For the past seventy years, Taiwanese Opera had changed from indoor-stage performance to outdoor-stage performance and now evolved onto the stage of modern theater houses. The Ming Hwa Yuan could always catch up with the flow of society. Audiences are attracted by its innovative plot and the marvelous visual effect. Chen Sheng-guo, is one of the key roles in the Ming Hwa Yuan. He has been the playwright and director of the Ming Hwa Yuan for more than two decades. The themes of the Ming Hwa Yuan’s dramas all come from our daily life, historical figures and the religious morals. For example, Lion King shows that those who would correct their errors and make a fresh start can be redeemed. In The Master of Sword, the Immortal Liu Dong-bin chose a mortal life. This tells us that since we are born into this world, we should try our best to discover the meaning of life and live with dignity. Bid for State Power depicts the competition between Shiang Yu and Liou Bang. Shiang Yu’s character was redefined in this drama. Peng Lai Eight Immortals gives dramatic introduction of how they transformed themselves from mortals to immortals. These dramas are all written by Chen Sheng-Gou. Love and humanity are delicately delivered in the drama to make audiences feel that they related the drama to their own lives.

Chen Sheng-gou was very familiar with characters in traditional dramas since he grew up in a Taiwanese Opera troupe. Chen started to draw his own historic characters like Liou Bei, Shiang Yu, Guang Gong, Tsau Tsau. In 1960th, Yang Li-hua Taiwanese Opera Troupe was famous for performing in televised Taiwanese Opera. When Chen turned eighteen, he started to be storyteller. It’s also a transitional period of time for the Ming Hwa Yuan to move their performance from indoor-stage to the outdoor-stage. Chen made a brave new approach. Based on his three-years’ experience working as a log keeper in Gia Yu Movie Cooperation, he starts to write down the script of Taiwanese Opera and reshape and redefine the personality of traditional characters. Besides artistic value and entertaining effect, the drama of the Ming Hwa Yuan shall bring a light of hope to audiences. Taiwanese Opera tends to be sorrowful. To catch up with the changing world, the Ming Hwa Yuan has to pace itself. The script may not be true to historical facts; however, from the response of audiences, this approach is welcomed. In order to cater to the taste of audiences, Chen Sheng-guo regards audiences as his teacher and his best guidance.

Chen Sheng-guo has forged a refined stage for the Ming Hwa Yuan. He creates a variety of visual effects to comply with the plot through his imagination. Taiwanese Opera is now infused with both tradition and modernity. Chen Sheng-guo withdrew from large public performances ten years ago because he was afraid that his participation in the performance might obstruct the plot development. We were surprised by his answer. He said, the one who performs on stage could barely beware of their own defects. If the director can’t see the performance from a farther perspective, the scale of plot would be limited. He chose to be an outsider in order to observe better. Chen Sheng-guo often thinks about the artistic value of creation, the degree of the acceptance from audiences, and how dramas influence people’s lives. His wish is to create a fantastic play that provides audiences with broader view of the drama.