MOC boosts support for theater culture in Taiwan

•Source： Taiwan Today
•By Grace Kuo
•Photo: MOC Minister Lung Ying-tai (second from right) announces June 25 that the first Taiwan Theatre Festival will be launched in July. (Courtesy of MOC)

The ROC Ministry of Culture will launch the nation’s first-ever Taiwan Theatre Festival July 13, with the aim of encouraging the public in urban and remote areas to attend cultural activities.

“Theater culture is a signifier of a nation’s civilization,” MOC Minister Lung Ying-tai said June 25. “The performing arts can flourish only with the support of the general public, and outstanding troupes can survive only through ticket revenues.”

Hsu Chih-chien, deputy mayor of New Taipei City, echoed Lung’s remarks, saying that without the audience the nation’s art halls would be deserted.

Lung said many local performance troupes, such as the Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, have given well-received performances abroad. “Their success is also a demonstration of national power,” she pointed out, adding that what the groups have accomplished overseas is as important as the work of the nation’s diplomats.

According to Lung, the event will see 22 performance troupes perform in 22 cities and counties nationwide, including Chiayi, Keelung, Kaohsiung and Tainan cities, as well as Kinmen, Lienchiang, Miaoli, Nantou, Penghu, Taitung and Yunlin counties.

Among the performance groups are 8213 Physical Dance Theater, Shiukim Taiwanese Opera Troupe, and Sizhukong, a Taiwan band blending traditional Chinese music and jazz.

Lung said the festival is slated to run until Oct. 27.