TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — International art directors from major theaters and art festivals based in Europe and Asia have shown up for Taiwan Week.
The National Theater and Concert Hall (NTCH) is hosting the theater surfing event, Taiwan Week, which takes place from Sunday (April 9). Fourty-four art directors from 14 countries, mostly from France and South Korea, are on board.
The group is slated to watch 19 theatrical performances presented by five major national theaters. On Sunday, the debut show was “Dreams and Shadows” by Riverbed Theatre and Formosa Circus Art at NTCH. It was followed by Huang Yu-ching (黃郁晴) and Myan Myan Studio’s “Man of the Theatre,” at Experimental Theater, which was influenced by the MeToo movement and explored gender equality.
Taiwan Week made its debut in 2020, but went online in 2021 due to the COVID-19 surge. This year is the first time for Taiwan Week to serve as a face-to-face platform for Taiwan-based choreographers and foreign theatrical experts. Executive Director of the European Theatre Convention, Heidi Wiley, and Co-Director of Artistic Program of Festival d'Avignon, Magda Bizarro, both attended the event.
As Taiwan is considered a flashpoint for war with China, NTCH Artistic Director Liu Yi-ru (劉怡汝) said she wanted to show the world how Taiwan values freedom and diversity through art performances, traditional cuisine, and tourist attractions.
NTCH Deputy Director Shih Hsin-yuan (施馨媛), also the founder of Taiwan Week, told Taiwan News that a number of screening plays were influenced by temples and local culture. Therefore, they would introduce international art directors to unique Taiwanese culture, such as roadside banquets, visiting a night market, or having a drink at the Dadaocheng riverside dock.
