Historical Environmental Theater as a Catalyst for Recalling Citizens' Collective Memories: The Performance Revealing the Old City as an Example.

In the course of a city's development, historical areas can be demolished by foreign authorities and new construction. Local people's collective memories of and identification with historical places would thus be erased. This article asks what means can be used for inhabitants to recollect their memories of the cultural heritage sites of a city. To restore the city's historical places, the Kaohsiung city government's "Old Fongshan City Restoration Project" was announced at the closing performance--"Revealing the Old City"--of the Kaohsiung Spring Festival 2016. "Revealing the Old City" is not only the name of a historical environmental theater but also a cultural demonstration that intends to unfold the historical traces of old Fengshan city in Kaohsiung. Based on the viewpoint of the city as theater and the theory of site specificity, this article argues that it is important to associate existing cultural heritage with site-specific theater to patch local inhabitants' memories of places. Through narration of the city's historical happenings, this article discusses the role of "Revealing the Old City," performed in 2018 in the historical area of Zuoying, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, for the reconstruction of local people's memories. Moreover, the article discusses how theatrical settings can contribute to the spatial narration of the performance. By analyzing the spatial settings and the contingency of the performance, the article will finally examine whether this site-specific environmental theater can properly act as a catalyst for recalling inhabitants' collective memories and activating the historical site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]