A heat lamp, a foam roller, and a vow to tell the truth set the stage for a conversation that lives in the body as much as the mind. Fragle and co-host Tracy Mon sit with Wei, a Taiwanese performer and director whose latest piece invites the audience into a synesthetic landscape—words run backward, sentences fracture, lights shift like moods, and the story dissolves so feeling can lead. It’s disorienting, vulnerable, and, for those willing to surrender linear sense-making, surprisingly tender.
We compare notes on aging, and letting go of being “number one.” Wei calls acting “emotional athletics,” and breaks down the craft: rigorous voice and body warmups, relentless rehearsal, then the hardest step of all—releasing control so presence can do its work.
The conversation deepens as Wei shares how performing transformed his experience of living with HIV, and how he now creates workshops where people alchemize grief through drawing, movement, and story. Rather than purging emotion, he reframes it as transformation—like heat changing states, art moves feeling from stuck to seen.
We also have a song at the end. The story behind it is shared during the episode.
If you’re curious about synesthesia, performance craft, Taiwan’s arts ecosystem, or the simple, radical act of being present, this one’s for you. Press play, turn on the red light, and consider your own why. If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review—tell us a moment when art helped you transform something hard.
