Stage set for theater to play key role

In the midst of ongoing wars and turmoil in certain regions of the world, a message titled Art Is Peace, penned by the 2023 Nobel Prize in literature laureate Jon Fosse for the 2024 World Theatre Day, was presented during the festivities.

In his address, he emphasized: "Art, good art, manages in its wonderful way to combine the utterly unique with the universal. It lets us understand what is different — what is foreign, you might say — as being universal. By doing so, art breaks through the boundaries between languages, geographical regions, countries. It brings together not just everyone's individual qualities but also, in another sense, the individual characteristics of every group of people, for example, of every nation."

Chen adds that drama is one of the oldest forms of art that tells the stories of civilizations.

"Through portraying various challenges and conflicts faced by humanity, as well as how people collaborate and communicate to resolve these issues, it conveys the values of human civilization. Drama holds a unique advantage in communicating shared human emotions, thoughts and values," Chen says.