Three Taiwanese theater professionals were to be featured yesterday in an episode of Segal Talks, an hour-long livestreamed discussion series presented by the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center at the City University of New York.
Created last month by center executive director Frank Hentschker, who hosts the session, the Segal Talks are discussions with performers, theater professionals, curators and academics from the US and around the world about their life, work and art during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Culture said on Tuesday.
The shows are livestreamed Mondays to Fridays at noon in New York on the HowlRound Theatre Commons’ Web site (howlround.com or www.facebook.com/HowlRound) as well as the Martin E Segal Theatre Center’s site (www.facebook.com/SegalCenter).
“An Update On The Situation For Theatre Artists In Taiwan” features Very Mainstream Studio (狠主流) and Very Theatre Company (狠劇場) founder/director Chou Tung-yen (周東彥), Horse (驫舞劇場) cofounder and dancer Chen Wu-kang (陳武康) and Performing Arts Network Development Association chairperson Kathy Hong (洪家琪), who has worked with several groups and theaters, including Cloud Gate Dance Theatre (雲門舞集), and served as marketing communications director at the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts and as executive director of International Organization of Scenographers, Theater Architects and Technicians.
Hong said the discussion would offer a rare opportunity for the international community to understand the current situation in Taiwan.
While the program featuring Chou, Chen and Hong was to be livestreamed starting at midnight last night, recordings of each session are available online after the initial broadcast.
The Segal Talks series was inspired by a famous quote from German playwright Bertolt Brecht — “New times need new forms of theater,” the ministry said.
Previous discussions have featured New York-based actor and playwright Taylor Mac, German theater director Thomas Ostermeier, Italian playwright Marco Martinelli, Italian actress Ermanna Montanari and Japanese director Toshiki Okada, the ministry added.
Additional reporting by CNA and staff writer
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