Guling Street Avant-Garde Theatre Introduction
During the Qing Dynasty, traveling between Taipei City and Guting Village would pass through Gu-Ting Street. During the Japanese occupation, this area was named Sakuma Town in honor of the 5th Governor-General, Sakuma Samata. After Japan's defeat, the returning Japanese sold books and paintings here to raise money for their return to Japan, which became the precursor of the old book stalls on Gu-Ting Street. Later, when people from the mainland came to Taiwan, they emulated the Japanese, establishing street stalls selling old books and antique paintings, further spreading the fame of Gu-Ting Street. The name Gu-Ting was adopted to replace Sakuma Town, eliminating the colonial connotation. The entrance of the Gu-Ting Street Small Theater faces northwest, as the Japanese built it for monitoring purposes, allowing them to survey potential threats from the plains area, hence its differing architectural style from nearby homes. The Nationalist government continued to use this building for monitoring duties as a police station, symbolizing state power. The Zhongzheng Second Police Station moved to Nanhai Road, and this building became the performance space for the small theater, developing cultural and artistic activities. The space is planned for offices and service counters, promotional material areas, experimental theater, detention rooms, conference rooms, cultural spaces, audiovisual rooms, and rehearsal rooms. Various activities and performances are periodically held here, marking an important place in the history of small theater development in Taiwan.
