Guling Street Little Theatre

During the Qing Dynasty, Guling Street was a thoroughfare connecting Taipei City and Guting Village. During the Japanese colonial period, the area was named Sakuma-cho in commemoration of Sakuma Samata, the 5th Governor-General. After Japan's defeat, Japanese people forced to repatriate came here to sell books and calligraphy for money to return to Japan, which became the precursor to the Guling Street secondhand book stalls. Later, mainland Chinese immigrants arrived in Taiwan and, emulating the Japanese, set up stalls selling secondhand books and antique calligraphy and paintings. This is how Guling Street's fame for secondhand books spread. The name 'Guling' was chosen to replace 'Sakuma-cho,' removing its colonial connotations. The main entrance of the Guling Street Little Theatre faces northwest, a design chosen by the Japanese for surveillance purposes, allowing them to scan the plains for potential threats. Consequently, the building's architecture differs from that of neighboring houses. The Nationalist government continued to use this building for monitoring, converting it into a police station, symbolizing state power. After the Zhongzheng Second Precinct relocated to Nanhai Road, this building became an exhibition and performance space for a small theatre, fostering cultural and artistic activities. The space is planned to include offices and a service desk, a merchandise area, an experimental theatre, a detention room, a conference room, an arts and cultural space, an audiovisual room, and a rehearsal room. Various events and performances are held here regularly, giving it an important place in the history of small theatre development in Taiwan.