷注意了！去年在歌劇院秒殺的華格納歌劇《唐懷瑟》，再次捲土重來！歌劇院臉書粉絲票選「最想看歌劇」的第一名《魔笛》，則以壓軸上場，為南非當代藝術家威廉．肯特里奇（William Kentridge）首齣執導的大型歌劇，以炭筆素描動畫翻轉影像，隱喻啟蒙時期烏托邦理想背後的殖民悲歌。

懷念劇場了嗎？雙簧管的A音已奏出，假如，你聽見的話…

“NTT Fall for Great Souls” brings audiences face to face with renowned masters and the thrill of revisiting the classics. We must feel gratitude for these times that we can catch a glimpse of contemporary virtuosi on stage; the “return” of a classic is not just a simple revival but rather the result of a rethinking process, as artists unearth contemporary social values and pressing issues of today within a script, perhaps even recasting a presentation via new technology.

The Decameron, which forged a new path for the short story genre in European literature, is a work often praised as a fitting companion—a “human comedy”—to Dante’s Divine Comedy. Our Theatre’s creation, The Prawning Decameron, adapts and enhances Boccaccio’s original with such popular elements as glove puppets, rock music and acrobatics, deploying a contemporary approach to traditional arts in search of new vistas. Shinehouse Theatre adapts novelist HUANG Chun-ming’s To the Warriors!, following the fate of a Rukai family of the Kucapungane tribe in Pingtung. Four of the men spent their lives defending their own people, yet were conscripted by the Japanese, Communist and Nationalist armies at war. It was tragic that only one returned home alive.

In 2019, legendary dance artist and storyteller Akram Khan graced the NTT stage with XENOS, a work distilling the horrific stories of Indian colonial soldiers who fought in the First World War. This year, Khan returns with his company for Jungle Book reimagined, which received its world premiere earlier this year, in April, inspired by Kipling’s original bildungsroman but focusing on the urgency of today’s climate crisis afflicting us all. This production, devised to limit carbon footprint, uses animated projections to enrich the stage. Jungle Book reimagined appears exclusively at the NTT.

Inspiration for Water Ghosts’ Theatre by Taipei Puppet Theater stems from a century-old tale of a Chiayi puppet troupe in Lu Ku Gou. Somehow an all-night ritual performance continues for many hours without the sun rising. The troupe leader then chants “Amitabha” and suddenly the performers find themselves bathed in the high noon sun, and the entire audience vanishes into thin air. Perhaps you have fond memories of the film A Chinese Ghost Story? Zhen Yun Lin Ge Puppet Theater ╳ Theatre Ronin(H.K) co-produced Love and Samsara, selected as part of the NTT’s Emerging Artists Project under the rubric “Classics Freshly Interpretated.” This new work extends new relationships beyond human and ghost of the original Strange Tales from the Liaozhai Studio…

A fabled major production will be remounted, a not-to-be-missed opportunity. In 1992, the National Theater presented veteran choreographer LIU Feng-shueh’s Carmina Burana, a veritable all-encompassing theatrical feast combining the musical language of Carl Orff’s cantata with dance. It took nine years of planning and preparation for Legend Lin Dance Theatre Artistic Director LIN Lee-chen to complete her trilogy in tribute to “Heaven, Earth, Man” with Song of Pensive Beholding, which premiered in 2009. Guided by the mythical story of a white bird and a race of eagles, the earth’s inner spirit is conjured by LIN’s original dance aesthetics and the pure and unique medi-tative quality of ritual theater.

We are offering Taiwanese Opera fans two special gifts! The Ming Hwa Yuan Arts & Cultural Group launched its “Eight Immortals” series in 1987 with Grand Immortal of PengLai, and the latest instalment of the 35-year series, ZhongLi of Han, just opened in July. This time, the company revives its classic Han Xiang Zi from 18 years ago, with the star male lead SUN Tsui-feng in the title role. Tang Mei Yun Taiwanese Opera Company celebrates its 25th anniversary with a new production of Royal Feast of the Underworld for the National Day holidays that breaks new ground, with TANG Mei-yun playing a female role against Peking opera star TANG Wen-hua!

Opera fans, keep a sharp lookout! Last year’s sold-out opera performance of Tannhäuser returns by popular demand! Also, NTT Facebook fans have spoken: they voted online, and Die Zauberflöte sits atop the list of operas they want to see. Thus we bring to the NTT a highly-anticipated finale this fall: A celebrated production of Die Zauberflöte by South African artist William Kentridge, his first foray into opera, where animated charcoal sketches projected on the scrim supplement the story. In fact, these images accentuate the heartrending consequences of colonialism hidden under the surface of the utopian ideals of the Age of Enlightenment.

Do you miss the theater by now? The oboist is playing an “A” for the orchestra to tune. Perhaps you can hear it…