Until May 5
One of the modern film world’s great auteurs and a true giant of New Taiwanese Cinema, director-writer Edward Yang, passed away on June 27, 2007, at the age of 59. In tribute, the HK International Film Festival has assembled a complete retrospective of his work and, while the 32nd edition of the film fest officially concludes on April 6, the bulk of the screenings in the The One and Only Edward Yang (1947-2007) programme – highlights of which include In Our Time (1982), Taipei Story (1985), The Terrorizers (1986), A Brighter Summer Day (1991) and Yi Yi (2000) – take place after that date through to May 5. Tickets are $55 from URBTIX, 2734 9009. For more information (including about individual screening dates, times and venues), go to www.hkiff.org.hk/eng/index.php

Thursday, April 10
“BAPE is a lifestyle company, including music, hair, even food. Everything you need to live.” So states A Bathing Ape (BAPE)’s founder, Tomoaki ‘Nigo’ Nagao. A man of many talents (including designing, music production, drumming and DJing), Nigo figures in the line up of the World Wide Bape Heads Live Show 2008 in HK whose other headliners include multi-Grammy award-winning rap artist Kanye West, alternative rock band N.E.R.D. and J-hip-hop group Teriyaki Boyz. The music making will begin at 7:15pm on Thursday, April 10, at the HITEC Star Hall. Tickets for the show are priced at $1,180, $880 and $580 from HK Ticketing, 31 288 288.

April 11-13
It’s Flesh Dance, not Flashdance! So don’t expect Jennifer Beals at the Mcmuimui Dansemble’s multi-media presentation when it kicks off the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD)’s Hong Kong Stories Series at the HK Cultural Centre’s Studio Theatre this April. Comprising a set of dance pieces named after appetizers, entrees and desserts, Flesh Dance is designed by dancers, choreographers, theatre activists and Mcmuimui co-founders Abby Chan and Yeung Wai Mei to share the sweet and sour experiences of their best decade of life as well as celebrate the 10th anniversary of their award-winning dance ensemble. The performances on April 11 and 12 will begin at 8pm while the April 13 matinee starts at 3pm. Tickets are priced at $200 and $140 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.

April 16-19
In Western folklore, the Sandman sends people, especially children, to sleep and Dreamland by sprinkling magical sand into their eyes. Frenzy Production’s Sandman, however, is a hard-hitting and fast-paced drama – with some comedy thrown in – in no way intended to induce drowsiness. Telling the extraordinary tale of a conman named Jude whose love for his mad mother sends him on a mission to release her from narcolepsy by inventing a drug that’ll cure sleep itself, the theatrical work will have a Hong Kong run at the Fringe Club’s Fringe Studio from April 16 to 19. Showtime is 8:15pm. Tickets are $180 from HK Ticketing, 31 288 288.

April 17-20
Considered a relatively young as well as lyrical form of Chinese opera, Yue (aka Shaoxing) Opera nonetheless possesses its share of popular masterpieces, five of which will be highlighted in Classics from the Traditional Yue Opera Repertoire this month. The performances will be by the Xiaobaihua Yue Opera Troupe of Shaoxing and The Xiaobaihua Troupe of Hangzhou Yue Opera Theatre. The HK Cultural Centre’s Grand Theatre will be the venue for presentations of The Butterfly Lovers on April 17, Trials of Love on April 18 and The Aloeswood Fan on April 19, while the Tsuen Wan Town Hall’s Auditorium will stage The Jade Hairpin on April 19 and The Jade Dragonfly on April 20. All shows begin at 7:30pm bar for The Aloeswood Fan which starts at 2:30pm. Tickets for the HK Cultural Centre presentations are $340 to $100 while the Tsuen Wan performances are $280 to $100 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.

April 18 and 19
The term ‘concrete jungle’ tends to have negative connotations of soullessness but, as the Burnt Mango Dance Theatre folks observe, “Even concrete has memory and beneath her crust slumbers rich, moist earth.” Devised from real-life city stories, their latest work, Concrete Jungle Berzerk! is an original dance theatre piece about the city and its contradictions, and the courage needed to remain sensitive in an efficient, concrete-dominated world. The performances at the Fringe Club’s Fringe Theatre will be performed – as befits the Burnt Mango Dance Theatre’s international character – in Cantonese, English and Japanese. Showtime is at 8pm on April 18 and 19. Tickets cost $120 from HK Ticketing, 31 288 288.

Saturday, April 19
It is hard to stop oneself from gushing and rhapsodizing over Sergei Rachmaninov’s enchanting Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, one of two works by the Russian Romantic composer in the programme of Rachmaninov Rendezvous: Colleen Lee, the HK Sinfonietta’s 2008-09 season opener. The Saturday, April 19, concert also features the world premiere of Afterglow by Samson Young, the company’s new Artist Associate. The concert starts at 8pm at the HK City Hall’s Concert Hall. Tickets are $250 to $120 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.

April 24-27
The Ming chronicles have him down as a government official but Tang Xianzu has gained immortality as the Ming Dynasty’s most gifted playwright. Best remembered for The Four Dreams at Lin Chuan, a quartet of plays still performed in Kunqu Opera form to this day, he is the subject of Zuni Icosahedron’s Tang Xianzu’s Dream on Dreams. An original Kunqu Opera work in which, in his dreams, Tang meets characters from his major stories – including the 20-hour epic, The Peony Pavilion – it is also billed as an illustrative beginner’s guide to the art of Kunqu. This drama will be staged from April 24 to 27 at the HK Cultural Centre’s Studio Theatre. Showtime for all performances is 7:45pm. Tickets are $800, $400 and $180 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.

April 26-May 4
In 1587, Mary, Queen of Scots, was beheaded on the order of her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I of England, English settlers crossed the Atlantic Ocean to re-populate the legendary ‘lost colony’ on Roanoke Island, and a severe famine broke out in Ming Dynasty China. Yet, if one were to believe the title of Zuni Icosahedron’s theatrical adaptation of historian Ray Huang’s book, it was a case of 1587, A Year of No Significance! Actually, as both the book and play show, 1587 was full of events that carried implications affecting the fate of China in ways that continue to be felt today. The April 26-May 3 evening performances of the historical drama at the HK Cultural Centre’s Studio Theatre commence at 7:45pm while the April 26 and 27 and May 5 matinees begin at 2:45pm. Tickets are $432 to $162 for Monday to Thursday performances and $480 to $180 for Friday to Sunday shows from URBTIX, 2734 9009.

Sunday, April 27
Pianist Michelle Kim was born in Seoul, Korea, and moved to the USA to further her music studies before she reached her teens. But these days, she resides in the HKSAR along with her husband and the Fragrant Harbour is clearly where her heart is – as can be seen by the choice of title for her charity concert on Sunday, April 27. To Hong Kong With Love features pieces by classical music giants JS Bach, Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann and Franz Liszt. Kim’s solo recital, all proceeds of which will be donated to the American Women’s Association’s Education and Charity Fund, will be held at the HK Academy for the Performing Arts’s Concert Hall. Showtime is 8pm. Tickets are $480, $380 and $280 from HK Ticketing, 31 288 288.