The National Theater and Concert Hall (NTCH) is Asia’s only theater organization to join a new EU-sponsored initiative that seeks to promote sustainability and environmental protection in theater performances.
The Sustainable Theatre Alliance for a Green Environmental Shift (STAGES), launched on Friday at the Avignon Festival in France, features 14 theaters, 13 of which are in Europe. It is led by the Theatre Vidy-Lausanne in Switzerland and Theatre de Liege in Belgium.
The project, funded by the EU with 2 million euros (US$2.02 million), is seeking to explore ways for theater productions to not harm the environment, and to change the way people put sustainability into practice in the cultural sphere, the alliance said.
Photo: CNA
NTCH deputy artistic director Shih Hsin-yuan (施馨媛) said at the launch event that under the project, her organization hopes to transform itself into a “sustainable theater” that operates in harmony with society and the environment.
A news release issued yesterday by the NTCH cited her as saying that as the global performing arts industry gradually recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, her organization would continue to work with its partners worldwide, and strive to connect Asia and Europe through cultural exchanges.
As part of STAGES, the NTCH would in 2025 host an annual forum in Taipei, seeking to bring together artists, scientists and audiences to engage in a dialogue about promoting a sustainable future, the organization said.
STAGES would see the 14 partner theaters “spend the next four years testing radical solutions to the biggest challenges posed by the climate crisis,” the alliance said in a news release on Friday.
These include having each theater conduct a holistic analysis to identify key areas for change in terms of their buildings, audience, staff, transportation access, food and services, and work-life balance among staff, it said.
The 14 organizations would each put on two shows based on works about the climate crisis, using local casts, local sets and even electricity generated on stage, the alliance said.
The launch of STAGES came as theaters urgently need new ways to become resilient and inclusive after two years of the global pandemic, it said.
“STAGES has a focus on social and environmental sustainability, which is especially relevant for theaters in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, as institutions across the [European] continent seek new ways to be resilient and to re-establish a relationship with audiences that have lived through immense social challenges,” Theatre de Liege artistic director and general manager Serge Rangoni is quoted as saying in Friday’s news release.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to