《煉丹場》

YENTING TSENG: The Grand Elixir Factory

基本資料

攤開一張臺灣地圖，沿著油脈和管線，從神秘的黑水井、圍繞村莊的八百根煙囪，一路走到尋常人家的客廳。那裡，一台台轟隆隆的機器射出成型，煉製出熱騰騰的未來。

存在於地底千萬年的石油和它五花八門的衍生物，百餘年來與本島人的命運糾纏不清，我們深陷在這濃烈的易燃液體裡，直到再也聞不到異味。

由曾彥婷與蔣韜所成立的測不準工作室，從2020年至今持續研調發展《咱的塑膠夢》創作計畫，田調期間內研究臺灣的石化產業歷史及現況並訪談相關民眾與業者，試圖梳理石化產業及其產品在臺灣獨一無二的脈絡。《咱的塑膠夢》今年邁入第六年，《煉丹場》為該計畫最新創作。六位擅於運用不同媒材的創作者持續／再度周遊臺灣，翻攪這片土地的記憶與現實，他們帶著田野地的風景、氣味與聲響來到這座煉丹場，緩緩道來每一個與你我息息相關的故事。

Prologue

NTCH Ideas Lab serves as a platform for creators to ignite ideas and expand the boundaries of art. It has supported artists in the early stages of creation through open calls, creative mentorship, and work-in-progress presentations. Starting in 2025, NTCH Ideas Lab will emphasize exchange within the creative community and early-stage dialogues between artists and audiences. In addition to ticketed performances, there will be more post-show talks, as well as presentations of works-in-progress and cultural tours, deepening the connection between the work, its creators, and the audience.

This year, four featured productions each pose and respond to questions of our contemporary moment in their unique ways—Tjimur Dance Theatre:

X aiwan Utopia

weaves Chopin's music with traditional Paiwan circle dance to explore a new equilibrium and emerging order between the conventional and the contemporary. Yen-Ting TSENG:

The Grand Elixir Factory

brings together six artists working across diverse media to investigate Taiwan's petrochemical industry and its products' distinctive social and cultural context. Uni Percussion:

Temple of Resonance

creates a site-responsive sound theatre grounded in contemporary percussion, conjuring an "invisible temple" through sonic movement and spatial exploration. Nai-Hsuan Sunny YANG:

Worn Yet Unfolding

collaborates with five emerging dancers, using physical inquiry and embodied dialogue to reflect deeply on aging and the pursuit of self-realization.

NTCH Ideas Lab aims for every performance and each idea exchange to be a source of creative energy that continually raises questions about the world, provokes thought, and evokes emotional resonance.

Synopsis

"As it turns out, plastic is not merely a material—it is an endlessly transformative concept. As its common name suggests, it is a ubiquitous presence that we can witness with our own eyes. Precisely because of this, it can be considered a miraculous substance: a miracle is always a sudden transformation of nature. Plastic remains wholly immersed in this sense of wonder; rather than being an object, it is more like the trace of an action."

— Mythologies, Roland Barthes, 1957

Since 2020, Uncertain Studio's

Island of Plastic Dream

project has used Taiwan's unique plastic experience as a starting point for long-term research into related history and issues. The team has conducted in-depth fieldwork across Taiwan, collaborating with creators from various disciplines to engage the public through diverse artistic forms and open discussions.

In 2024, the team participated in the preliminary development program of the National Theater and Concert Hall, and in 2025, they present their latest work,

The Grand Elixir Factory

. Ancient Chinese alchemy or "liandanshu" is similar to western alchemy—both were pursuits of human dreams, whether for gold or immortality, believed to be attainable through the aggregation and transformation of materials. In modern times, we have discovered petroleum—carbon and hydrogen—the foundation of many chemical industries, shaping our daily lives, economy, technology, national security, and dreams.

Weaving between the millennia-old entanglement humanity and petroleum as the warp and the people, events, times, and places of Taiwan as the weft, we bring back the landscapes and stories from history and fieldwork, and recount them one by one in

The Grand Elixir Factory

.

Words from the Creator

Tseng Yen-ting

In 2020, I started out alone on a project that had been taking shape in my mind for quite some time. In

Island of Plastic Dream

, I intend to comb through the dreams of the people on the lands of Taiwan eighty years ago that led to the later petrochemical kingdom and a modern life inseparable from petroleum or plastic materials. Five years later, eighty-five years after the fact, everything has become less and less like a dream, but rather a continuous reality of ours (including you and I) that has not ceased to exist.

The Grand Elixir Factory

is a work completed in the sixth year of

Island of Plastic Dream

. It assembles all types of collaborating creators who had participated in the field study or creative process of the previous five years to different degrees. This time, in addition to following my strong will and direction, they are given the space and time to explore their own relationship with the issues, to find their own place in the project anew. The creators each have their own informants (participants interviewed in fieldwork); I sometimes feel that they are my informants as well.

During the development of

The Grand Elixir Factory

, we expanded the geographic scope of our research, came into contact with more people associated with the subject, and deepened the foundational knowledge and depth of discussion. All this is an aim to bring attention to more details that were previously overlooked. Details are matters of true importance; they are closely linked together to form the system that all things function by. We try to deftly present and string them together in a black box theater in an attempt to see our places and also yours therein.

It's often said the greatest difference between fiction and reality is that fiction must be rational. In this day and age, when late night shows need only repeat what politicians said that day to achieve the desired effect or humor, it is reality that is the most absurd and impactful. But being irrational is not the same as being without logic; the most contradictory matters will often bear surprisingly telltale signs of how they came to be.

More questions have arisen. It seems that the plastic dream will continue for some time yet.

Creative Coordinator｜Tseng Yen-ting Project Director of

Island of Plastic Dream

, Co-director of Uncertain Studio. Specializing in theater design and interdisciplinary performance, her creative work focuses on the intimate relationships between people and objects, as well as the diverse developments of material culture.

Co-Creator

Chiang Tao

Co-director of Uncertain Studio, co-creator, and performer. Specializing in theatrical sound design and film scoring, his creative work spans music, sound design, and interdisciplinary projects, thriving in the space between music and theater.

Hsu Yen-ting

Primarily working with sound as her main medium, she frequently blends other materials and crosses into various artistic disciplines. Her works often explore the relationship between sound and environment, as well as personal and collective memory, oscillating between documentation and fiction, narrative and imagination.

Wen Szu-ni

A theater director and interdisciplinary artist, she focuses on the relationship between urban development and people, exploring local memory, imagination, and identity. Her work combines various art forms and is often presented in non-theatrical spaces or within communities.

Tiunn Ngá-sûn

Born in Taipei, a disciple of Taiwanese liam-kua (melodic storytelling) national treasure Yang Hsiu-ching. Her works draw inspiration from experiences and observations in travel and daily life, focusing on stories of Taiwanese people. She composes and performs liam-kua and yueqin ballads.

Tang Chien-che

Co-creator and performer specializing in visual creation. His work spans theater video design, concert visuals, still and motion photography, and new media art. Skilled at capturing the states and emotions of people, he is drawn to authenticity, infusing their artistic sensitivity and humanistic concern- cultivated through the experiences in art environments-into both the creative process and finished works.

Creator & Design

Space and Costume Designer｜Lim Xing-yee (Yy)

An art and stage designer for various exhibition and performance spaces. Recent works include: TIFA Taiwan International Festival of Arts

Man of the Theatre

, National Theater & Concert Hall Autumn Arts Festival

Oracle is the Moments

, New Idea Experimental Platform

Sounds like Sound: -S-tone

, and the immersive performance

Mind the Gap

.

Fieldwork Collaborator｜Lo Yin-ru

Yinru is an independent theater producer and practitioner based in Taipei, Taiwan. She's a member of Asian Producer's Platform since 2019. She received the 2025-2027 ISPA Taiwan Fellowship as an art manager. In recent years, she produced and participated in many site-specific performances and community-based projects related to environmental and social issues.

Stage Manager｜Huang Yung-chih

Continuously exploring and learning in the theater, accompanying the creative process as it unfolds.

Uncertain Studio

Founded by Taiwanese artists from a theatre design background, Uncertain Studio's early works combine object theatre with ambient soundscapes to create mini- scale technical theatre with low-tech aesthetics. In more recent years, they have been questioning the nature of performing arts, moving towards the performative aspects of games, workshops, and experiences to find new ways to discuss real world issues in a creative setting.

Credits

Producer: Tseng Yen-nin

Creative Coordinator: Tseng Yen-ting

Co-Creators: Chiang Tao, Hsu Yen-ting, Wen Szu-ni, Tiunn Ngá-sûn

Visual Creation: Tang Chien-che

Fieldwork Collaborator: Lo Yin-ru

Stage Manager: Huang Yung-chih

Space and Costume Designer: Lim Xing-yee (Yy)

Lighting Designer: Tseng Yen-ting

Lighting Design Execution: Kuo Hsin-yi

Lighting Crew: Wan Shu-wei, Wu Yi-ju, Yang Hong-wei

Stage Technical Director: Yap Siew-yin

Stage Crew: Chen Guan-ting, Eric Tsai, Liu YI-hsiang, Liu Kuan-yu, Shen Chen-yu, Benson Chen, Lin Ming-te

Sound Technical Coordinator: Chen Yu-chien

Sound Crew: Zhao Zhi-yao, Shao Ke-hand, Chuang Ying-feng

Video Technical Coordinator: Shen Jhe-hong

Video Crew: Zheng Bai-chuan

Main Visual Illustration: Rachel Chen

Special Appearance: Hsu Ching-tang

Video Performance: Lin Chin-hung, Kao Yi-chen, Chang Wen-hsuan, Hsu Shu-ya, Chang Hua-jung

NTCH Production Team

Project Manager: Kueh Hong-phîng

Marketing Project Manager: Chuang Yu-hen

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《煉丹場》

"The Grand Elixir Factory"

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