words yvonne teh

The numbers for the HK Arts Festival are as impressive as its shows

Lovers of the arts, according to popular stereotypes, aren’t prone to pore – or get all that excited – over statistics. But it is hard to think that those from the Fragrant Harbour with an interest in the performing arts will be unmoved by some of the numbers around the HK Arts Festival. As an example, the figures for this year’s edition, the 36th, of the territory’s premiere performing arts extravaganza go something like this: it comprises over 100 performances and related events, involves 31 performing arts groups – an impressive 22 of which are from overseas and a healthy nine from Hong Kong – and it takes place in 13 venues throughout the territory. And all that over the course of a little more than four weeks. Surely such figures will get performing art patrons anticipating some wonderful treats between February 14 and March 16!

At the same time, however, there is a danger that the sheer size and diversity of the cultural feast may cause some worthy shows to be overlooked. And some art aficionados must be wondering whether it’s now too late for them to act, since advanced bookings for this year’s festival events opened as early as October 17 last year, the 2006 HK Arts Festival saw over 103,000 tickets sold for an average attendance of 92.6% and the 2007 edition did even better with over 105,900 tickets sold for an average paid attendance beyond the 97.5% mark. Furthermore, if you don’t include the 41,000 tickets for Zingaro’s Battuta (which the HK Arts Festival folks are co-presenting with the HK Jockey Club but which is not part of the official arts festival line-up), less than 90,000 – as opposed to recent years’ over 100,000 – festival tickets are up for sale this year.

To those tardy and worried art fans, we’d like to say: Never fear, bc is here! We’ve assembled a list of eight promising 2008 HK Arts Festival offerings for which tickets are still available (in some cases, courtesy of added performances). So sit back, relax and read about them – though we recommend that once you have decided what you want to see, make bookings immediately, else other like-minded readers might still beat you to the tickets that remain!

February 13-16
We’ve already written about it in the final entry of this issue’s Editor’s Diary but figure that the National Theatre of Great Britain’s double-bill of Enda Walsh’s Chatroom and Mark Ravenhill’s Citizenship is good enough to rate a second mention. With award-winning director Anna Mackmin at the helm, these productions by two of Britain’s most exciting and celebrated young playwrights will have their Asian premiere here at the HK Arts Festival. The curtain goes up at 8pm on February 13 to 16, with an additional show set for Saturday, February 16, at 3pm, at the HK Academy for the Performing Arts’ Lyric Theatre. Tickets are $480 to $180 and available from both URBTIX, 2734 9009 and HK Ticketing, 31 288 288.

February 19-21
Germany’s Stuttgart Ballet will officially open the HK Arts Festival with a presentation of Swan Lake. Before bidding Auf Wiedersehen to the HKSAR, the group will also perform Onegin, a ballet choreographed by John Cranko, the South African-born dance master widely credited with having transformed the troupe from a local German group into an internationally acclaimed company. With a story based on a 19th century Alexander Pushkin novel and music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Onegin should be a production as romantic as it is Russian. The February 19 to 21 performances at the HK Cultural Centre’s Grand Theatre will begin at 7:30pm. Tickets are priced from $780 to $180 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.

February 21-25
A contemporary American riff on an ancient Greek myth, the American Repertory Theatre’s Orpheus X adapts the story of Orpheus, the legendary ‘father of songs’, into rock musical theatre. This Pulitzer-nominated production is among those international works that will have their Asian premieres at the 36th HK Arts Festival. With its original three scheduled performances ranking among the fest’s top dozen early bestsellers, its Hong Kong run has been extended so that presentations will be staged from February 21 to 24. The February 21 to 23 performances at the HK Academy for the Performing Arts’ Lyric Theatre are set to for 8pm while the Sunday, February 24, show will start at 5pm. Tickets are $480 to $120 from URBTIX, 2734 9009 and HK Ticketing, 31 288 288.

February 29 and March 1
The Chou are the clown characters of Chinese opera free to sing or speak in a natural voice and make impromptu remarks, satirize other characters and generally elicit laughter. This year marks the 130th anniversary of the man considered the greatest of all the Chou and the arts festival will witness the staging by the Peking Opera House of Beijing of four works closely associated with Master Xiao Changhua. The Master of Chou: Xiao Changhua will be presented with Chinese surtitles and English scene synopses. The curtain goes up at 7:30pm on February 29 and March 1 at the HK Academy for the Performing Arts’ Lyric Theatre. Tickets are $280 to $180 from URBTIX, 2734 9009 and HK Ticketing, 31 288 288.

February 29-March 3
William Shakespeare’s earliest tragedy, Titus Andronicus, fell out of favour with Victorian theatregoers because it was considered to be too obsessed with gore. These days, however, that which is indisputably the Bard of Avon’s bloodiest work is back in favour with a vengeance. Still, it’s only now that this play about a fictional Roman general engaged in a cycle of revenge with the Queen of the Goths will be staged for the first time in Hong Kong and in Cantonese (with English surtitles). Showtime on February 29, March 1 and 3 is at 7:45pm while the presentation on Sunday, March 2, is scheduled for 5pm at the Kwai Tsing Theatre’s Auditorium. Tickets are $250 to $100 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.

March 7-11
A canonical Giuseppe Verdi opera with a libretto by Victor Hugo, Rigoletto tells the dramatic story of a court jester who becomes embroiled in a deadly curse that eventually seals his fate and that of the daughter he loves dearly. The Teatro Regio di Parma’s ‘tutta Italiana’ production of this monumental work will be another to have its Asian premiere at this HK Arts Festival. The performances from March 7 to 11 are scheduled to commence each evening at 7:30pm at the HK Cultural Centre’s Grand Theatre. Tickets are priced from $1,280 to $250 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.

Saturday, March 8
French composer Olivier Messiaen’s Vingt Regards Sur L’Enfant Jésus (Twenty Contemplations on the Infant Jesus) is considered to be one of the greatest piano works of the 20th century. It also is infamous for making incredibly intimidating psychological and physical demands on the pianist, so it’s the rare musician who dares to take it on, especially in public. One such individual is the internationally renowned featured artiste who will perform on Saturday, March 8, at the HK City Hall’s Concert Hall. The Joanna MacGregor Piano Recital will commence at 8pm. Tickets are $320 to $120 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.

March 15 and 16
Hungary’s Béla Bartók may be better known as one of the great classical music composers of the 20th century – as well as a piano prodigy able to play 40 songs when he was just four years of age – but he also did much in his lifetime to further Eastern European and Middle Eastern folk music. And when the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble perform colourful traditional dances from their home territory on March 15 and 16, it will be to tunes set by Bartók. Both evenings’ performances of the Hungarian Concerto: Hommage à Béla Bartók are scheduled to commence at 7:30pm at the HK Cultural Centre’s Grand Theatre. Tickets are priced at $350 to $100 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.

The 36th HK Arts Festival will run from February 14 to March 16 at various locations around the HKSAR. For a full schedule and detailed information, go to www.hk.artsfestival.org or refer to the Programme & Booking Guides available at URBTIX outlets.