The Taipei Theater Awards were launched on Thursday, with the hope of becoming Taiwan’s equivalent of the Tony Awards for contemporary theater and musical productions, Department of Cultural Affairs commissioner Tsai Shih-ping (蔡詩萍) said.
Tsai said establishing top awards for Taiwan’s stage productions has been one of his priorities since taking office because of his guest-starring roles in such productions.
It has also been a wish of theater producers, Tsai said, with directors Ko I-chen (柯一正) and Wu Nien-jen (吳念真) telling him there was a need for high-level honors and recognition for the industry.
Photo: CNA
The inaugural awards, to be presented in June next year, are to include awards for best theater production, best musical production and best experimental and innovative theater or musical production, which would be picked from the nominees in the first two categories, the organizers said.
Awards for individuals include best director, best playwright, best production design, best actor and actress in theater productions, as well as best actor and best actress in musicals.
A special contribution award for either a theater group or individual would be picked from nominees recommended by a group of experts and theatergoers, as well as by members of the public between Oct. 1 and Nov. 30, the organizers said.
Only ticketed productions staged in venues owned or run by the government in Taipei are eligible to compete in the inaugural edition of the awards, except for productions of traditional and children’s theater, the organizers said.
Even if a national theater awards program is established, the Taipei Theatre Awards would continue, Tsai said, citing the example of the coexistence of the Taipei Film Awards and the Golden Horse Awards.
The Taipei Theater Awards would be an important benchmark for Taiwan, since “many productions premiere in Taipei,” Tsai said. “Audiences in Taipei can decide whether a production makes it or not.”
Organizers are scheduled to begin accepting submissions from theater and musical productions from May 1 to June 14 for ticketed productions staged in Taipei between July 1 and Dec. 31.
In addition to trophies for the winners, the city government is to hand out total prize money of NT$2.7 million (US$83,609), the organizers said.
Meanwhile, the privately run Taishin Bank Foundation for Art and Culture, which announced 17 nominees for the 22nd edition of its Taishin Arts Awards early last month, is to hold its awards ceremony on June 1.
The foundation is to present one prize for a visual artwork, one for a performing arts production and a grand prize picked from nominees from both categories.
The grand prize winner is to receive NT$1.5 million, while the two other winners are to be awarded NT$1 million each, the foundation said.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
Actor Lee Wei (李威) was released on bail on Monday after being named as a suspect in the death of a woman whose body was found in the meeting place of a Buddhist group in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) last year, prosecutors said. Lee, 44, was released on NT$300,000 (US$9,148) bail, while his wife, surnamed Chien (簡), was released on NT$150,000 bail after both were summoned to give statements regarding the woman’s death. The home of Lee, who has retreated from the entertainment business in the past few years, was also searched by prosecutors and police earlier on Monday. Lee was questioned three
RISING TOURISM: A survey showed that tourist visits increased by 35 percent last year, while newly created attractions contributed almost half of the growth Changhua County’s Lukang Old Street (鹿港老街) and its surrounding historical area clinched first place among Taiwan’s most successful tourist attractions last year, while no location in eastern Taiwan achieved a spot in the top 20 list, the Tourism Administration said. The listing was created by the Tourism Administration’s Forward-looking Tourism Policy Research office. Last year, the Lukang Old Street and its surrounding area had 17.3 million visitors, more than the 16 million visitors for the Wenhua Road Night Market (文化路夜市) in Chiayi City and 14.5 million visitors at Tainan’s Anping (安平) historical area, it said. The Taipei 101 skyscraper and its environs —
Taiwan on Friday said a New Zealand hamburger restaurant has apologized for a racist remark to a Taiwanese customer after reports that it had first apologized to China sparked outrage in Taiwan. An image posted on Threads by a Taiwanese who ate at Fergburger in Queenstown showed that their receipt dated Sunday last week included the words “Ching Chang,” a racial slur. The Chinese Consulate-General in Christchurch in a statement on Thursday said it had received and accepted an apology from the restaurant over the incident. The comment triggered an online furor among Taiwanese who saw it as an insult to the
RSS