NTCH Course Explores Interpersonal Relationships Using Musical 'The Amazing Sisters' as Case Study

(CNA, Taipei, May 21, by reporter Chao Ching-yu) The National Theater and Concert Hall's (NTCH) "NTCH Academy" has invited Chang Ching-chia, the lead actress of "The Amazing Sisters," to be a lecturer for this year's arts-in-schools program. The course uses the plot of "The Amazing Sisters" as its teaching material to guide young students in enhancing their capacity for empathy and learning how to reconcile and say goodbye.

According to a press release from NTCH, this year's arts-in-schools course, titled "Character Homework: Connection, Comma, and Renewed Dialogue," features Chang Ching-chia, the star of the original Taiwanese musical "The Amazing Sisters," as the instructor. The course centers on the emotional journey of the protagonist, "Sung Kuo-chen," played by Chang, leading students to explore the process of reconciliation with her deceased father and sisters behind the backdrop of the "Song-of-Repose-for-the-Dead" folk tradition.

The course combines theater games like word association and physical development exercises to help students open channels for emotional expression. The final class includes an "empty chair exercise," where students imagine a beloved item on an empty chair and perform a farewell ritual to it. Through the safe space provided by dramatic role-playing, students can re-examine hard-to-express relationships and emotions, placing a "comma" in life's important stories and understanding that saying goodbye is not an "end."

NTCH Artistic Director Liu Yuen stated she firmly believes that art has a transformative power to accompany adolescents through interpersonal and emotional difficulties. "Besides continuing to take root in schools, we also hope to further extend our artistic resources to serve more young people from different backgrounds in the future."

The NTCH Academy's program responds to the Ministry of Education's mid- to long-term plan for Social & Emotional Learning (SEL), implementing the goals of "social awareness" and "interpersonal skills" through its arts-in-schools curriculum. In the first half of the year, a series of awareness exercises were completed with 62 students from three high schools: Zhongzheng, Fengzhu, and Wuling.

NTCH announced that starting this September, the program will expand beyond school campuses into community centers to support more teenagers in need. This summer and in November, teacher workshops will be held to guide volunteer teachers from across the country through a process of self-awareness via physical and vocal development. These results will be included in an "Education Resource Pack" scheduled for release in the first half of 2027, which will be available for free download on the official website. (Editor: Chen Ching-fang) 1150521