Flying Group Theatre was founded by Pei-Yu Shih in May of 2004 .In Chinese ,the name “flying group ”is the homonym for “non-human,”which represents puppetry,while also implies the place in which the artists who “fly” around freely in the theatre gather together. Flying Group Theatre aims to create artworks with the spirit of diversity and integration , and challenge the traditionally accepted distance between performer and audience.
As Flying Group Theatre , the company focused on puppetry as the main element of creation by bringing actors and puppets together on stage and using full scenery as its setting. The works were mainly about the self-development of females , and viewed adults as the target audience. During those years, the company’s work was nominated for the Taishin Art Award numerous times .
During the period between 2010 and 2016, Flying Group Theatre had transitioned into its second stage, which aimed to establish its own brand .To achieve its goal and innovate new works , the company invited the theatre lecturer and creator Fu Yu-Hway as the artistic director and the paper-cut poet Shia Shia as a core member. From 2011 to 2013, Flying Group Theatre collaborated with L’est et l’Ouest, a French based theater company founded by Jung-Shih Chou, to debut the trilogy, A Sleep and a Forgetting, which is part of the For You, My Children series.The trilogy discussed three parts of growing up with kids, including “birth”,“growing up” and “passing away” . “The A Sleep and a Forgetting” trilogy is the milestone marking the start of international collaboration of the company. In the same year of 2010, Flying Group Theatre launched the first Close to You International Performing Object Festival to promote puppetry as the curator and organizer . The festival focuses on applying objects as the primary media in puppetry and performing in non traditional theater to be “close to” the audience as the curator and organizer. Besides inviting international puppet theater artists to partake in the festival, Close to You also drew together Taiwanese puppetry creators and enthusiasts from different fields to collaborate and debut new works. Between 2010 and 2016, the company’s work was invited to participate in art festivals in Taiwan, the Netherlands, France , Singapore, Japan , Turkey and Spain.
In the year of 2017, Flying Group Theatre embarked on fulfilling its third goal :“international / cross-city collaboration ”and “ cultivation of young artists” .In 2016, it started the “ Hear the House” performing project ,through which the company had toured and performed in old houses around different cities. From year 2016 to 2018, it had collaborated with Larry Reed , a trailblazer in the contemporary shadow theatre field, to create the production “ The Dark Light” . Since last year, Flying Group Theatre had collaborated with a Singapore based theatre company “ The Theatre Practice”, and produced the work “ Utopiazoo 2”.Last but not least, following one of its main purposes, in hopes of nurturing talents for the puppetry field, Flying Group Theatre established the “ Puppet Lab “ as an artist incubator in 2018, which provides young puppetry creators a platform to exchange ideas and create new works.
Flying Group Theatre believes that“everything can be a puppet “. The company hopes that through operation and employment, the inanimate objects ,including puppets , can carry emotions and transmit them to the audience.
Pei-Yu Shih
Executive Director / Founder
Pei-Yu Shih entered the field of theatre arts as a full-time administrator after graduating from Ming Chuan University in 1995, during which she learned the process of producing a theatre production. From 2000 to 2004 she started to work as a puppet designer and had collaborated with various Taiwanese theatre companies. In 2004, Pei-Yu Shih founded the Flying group Theatre ,which specializes in shadow theatre and often involves space , objects and puppets in its productions.Apart from the productions she created at Flying Group Theatre, her directed works include NSO children opera”The Mice War” with David Chesky , ”幻戲” with GuoGuang Opera Company(2015), NSO 2016 New Year Concert “Midsummer Magic in Winter ” (2015), and “Journey to the Colourful Bubbles” with the Hong Kong based theatre Little Smudges Theatre (2016). Shih was also the puppet designer of “ The Dream of an Embroidered Robe” / GuoGuang Opera Company(2017) and “RED DEMON”/Pentas Project Theatre Production(2015). Her installations include Gift Wrapping in Taipei Fine Arts Museum and “Big Bad Wolf’s Belly” in Taipei Children’s Art Festival.
Since 2010 , Pei-Yu Shih has been the curator of the Close to You International Performing Object Festival.
Weslee Chuang
Manager / Producer
Born in Kaohsiung yet currently working in Taipei , Weslee Chuang is the manager of Flying Group Theatre. She graduated from the Department of Business Management at National Central University , and attended the Graduate Institute of Arts Administration and Management at Taipei National University of the Arts for two years . Chuang is also the chief executive officer of Taipei Blooming Theatre.
Weslee Chuang began her theatre career in 2005 as a ticketing administrator in Creative Society. In 2008 , she joined the department of art festival coordinating in Taipei Culture Foundation , where she had worked for various art festivals such as Taipei Children’s Art Festival , Taipei Arts Festival and Taipei Fringe Festival .Between 2010 and 2016, she became a staff in Close to You International Performing Object Festival held by Flying Group Theatre , which followed the concept of “walking and theatergoing” ,the works challenges traditional viewing distances by performing in non traditional theaters to create intimacy between performer and audience. In 2011, Chuang founded the Taipei Blooming Theatre ,which considers women’s power the driving force of their creation . In 2017, She started working at Flying Group Theatre as a manager .
Stella Shen
Administrator/Producer
A Kaohsiung native who returned from studying in China, graduated from the International Trade Department at Soochow University.
In May 2022, took on the role of Company Administrator at the Flying Group Theatre .
Artist
Shia Shia
Shia Shia is the author of the poetry “Claude-Emma Debussy”, “小女兒”and ”鬧彆扭”, her other works include collection of poems”一五一時” , ”Poetic Scent” and novels “末日前的啤酒”, ”狗說” ,”煮海” and ”一千年動物園”.
She is also the editor of the compilation of poetry “沉舟記—消逝的字典”
and local chronicles”媽！我要住眷村：黃埔新村「以住代護」紀實” ,”親像鳳梨心：鳳山代誌”.
Her theatre creations include “The Heart of Universe”, ”Into the Ocean”, ”Forest Puppet Theater”, ”The One Who Boiled The Sea” and “ Chekhov Sounds” .
Artist
Chien-Tsang Hong
Receiving his Bachelor’s degree from the Department of Drama and Theatre at National Taiwan University, Jian-Tsang Hung is an actor and creator. He has collaborated with numerous theatre companies ,including: M.O.V.E. Theatre, Tainaner Ensemble, Creative Society, The Party Theatre Group, Our Theatre and One Player Short Ensemble. Specialized in modern theatre ,He also seeks crossover collaborations with traditional opera troupes such as Formosa-Zephyr Opera Troupe、Chun-Mei Taiwanese Opera Troupe and GuoGuang Opera Company. In 2017 and 2018, he cooperated with the Taipei Symphony Orchestra to launch the first Chinese production of “Peter and the Wolf in Hollywood” .
Hong is also committed to exploring the world of puppetry and object theatre. He had sought the guidance of modern puppetry artists from France, the UK, the USA,Germany , Belgium, and Mexico. His experience of cooperating with puppetry theatres includes Flying Group Theatre, Puppet & Its Double Theater and Puppet Beings Theatre.Between 2016 and 2017, he cooperated with National Theater & Concert Hall and Réseau A l’Est du Nouveau to perform “New Work”, and had made a tour of Taiwan , France and Germany. In 2017, he performed his work “Oppressor” , an object theatre, at the closing of New Narratives Film Festival.