基隆人，劇場編導，2016年起開始發表創作，於2019年至2023年擔任台南人劇團駐團導演。曾參與多個跨國製作，擔任導演助理及翻譯等職。編劇創作著墨於身份、家庭及文化書寫，解構與挖掘人置於特定文化中的本質，亦汲取跨國製作中所見之文化衝突的經驗，探索跨文化書寫。導演創作則致力於以文學文本為基底，開發演員身體能量素材及多元劇場媒材。目前正於德州大學奧斯汀分校攻讀劇場編劇藝術碩士。
Chih-Ching Chester Tsai is a playwright/director from Taipei, Taiwan. He holds an M.A. in Drama and Theatre and an B.A. in Foreign Languages and Literatures from National Taiwan University. He is currently pursuing his MFA in Playwriting at the University of Texas at Austin. From 2019 to 2023, he served as the resident director at Tainaner Ensemble.
Chih-Ching's writing mainly investigates the essence of individual and family identities under Taiwanese culture and intercultural contexts. His directing approach foregrounds the literary texts and incorporates multimedia and cross-disciplinary materials. His mission in theatre is to examine/explore specific cultural contexts and, in this specificity reveal the possibility of what it means to be human.
Chih-Ching’s original directing and writing works include The Reunion Dinner (2020), Stand Up! (2022) and Slipping through Fingers (2022), which has won the 2021 Quanta Performing Arts Golden Creative Award. He has also worked on classics retelling projects like Antigone (2019) and The Madness of Titus Andronicus (2021). His works have been produced by Tainaner Ensemble, The Funny Old Tree Theatre Ensemble (Macau) and Performosa Theater. His latest work, Dancing through Formosa (2023), a musical for which he wrote the book and lyrics, was produced by Tainaner Ensemble and National Theater and Concert Hall and has just finished a national tour in Taiwan.
Besides a creator, Chih-Ching is also a facilitator in theatre and a translator. He has worked as a director assistant to Po-Shen Lu (Tainaner Ensemble), Theodoros Terzopoulos (Attis Theatre), Shaghayegh Beheshti (Théâtre du Soleil), Pascal Rambert and so on. He co-wrote and translated the script of Kaleidoscope (2018) with Shaghayegh Beheshti and was the translator for Theodoros Terzopoulos’ book, The Return of Dionysus.
Contact: chestertsai26@gmail.com