Until March 16
To be fei (fat) is not something many in image-conscious Hong Kong would like. But to be Fei Fei? Lydia Sum, the entertainment personality known by her sobriquet, may have been rotund but she was also undoubtedly popular and beloved – and for decades rather than just years. On February 19, 2008, the comedian, hostess of long-running TV show Enjoy Yourself Tonight, veteran of over 160 movies and so much more, passed away. She was 63. Until March 16, the HK Film Archive is presenting In Memory of Lydia Sum – a tribute programme of 12 of her films, many of them comedies (complete with English as well as Chinese subtitles), the earliest of which dates back to 1962. Tickets for screenings are $30 each from URBTIX, 2734 9009. For further details (including individual screening dates and times), go to www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/filmprog/english/2008lydia/
2008lydia_index.html

Until March 30
In 1906, American financial magnate, philanthropist and art collector JP Morgan offered photographer-ethnographer Edward S Curtis a sizeable US$75,000 to produce a series of books on the North American Indian. Some 40,000 photographs, 24 years and many journeys to the Great Plains, the Southwest, the Northwest coast, the Plateau and Alaska later, Curtis finally judged he had enough to produce a 20-volume, 20-portfolio set of handmade books for a monumental photo-ethnographic study of the native American peoples in the early 20th century. Sixty-one photographs from this invaluable collection are on display at the University Museum and Art Gallery of the University of HK as part of the Sacred Legacy: Edward S Curtis and the North American Indian exhibition that runs through to March 30. The museum is open from 9:30am to 6pm Monday to Saturday and 1:30-5:30pm on Sundays. Admission is free. For more, visit www.hku.hk/hkumag

March 14 and 15
As a dancer, Montreal’s Marie Chouinard gained notoriety for urinating onstage and including masturbatory acts in her solo dance performances. Since 1990, however, ‘the queen of avant-garde’ has refashioned herself into a multi-award-winning dance choreographer whose Compagnie Marie Chouinard will stop by in Hong Kong as part of the world tour of its Ode to Joy L.I.V.E. – Orpheus and Eurydice. Inspired by the Ode to Joy in Beethoven’s ninth symphony, this celebratory production will be performed on March 14 and 15 at the HK Academy for the Performing Arts’ Lyric Theatre under the aegis of the 2008 HK Arts Festival. Both shows are set to begin at 8pm. Tickets are priced at $380 to $120 from URBTIX, 2734 9009 and HK Ticketing, 31 288 288.

March 14-16
Although only some 15 out of 60 plays by Guan Hanqing have survived in their totality over the centuries, enough is known about the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) medical man turned bohemian dramatist’s work to get him widely acclaimed as one of China’s greatest playwrights. From March 14 to 16, the self-described “leader of all loafers in the country” will be honoured with presentations at the HK City Hall’s Concert Hall of vignettes from three of his signature plays: Meeting the Enemies Alone, Saving a Prostitute, and The Riverside Pavilion. The March 14 and 15 performances of Cantonese Opera: The Timeless Works of Guan Hanqing  start at 7:30pm while showtime for the March 16 matinee is 1:30pm. Tickets are $320 to $90 for the evening shows and $300 to $80 for the matinee from URBTIX, 2734 9009.

March 14-24
“Flowers”, the eminent Victorian art and social critic John Ruskin opined, “seem intended for the solace of ordinary humanity.” If so, seekers of solace should make a beeline for the HK Flower Show 2008 to be held from March 14 to 24 in Causeway Bay’s Victoria Park. With the gerbera as its featured flower and Vibrant Blossoms for Beijing Olympics as its theme, this year’s edition of the annual event that attracted over 520,000 visitors last year also promises to be a hugely colourful affair. Daily open hours are 9am to 9pm. Tickets to the show cost $14 and are available at the showgrounds in Victoria Park. For enquiries, call 2697 8030.

March 15 and 16
High-octane music and spirited dance performances can be expected when the combination choir, orchestra and dance troupe that is the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble come to town with their tribute to Béla Bartók, their country’s most famous composer/pianist. The programme for the Hungarian Concerto: Hommage à Béla Bartók includes traditional Hungarian dances and Gypsy tunes, Bartók having been greatly inspired by Eastern European and Middle Eastern folk music. The HK Cultural Centre’s Grand Theatre will stage all three performances: those on March 15 and 16 will start at 7:30pm while the matinee on March 16 will be at 3pm. Tickets cost $350 to $100 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.

March 25-29
A play initially written to celebrate the female genital organ along with femininity as a whole, The Vagina Monologues has now become – according to its creator, Eve Ensler – a movement to stop violence against women. How appropriate, then, that, as part of the international anti-violence against females V-Day 2008 campaign, the Fringe Club’s Fringe Studio will host benefit performances of this work. Staged in Cantonese on March 25 and 26, and in English on March 28 and 29, the episodic offering presents thought-provoking accounts of modern womanhood through a series of monologues relating to the vagina. Showtime is 8pm Tickets are $275 from HK Ticketing, 31 288 288.

March 26-30
It never rains, but it pours. That’s how rugby fans in Asia’s World City must feel. For not only will the sport’s enthusiasts have the HK Sevens 2008 to look forward to from March 28 to 30 but three other prime rugby events – two of them free! – are scheduled for the couple of days before the start of the international tournament! Wednesday, March 26, will see the single-day, free-admission Kowloon RugbyFest 2008 (www.kowloon-rugby.com) getting off to a bright and early start at 8am on the King’s Park Sports Ground, while the two-day 2008 GFI HK Tens (www.hongkongtens.com) kicks off at 11am at the HK Football Club. On-site two-day passes for “the best Tens tournament in the world” are $200 a piece. Additionally, on March 27 and 28 the Cable & Wireless HK Women’s Rugby Sevens 2008 tournament will be mainly contested at the So Kon Po Sports Ground, the exception being the final which will take place across at the HK Stadium as part of the HK Sevens. Day one’s action runs from 9:30am to 4:30pm while the second day starts at 9:30am and runs to 4:50pm at So Kon Po Sports Ground, the final match at the HK stadium set to kick off at 6:42pm. For more information, go to www.hkrugby.com or call 2504 8300.

March 26-29
The Pillowman may sound like a snoozer but it actually is a critically acclaimed theatrical work by Irish playwright Martin McDonagh. A black comedy that centres on a fiction writer in a police state who is interrogated about his gruesome short stories’ similarities to a number of bizarre incidents occurring in his town, it received the Olivier Award on one side of the Atlantic Ocean and even more honours on the other after it opened on Broadway. On March 26 to 29, this play will have its maiden run in Hong Kong courtesy of Looking Glass Productions. Performances commence at 7:30pm at the Fringe Theatre. Tickets are $230 from HK Ticketing, 31 288 288.

March 28-30
It’s All Tchaikovsky as far as the HK Ballet is concerned from March 28 to 30! The dance company will present a mixed-bill programme of five works intended to showcase both masterpieces the Russian composer wrote specifically for ballet (Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, and The Nutcracker) and others he did not (the final movement of Suite No 3 for Orchestra). The venue for this production is the Sha Tin Town Hall’s auditorium. Showtime for performances on March 28 and 29 is at 8pm while the March 29 and 30 matinees will begin at 3pm. Tickets are $280 to $100 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.