Until April 6
One of the reasons many film fans regard Hong Kong as a movie Mecca is that it has played host annually since 1977 to a bumper showcase of films from all over the world. The 32nd Hong Kong International Film Festival will conclude on April 6 with a selection comprising Martin Scorsese’s Shine a Light and the world premiere of Mandrew Kwan and Shu Kei’s Coffee or Tea. Other final week highlights include screenings of Eric Rohmer’s Asian-premiering The Romance of Astrea and Celadon, Bela Tarr’s The Man from London. Tickets are $60 to $30 from URBTIX, 2734 9009 (but for HK Convention & Exhibition Centre screenings, go to HK Ticketing, 31 288 288). For further details (including individual screening dates and times), go to ww.hkiff.org.hk/eng/programme/index.php

It’s a musical! It’s a comedy! It’s the HK Repertory Theatre’s Family Protection Unit – a production with a story its director and scriptwriter, Roy Szeto, says “is very different from my other stories”. Designed to get its audience asking questions and thinking about contemporary Hong Kong family values and related social issues, the musical comedy’s theatrical run has been extended so that it will now play at the HK Arts Centre’s Shouson Theatre until Sunday, April 6. Evening shows are at 7:45pm while the Sunday, March 30, matinee begins at 2:45pm. Tickets are $280 to $140 for Friday to Sunday shows and $260 to $120 for Tuesday and Thursday performances from URBTIX, 2734 9009.

March 28-30
In the dying days of March the social cum sports carnival formally known as the Cathay Pacific/Credit Suisse HK Sevens takes place at the HK Stadium. Long considered the premier tournament of the IRB Sevens World Series, this feast of seven-a-side rugby involves 24 top teams (led by defending champions Samoa) competing for bragging rights and a total prize money of US$150,000. Tickets for the event sold out long ago but if you somehow get your hands on a three-day pass with a $1,080 face value, you’ll need to know the games are scheduled from 4:30-9:15pm on March 28, 10:30am-7:15pm on March 29 and 9:45am-6:40pm on March 30. For more information (including individual match details), go to www.hksevens.com

March 29-April 2
On April 1, 2003, singer-actor Leslie Cheung plunged to his death from the 24th floor of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. We’ll never know why he chose to end his life on April Fool’s Day, and in such a dramatic way, but what we do know five years on is that he remains remembered by many. Among the commemorative activities planned this year is the A Retrospective of Leslie Cheung’s Classic Movies 4 film programme that will take place between March 29 and April 2 at the Golden Gateway (2956 2471) and comprise screenings of A Long and Winding Road (at 4pm on March 29 and 10am on March 31), Viva Erotica! (at 9:30pm on March 30 and 4pm on March 31) and Days of Being Wild (at 12pm on April 1 and 9:30pm on April 2). Tickets are $60 each from www.goldenharvest.com – for more information, go to www.redmission.org.hk

Sunday, March 30
Winner of the Gold Medal in Norway’s Queen Sonja International Music Competition and praised by Placido Domingo for an “incredible technique and sense of music”, Chinese baritone Liao Chang Yong has gained quite a reputation for himself since graduating from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music in 1995 with both a Bachelor’s and Masters degrees. On Easter Sunday, March 30, Liao will give his first solo recital in Asia’s World City under the aegis of Opera HK. The programme for the Liao Chang Yong Recital comprises a total of 17 pieces and runs the gamut from operatic arias by Verdi and Bizet to Chinese folk tunes. The performance is scheduled to commence at the HK Cultural Centre’s Concert Hall at 8pm. Tickets are $480 to $120 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.

Wednesday, April 2
The Elegance Society Dance Troupe will commemorate its 30th anniversary and the Tagesee Dance Group its 20th with a joint presentation of ethnic dance on April 2. Choreographed by veteran artistic director Law Yiu-Wai, Dreams in Rhythm features a Mongolian dance drama and an entirely Tibetan themed Dreams of Heaven section as well as other ethnic minority dances together with traditional Chinese style performances. Showtime is at 7:30pm on Wednesday, April 2, at the HK City Hall’s Concert Hall. Tickets at $160, $120 and $100 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.

Thursday, April 3
Clarinet playing runs in the family of the pair of prodigies who are the featured artists of the City Chamber Orchestra of HK’s Twins on Winds: Rising Stars Concert. Their grandfather was a well-known clarinettist, teacher and arranger and their father is ranked among Israel’s leading players. Fifteen-year-old twins Alexander and Daniel Gurfinkle are the Gurfinkle Clarinet Duo who, under the baton of another special guest, maestro Lior Shambadal of the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, will play Mendelssohn’s Concert Piece No 1 for Two Clarinets in F major, Op 113 and Bizet’s Carmen Fantasia for Two Clarinets at the HK City Hall’s Concert Hall at 8pm on April 3. Tickets are $220 to $100 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.

April 4 and 5
The term ‘Theatre of Silence’ refers to plays which are important as much for what they omit as for what they actually say. Silence Theatre, on the other hand, is the group behind Playing a Play, a mime presentation about clowns in a boring city who decide to play games designed to brighten up their fellow citizens’ days. The Fringe Club’s Fringe Studio will be the venue for this production on April 4 and 5. Evening performances are set to begin at 8pm while the matinee is scheduled for 3pm. Tickets for all shows cost $95 from HK Ticketing, 31 288 288.

Sunday, April 6
Franz Joseph Haydn has been called the ‘Father of the Symphony’ and ‘Father of the String Quartet’ but he excelled in every musical genre that he turned his hands to – and it is an oratorio that is considered to be the masterpiece of this deeply religious man who appended ‘Praise to God’ to every one of his completed compositions. The HK Oratorio Society will present The Creation, a musical masterwork that celebrates the creation of the world as described in the Bible’s Book of Genesis, in concert along with several guest performers at the HK Cultural Centre’s Concert Hall on Sunday, April 6. The performance is set to begin at 8pm. Tickets are $220 to $60 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.

April 10-13
According to a song by Rod Stewart, “Every picture tells a story”. That takes on an extra dimension in the case of The Girl In Blue, in which puppets from Hungary’s highly regarded Ciróka Puppet Theatre tell the story of a young lass from a Picasso painting coming to life. A presentation without words, relying instead on music (including a live violin), mime, dance and digital animation along with puppetry to tell its tale, it will play at the Sai Wan Ho Civic Centre’s Theatre on April 10 and 11, the Tuen Mun Town Hall’s Cultural Activities Hall on April 12 and the North District Town Hall’s Auditorium on April 13. Showtime is at 8pm each evening. Tickets are $170 and $140 for the shows at Sai Wan Ho and $150 and $120 at the other venues from URBTIX, 2734 9009.