Founded in January 2000, the National Center for Traditional Arts (NCFTA) originally operated as an affiliate of the Council for Cultural Affairs (currently the Ministry of Culture).
The NCFTA is tasked with the promotion, research, preservation and development of traditional Chinese performing arts. To achieve these goals, NCFTA utilizes its position as a “government agency” for public-private collaboration for its public service aspects. The NCFTA comprises the Taiwan Music Institute and two performing arts parks based in Yilan and Kaohsiung. As an incubator for traditional Chinese performing arts, this institution seeks to offer an enriching theatregoing experience and to promote some of the best Taiwanese performing groups to the world, including the GuoGuang Opera Company, the Taiwan BanZi Opera Company, and the National Chinese Orchestra. The Taiwan Traditional Theatre Center, an affiliate of NCFTA, is located in Shihlin, Taipei, adjacent to the MRT Zhishan Station. The architecture of the Center fully embodies the philosophy of coexisting with nature. Inspired by the idea of “a table and two chairs,” the architect Kris Yao masterfully blends the spontaneous expression of Chinese performing arts into the modern aesthetics of the building.
To plan and hold high-quality traditional opera performances, and to preserve the classics, access contemporary creative ideas and explore future trends through all manner of theatrical productions, helping to attain the goal of sustaining Taiwanese traditional performing arts.
To cultivate talents who are able to perform and create traditional performing arts and to pass down the aesthetic conventions of traditional operas; at the same time, ensuring that, professional theatre facilities, front and backstage services, and other artistic and cultural resources are shared and accessible to non-governmental or private creators and artists.
To organize and plan educational promotion activities which aim to popularize the traditional performing arts and enable them to take root in our life and reach out to touch ever more audiences.
The inspiration for Taiwan Traditional Theatre Center‘s organizzation of programs comes from four major types of programs annually. The first type is performances presented by all kinds of performing troupes and organized by the Center, including Taiwanese opera, Hakka opera, traditional Taiwanese puppetry, Nanguan and Beiguan, Peking opera, Kunqu, traditional narrative and musical performances, folk arts, and artistic formations, etc. The second type is performances produced by four subsidiary units: GuoGuang Opera Company, National Chinese Orchestra Taiwan, Taiwan BangZi Opera Company and Taiwan Music Institute. The third type is a series of programs that promote international cultural exchanges. The last type is space-rental programs organized by non-governmental performing groups.
The Center aims to establish itself as the leading brand for traditional operas in Taiwan and widely present the diversified aspects of Taiwanese traditional arts, through two annual Flagship Festivals - Taiwan Traditional Theatre Festival and Asia-Pacific Traditional Arts Festival, other special projects, and the productions of four subsidiary units.
In the Taiwan Traditional Theatre Center, there are the Main Theatre, Experimental Theatre, Multi Halls, Plaza, medium & small rehearsal rooms, Taiwan Music Institute, and other spaces for all kinds of artistic and cultural activities to facilitate, perform, and rehearse.
The Main Theatre
The Main Theatre numbers 1,036 seats, and is located in the north of the Center. Its design breaks the traditional image by covering the walls with gold foil, and hanging three streamlined crystal chandeliers to demonstrate the grandeur and magnificence of the Main Theatre. Different from the common design in an ordinary theatre, the audience seats are filled with the touch of traditional opera by tinting the seats in all kinds of red colors, which is full of youthfulness and liveliness, just like the impression of the traditional opera’s character “Hong-niang (matchmaker)”.
The Experimental Theatre
The Experimental Theatre, a so-called “black box” theatre, has 240 seats. It is located in the south of the Center. The acting area could be switched to a one-sided stage, a two-sided stage, a three-sided stage, a surrounding stage or an L-shape stage to satisfy various needs of the acting groups.
Taiwan Music Institute
The space of the Taiwan Music Institute is divided as follows: B1—Lecture Room, Exhibition Room and Workshop; 1F—Café, Ticket and Information; 2F—Music Archives Room; 3F—Special Exhibition Room.
3102 Multi Hall
3102 Multi Hall is located at the third floor in the north of the Center with a total area of 517.2 m². This place is suitable for rehearsals, performances, and press conferences. The space is equal to the main stage in the Main Theatre; therefore, when they rehearse in this hall, users could visualize the relative position in the Main Theatre, which helps cut down the rehearsing time and increase precision.
3201 Multi Hall
3201 Multi Hall is located at the third floor in the south of the Center, with a total area of 502 m². There is a fixed stage inside the hall and the reverberation quality is excellent for holding recitals, chorus concerts or any other music campaigns. The audience seats are not fixed, but the capacity could reach 200 persons when needed.
International Conference Hall
International Cconference Hhall is located at the 7th floor in the south of the Center with a total area of 438 m². The space is well-organized with a lounge room, a control room and a simultaneous interpretation room, which could be feasible as a professional international conference hall for holding conferences, meetings, or demo lectures.
The Plaza
With the total area of 528 m², the Plaza is the public space linking the Main Theatre, the Experimental Theatre and the Taiwan Music Institute, in which a moveable stage cart as a public art piece is placed. The Plaza could be used for various activities and facilitated as an acting area closer to people’s life. The Plaza is with the capacity of 300 persons.
Terrace
The Terrace is located at the third floor outdoor between the Main Theatre and the Experimental Theatre. Covering an area approximately of 348 m2, the Terrace also serves as a connecting pass to Zhong-zheng Senior High School and the MRT Zhishan Station. The space is multi-functional and can be converted into an art marketplace, a performance area, or an exhibition zone. As a popular leisure place with international visitors and local residents, the Terrace has become a hot spot for photography in Taipei.
Address:No. 751, Wen-lin Rd., Shi-lin Dist., Taipei City, 111044
Directions : Details as How to Get to the TTTC