“The Clown Daddy”
(Lei Dance Theater Feat. Director Tang-Cheng Liu. Production No.15)

2025

65 minutes

2025 August

Invited to Changhua Theatre Arts Festival Opening Show. Experimental Theatre

The story of The Clown Daddy begins with a clown performer who, overwhelmed by the hardships of reality, starts to question his path.

The narrative unfolds into a journey of misunderstanding and eventual reconciliation within a family—triggered by a slip of the tongue made by his daughter at the elite school she attends.

The work portrays not only the loneliness and lack of understanding that director-performer Liu has faced due to the nature of his profession and society’s frequent disregard for performing artists, but also draws from his own childhood experiences. As a young student at a prestigious elementary school, he once lied to teachers and classmates, claiming that his father was a doctor. This personal memory is woven into the performance, transforming real-life stories into a touching exploration of parent–child relationships.

The Clown Daddy is a fable about a father learning how to become a father, and in that process, finding reconciliation with his own family of origin. Through the eyes of a clown, the audience is guided into a story world reminiscent of illustrated fables.

The work uses the “performer’s physical body” as its primary stage, expressing the creator’s journey of making peace with his inner child while navigating the path of artistic creation. Yet theater is never merely a vehicle for the performer’s personal healing—it is a collective space. Thus, a central question of this piece is how to share these intimate experiences with others, evoke empathy, and transform deeply personal emotional stories into universal public concerns.

“This might not only be the relationship between the clown and the audience, but also the relationship between the performer and the clown—the relationship between TANG-CHENG LIU and his persona, Monsieur Tang Tang.”

— Yu-Chun Chen, Critic
NCAF Online Magazine, 2025

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[New Talent / New Vision] Holding an Alligator to Pretend It’s a Radio: TANG-CHENG LIU

“The clown is a perspective on the world, a capacity to view things in a way different from the norm. The collective presence in the theatre makes this possible. Tang-Cheng Liu transforms; he transforms freely and unrestrictedly.”

— Yu-Chun Chen, Critic
NCAF Online Magazine (2025)

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[New Talent / New Vision] Holding an Alligator to Pretend It’s a Radio: Tang-Cheng Liu

“This is not merely the creation of three pieces; it is a deep exploration of magic, faith, and clown performance, and a heart-hitting dialogue about the tension between reality and illusion, belief and skepticism, and the self versus the creator. It will shatter your imagination and challenge your perspective!”

— Excerpt from the National Culture and Arts Foundation (NCAF) Website
NCAF News (2025)

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The 17th New Talent / New Vision Program Makes an Extreme Debut—Clown × Folk Faith × Magic:Challenging the Infinite Possibilities of Performing Arts!

“The three creators, each focusing on the distinct performance archetypes of the Magician, the Medium (Jitong), and the Clown, coincidentally draw upon their unique life experiences to guide the audience toward a different perspective that lies beyond the confines of the stage.”

— Excerpt from the Performing Arts Review Platform
Performing Arts Review (2025)

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Clown, Medium, Magician—Regarding the Passion and Reality of Performance[17th New Talent / New Vision]

Director / Performer
Tang-Cheng Liu

Producer
Alison Wang

Assistant Director & Sound Executive
Hong-Yu Shih

Performers
Tang-Cheng Liu
Yen-Ling Pan
Chia-Hsin Hsu

Lighting Designer & Sound Executive
Yu-Ling Hsu

Stage Manager
Yung-Chih Huang