Taiwan Season Returns to Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025

Location: Assembly Roxy Downstairs
Date: 31 Jul - 24 Aug
Time: 10:10 hrs (50 mins)
Ticket: https://assemblyfestival.com/whats-on/1015-taiwan-season-whale-where-are-you-going
Age suitability: All ages
Category/genre: theatre, puppetry, children & families

Celebrating 12 years of cultural exchange and creative excellence, and funded by the Ministry of Culture, the Taiwan Season showcase returns to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with four vivid and diverse productions that reflect the Island's artistic innovation, heartfelt storytelling and cross-cultural resonance.

Launched in 2014, the award-winning Taiwan Season has developed a consistently strong and sustained presence at the Fringe thanks to its world-class range of dance, theatre, circus and music performance for both adults and children.

This year's quartet of shows include a playful 'whale' of a tale of intergenerational friendship (Whale, Where Are You Going?), a tangy, tangerine-focused family show (Where Has All the Fruit Gone?), a literally magical meeting of autobiographical monologue and illusion (Dazed and Confused) and a dynamic dance steeped in ideas of faith, sacred ritual and secular community (Trace of Belief). All essential details below followed by some additional activities we'd like you to know about.

©️Dingqian Liu

Whale, Where Are You Going?

Move over, Moby Dick! There's a mysterious new whale at large in the ocean. Set on a small island, this word-free family show uses ingenious puppetry, nimble physical theatre and magical shadow play to chart the budding friendship between a lonely old man and a naughty little boy. One's brimming with curiosity, the other's stuck in routine. But, lured by an elusive sea mammal, together they embark on a voyage of discovery, hope, and renewal. This charming intergenerational tale is swimmingly good fun for all ages.

S. Production was co-founded by Chu Yi-Wen, Lin Chien-Hsiu and Chou Wei-Ting, all graduates of the drama department of the National University of Taiwan. Pooling their resources as directors, actors and music designers, they have become specialists at creating performances in non-traditional space that address local culture and audiences as well as universal themes. Additional skills in their theatrical toolbox include physical theatre, puppetry, mime and clowning. They are also experienced arts educators.

©️Xiaoqian Lin

Where Has All the Fruit Gone?

We all know tangerines, don't we? In Taiwan, they come in many shapes, sizes, and colours. Drawing parallels between Western holiday traditions and Asian family gatherings for Lunar New Year, Yinalang Group's endearing, inventive family show deftly illuminates this humble seasonal fruit's personality, history and cultural meaning. As specialists in object theatre, the company's sweet, juicy blend of spoken text and beguilingly DIY visual design will spur warm thoughts of home and belonging. It's a work of delicacy, mischief and sheer craft. You may never look at a tangerine in the same way again!

Playfulness is at the core of the work of Yinalang Group, and engaging the minds and imaginations of the ever-curious child in all of us at this multi-disciplinary company's heart. ('Yinalang' is the pronunciation of the word for 'children' in Taiwanese.) By experimenting with various modes of expression - including objects, puppetry, light and shadow - the company's dedicated artists transform everyday material and experiences into theatrical magic. For them, connecting with people and communities via workshops is as important a source of creative inspiration as presenting live performances.

Location: Assembly Roxy Downstairs
Date: 31 Jul - 24 Aug
Time: 11:20 hrs (50 mins)
Ticket: https://assemblyfestival.com/whats-on/1016-taiwan-season-where-has-all-the-fruit-gone
Age suitability: 5+
Category/genre: theatre, children & families

©️Wong de

Dazed and Confused

Magic seamlessly meets theatre in Lin Lu-Chieh's engaging autobiographical solo show. Confident and captivating, this young, self-taught master of prestidigitation offers up a true and touching coming-of-age story that couples delightful 'How did he do that?' sleight-of-hand with warm-hearted observations on the sometimes painful yet often humorous process of growing up. His sincerity and skill shine through. Gently laced with audience participation, this entertaining and universally relatable performance is about finding yourself by doing what you love. See it and understand just how wondrous and delightfully transformative magic can be.

Founded in 2020 by magician and theatre artist Lin Lu-Chieh, Lu Production is the only theatrical troupe in Taiwan using magic as an artistic practice for creation. The company explores themes, issues and feelings not usually associated with the illusionist's art, often drawing upon narrative frameworks to find the sympathy that can exist between magic and daily life.

Location: Underbelly Bristo Square - Clover
Date: 30 Jul - 25 Aug
Time: 12:55 hrs (55 mins)
Ticket: https://underbellyedinburgh.co.uk/events/event/taiwan-season-dazed-and-confused
Age suitability: 7+
Category/genre: theatre, magic

©️Yuquan Lin

Trace of Belief

Up-and-coming choreographer Hsieh Yi-Chun makes an impressive international debut with a brand-new ensemble dance about collective ritual and individual will. Inspired by temple processions and childhood memories, her mesmerising sextet uses a flow of dynamic movement to pose a key question: 'What anchors our faith in an ever-changing world?' Merging past and present, sacred and secular, tradition and modernity, this sensitive and searching production surges with a heightened sense of spirituality. At the same time, it is deeply rooted in communal humanity. The result is a cross-cultural dance of skill, power and universal resonance.

Chun Dance was founded in 2012 by Hsieh-Yi Chun and her sisters as a dance studio in Taoyuan, a satellite city of Taipei, dedicated to nurturing a passion for contemporary dance in the local community. In 2018, it transitioned into a professional company and was subsequently honoured with a nomination as an outstanding performing arts team. In 2023, Chun Dance began applying to and participating in various dance festivals as a means of showcasing its skills and forming new and strong bonds with audiences both locally and globally. The company's core aims are to explore cultural identity, create experimental productions and develop a unique and distinctive style of physical semiotics.

Location: Assembly @ Dance Base (Studio 1)
Date: 31 Jul - 24 Aug
Time: 20:30 hrs (45 mins)
Ticket: https://assemblyfestival.com/whats-on/1014-taiwan-season-trace-of-belief/performances
Age suitability: 5+
Category/genre: dance, international