The stage version of Tuesdays with Morrie, adapted from a best-selling memoir by US author Mitch Albom, draws attention to the struggles of patients suffering from a fatal nerve cell disease.
In the 1997 memoir, Albom recounts the life lessons he learned from his visits with his former professor Morrie Schwartz, who was dying of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a progressive disease of the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary muscle movement.
The book has sold more than 11 million copies worldwide and has been adapted for TV and stage.
The local version of Tuesdays with Morrie is directed by Daniel Yang (楊世彭), formerly of the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre. It features veteran actor Chin Shih-chieh (金士傑) in the role of Morrie and Pu Hsueh-liang (卜學亮) as the student.
Yang, Chin, and Pu yesterday went to Taipei City Hospital to visit the 17 ALS patients there who are confined to bed.
“As an actor, I communicate through acting, but now I realize how valuable it is to be able to communicate,” Chin said.
Yang said that he hopes the play will increase public awareness of the difficulties faced by ALS patients.
There are about 1,200 ALS patients in Taiwan.
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck Chiayi County at 4:37pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 36.3km southeast of Chiayi County Hall at a depth of 10.4km, CWA data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Chiayi County, Tainan and Kaohsiung on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Pingtung, Taitung, Hualien, Changhua, Nantou and Penghu counties, the data
The Supreme Court today rejected an appeal filed by former Air Force officer Shih Chun-cheng (史濬程), convicted of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) espionage, finalizing his sentence at two years and two months for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法). His other ruling, a ten-month sentence for an additional contravention, was meanwhile overturned and sent to the Taichung branch of the High Court for retrial, the Supreme Court said today. Prosecutors have been notified as Shih is considered a flight risk. Shih was recruited by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) intelligence officials after his retirement in 2008 and appointed as a supervisor