The Taiwan Traditional Theatre Center (formerly known as the Xiqu Center of Taiwan) was developed to introduce traditional Chinese theater to a wider range of audiences, and to bring the unique and longstanding art form to the world stage. The facility's Chinese name refers to the traditional performance genre of Chinese drama and musical theater.
Inspired by the "one table and two chairs" setting in Peking opera, the center has a 1,055-seat performance hall, a 300-seat experimental theater, and a music library. In addition, it functions as a facility for professional performances, opera data storage, and program production.
The Center is Taiwan's first professional theater to offer residencies, and space has already been carved out for the Guoguang Opera Company, the National Chinese Orchestra, and the Taiwan Music Institute. The facility will ultimately serve as a creative platform for program production, and integrate production with market testing and copyright trade for the entire performance industry.
Designed by Taiwanese architect Kris Yao's Artech, the center officially opened in December 2017. The National Center for Traditional Arts (NCFTA) under the Ministry of Culture is also working to integrate resources from all fields related to Chinese theater by using Yilan, Taipei, and Kaohsiung as satellite bases.
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