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| editor's diary |
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October 19 – 29
Young Arthur Kipps, a junior solicitor, is sent to sort out the papers of a dead woman who lived in a dark house with tragic secrets. While he’s there, he catches a glimpse of a mysterious woman in black with a wasted face, but villagers refuse to discuss just who she might be. Kipps is left to unravel her identity and her terrible purpose. More than 3 million people have seen stage show The Woman In Black, and now you have the chance. The HKAPA’s Lyric Theatre acts as England’s bleak East Coast for 10 days for the spine chilling drama, which stars London’s West End actors Robin Herford and Brett Tucker. Get your tickets from HK Ticketing on 31 288 288. |
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Until November 5
Filmmakers from Hong Kong and the Mainland have been collaborating since the late ’70s, often with great success. Chen Kaige’s Farewell to My Concubine (1993), starring the late Leslie Cheung, for instance, won many international awards, including the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival and a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film in 1994. Yim Ho’s The Day the Sun Turned Cold (1994) was another shining light, winning Best Director and the Grand Prix at the Tokyo International Film Festival. Those films and 10 others are on show for A Retrospective of Mainland-Hong Kong Co-productions of the ’80s and ’90s, on now until November 5. Screenings take place at the City Hall Theatre, the HK Film Archive, the HK Science Museum and the HK Space Museum. Tickets are $40 from Urbtix, 2734 9009. See our listings for more details. |
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October 20 – 21
Maywa Denki’s Mechatronica is musical mayhem with machines that break down mid-performance. The Japanese art unit – which has numerous international awards to its name – fuses engineering with aesthetics as it shows off its line of performance products, from nonsense machines to humorous musical instruments. The unit is named after a vacuum tube manufacturing company, and its performers wear uniforms typically found in Japanese electrics stores, symbolising the small-medium enterprises that sustained Japan’s economy during its high-growth period. This performance – or, as Maywa Denki calls it, “product demonstration” – represents industrial art on a new scale. See it at the City Hall, Concert Hall, from 8pm. Tickets from Urbtix, 2734 9009. |
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October 20 – 21
Shen Wei, the only Chinese contemporary dance choreographer to enjoy major success in the US, will open the New Vision Arts Festival with two dances performed by his American-based Dance Arts company. Oriental physiques meet Western aesthetics in Near the Terrace, where dancers, appearing almost translucent, plumb the depths of Arvo Pärt’s music. In The Rite of Spring, they of the twinkle toes interact with a massive canvas painting and writhe to Stravinsky’s Le Sacré du Printemps. This company has featured at the Lincoln Center Festival in New York for three years running, so you can be sure it’ll be good stuff. Tickets range from $120 to $360. Call 2734 9009. Show starts 7:45pm. |
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October 20 – 29
Wie in den Vorjahren so zeigt auch das neunte MAX! eine Auswahl der jüngsten und interessantesten deutschsprachigen Produktionen. Oh, no, wait – that’s German. What we were trying to say is that the ninth MAX! German-language film festival – featuring 13 films from Austria, Germany, and Switzerland – is probably worth a look. We’re particularly looking forward to Elementarteilchen (The Elementary Particles), notable for Moritz Bleibtreu’s award-winning performance as a sex maniac, and Der Rote Kakadu (The Red Cockatoo), a dramatic love story set in the same year the Berlin Wall went up. See our listings for full details. |
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Sunday October 22
Lamma Island’s Tai Wan To beach is the place to be today as the Lamma Fun Day returns to raise money for underprivileged kids in Nepal. Starting from 10am, fresh food, beach volleyball, children’s games, arts and crafts stalls, and great live music courtesy of Garoupa, Transnoodle, the Yung Shue Wankers, and DJ Steve Bruce will keep you entertained until late. Organisers are hoping to top last year’s effort, which attracted 5,000 people and raised $117,868 (sorry, no more precise figure was provided). |
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October 27 – 28
Traditional Peking opera is turned on its head in a contemporary small theatre setting for Li Liuyi’s Mu Guiying, the story of a legendary woman warrior in the final hours leading up to her famous military campaign. Hatred, desire and heroism come to the fore in this modern masterpiece. Mu Guiying is showing at the Cultural Centre Studio Theatre as part of the New Vision Arts Festival. Tickets $120 and $200, from Urbtix, 2734 9009. |
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October 27 – 29
Europe’s top ballet company makes its first visit to Hong Kong to perform Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Italy’s centuries-old Teatro alla Scala Ballet Company comes to us from the country’s most celebrated musical theatre and performs a mix of pure, dramatic and pantomimic dance in this dynamic and fairytale-like reading of Shakespeare’s comedy. See it at the Cultural Centre’s Grand Theatre from 7:30pm. Tickets $150 to $550.
Tel: 2734 9009. |
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Sat October 28
Pop diva Mariah Carey, the best-selling female artist of all time, occupies the Tamar site for one night only, before the Government can get its grubby fingers on it. It’ll cost you between $388 and $2,388 to see the princess of wails – try HK Ticketing on 31 288 288. The show starts at 8pm. |
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October 28 – 31
Faust auf dem Klosett is what happens when you put Goethe’s Faust into the toilet. The Theatre Ensemble’s update of the traditional opera sees renowned artistic directors Jim Chim and Olivia Yan collaborate with playwright Mann Chann in this parody of the story of 14-year-old Margareta, an innocent victim of manipulation and desire who loses her virginity, faith, love and family. This epic toilet opera is also part of the New Vision Arts Festival and plays at the Kwai Tsing Theatre Auditorium from 8pm. Tickets $120 to $300. Tel: 2734 9009. |
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Tuesday October 31
Emmanuel Pahud is the only flautist (that’s the word for someone who plays the flute) in the world to have a solo recording contract with a major record company. He’s won screeds of awards, including 1997’s Instrumentalist of the Year at the prestigious Victories de la Musique Awards, and played with many of the world’s leading orchestras, perhaps most prominently with the Berlin Philharmonic, for which he was appointed ‘principal flute’ at the tender age of 22. He’s joined by pianist Eric Le Sage for Flute Fantastic at the HK Polytechnic University Jockey Club Auditorium from 7:30pm. Tickets range from $160 to $410. Tel: 2734 9009. |
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