With support from the Formosa Petrochemical Corporation, the National Theater and Concert Hall will officially launch KidsPlay, their new reservation-based service providing childcare to theatergoers, starting on Mother’s Day.
The National Theater and Concert Hall’s General and Artistic Director Liu Yi-ruu (劉怡汝) says her team has been working to create a more family-friendly environment at the theater since 2019. She says that many young parents avoid going to the theater, usually because they cannot find childcare and consider it inappropriate to bring their children. The main goals of the KidsPlay program are to encourage attendance by making the theater a more inclusive space, and by exposing young children to the performing arts and nurturing their future audience.
The KidsPlay program is led by professional preschool teachers with a background in drama who will guide the children through a variety of interactive theater-related activities. It will be open for reservations on the first day of every month prior to the month of performance and can accommodate ten children aged 4 to 8. All ticket holders are eligible to register for NT$500 (US$15) per person, plus a NT$50 (US$2) surcharge if the performance is longer than 180 minutes.