At this year’s OzAsia Festival, Antimony Company is bringing their incredibly powerful production of Embarking On A Drift to the Unknown to Nexus Arts.
Antinomy Company is a fluid and multi-modal creative collective that engages with the entangled relationships between body, memory, and site within contemporary contexts. Guided by the core principles of ‘multiple forms, multiple participation, and multiple care,’ the collective explores the layered ambiguities found in artistic materials, narrative structures, and modes of presentation.
Embarking On A Drift to the Unknown is set in 1957, where a woman crossed the sea and vanished into an arranged marriage. Decades later, her granddaughter retells the story in an intimate, audio-immersive solo performance merging soundscapes, fragmented memory, and archival media, all carried through wireless headphones. Guided by Zi Wei Dou Shu (紫微斗數), a Chinese astrological system, the work explores migration, colonial legacies, and fate as resistance.
Performing this incredible work is Cheng Shih-Yung. Cheng Shih-Yung was born and raised in Taipei, Taiwan, in a family of Chinese immigrants retreating with Kuomintang from her father’s side and Taiwanese Hokkien people from her mother’s side. Having graduated from the Graduate Institute of Theatre Performance and Playwriting at Taipei National University of the Arts, majoring in acting, she has worked with several renowned troupes in Taiwan, such as Tanner Ensemble, Myan Myan Studio, and House Peace.
Cheng Shih-Yung spoke to Glam Adelaide about Embarking On A Drift to the Unknown and what it is about acting and performing that drew her to the performing arts industry.
“It’s just something I realized that I like to do and have the resilience to try and try again after setbacks and self-doubt. It’s never boring, always challenging, and exciting to portray a character, tell a story with my whole being, and convey a message to the world. Sometimes it forces me to face issues hidden within everyday lives, and I appreciate it.”
We asked Cheng Shih-Yung how her involvement in Embarking On A Drift to the Unknown came about.
“I have known Yun (the director) for a long time and been aware of his interest in this topic for several years. As a woman and a grandchild of Chinese immigrants who retreated with the KMT party—like many of my generation—the questions of personal identity, ethnicity, and nation feel like something we cannot dodge, especially as a Taiwanese.”
Embarking on a Drift to the Unknown will be part of the OzAsia Festival, with performances at Nexus Arts on Friday 31 October at 6.00pm and Saturday 1 November at 7.00pm.
“The story is quite intense yet delivered in a gentle way. Since it’s a solo performance, the audience will only hear my voice, and the tactic this time is to reduce the ‘acting’ to the bare minimum. I play the part as a narrator for much of the piece, so at first it may feel a bit distant, but the audience will then hear lines through headphones that are so close, that allow them to gradually piece together a female image with a voice whispering into their ears. The contrast and combination of this alienation and intimacy is fascinating and intriguing to me and hopefully brings the audience a novel experience in theatre.”
Embarking on a Drift to the Unknown
Nexus Arts Venue
Friday 31 October at 6.00pm
Saturday 1 November at 7.00pm
https://ozasia.adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au/whats-on/embarking-on-a-drift-to-the-unknown
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