bc magazine

10th Chinese Drama Festival

mother courage

The Chinese Drama Festival (CDF) is a drama extravaganza in Chinese organised roughly every two years by China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. 2016 is the tenth festival and runs from the 2-24 April. Previous festivals have been hosted in Beijing (1996), Hong Kong (1998 & 2007), Taipei (2000 & 2009), Macau (2002 & 2011), Kunming (2004), and Hangzhou (2014).

The CDF features ten drama productions by local and international theatre companies, a series of Chinese drama seminars. Here’s a synopsis of the drama productions:

Footprints in the Snow (Opening Production)
Legendary Cantonese opera playwright Yip Fei Hung in his last letter to his son Eric, reveals his yet-to-be-produced script, currently hidden in “Ying Seung”(“congealed box”). In search of the script, Eric recollects more about his father’s life and love, and also an ambiguous relationship with a retired male actress. Discover the playwright’s unrevealed sensation and his unique artistic vision through his footprints.

Footprints in the Snow
Hong Kong Repertory Theatre
Date: 2-13 April, 2016
Venue: HK City Hall, Theatre
Tickets: $300, $250, $180 from Urbtix
More info: 2, 3, 5-6, 7, 8-9,11-13 April – 7:45pm; 3 April – 2:45pm

The Captain
A large-scale original production presented by the the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre which focuses on raising awareness of the environment and heritage preservation.
The Captain
Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre
Date: 8pm, 14-16 April, 2016
Venue: Tsuen Wan Town Hall, Auditorium
Tickets: $280, $200, $140 from Urbtix
More info: In Putonghua with Chinese surtitles

Life After Life
An Infusion of Zhuangzi’s philosophy into contemporary story through a re-interpretation of Taoist classic anecdotes:

The present: Assistant professor Zhuang Sheng deciphers the book of Zhuangzi and finds the world of pre-Qin philosopher Zhuang Zhou becomes clearer…

Warring States Period: The resigned Zhuang Zhou fakes his death to escape from troubles, but life has changed completely when he wakes up…

The life of Zhuangzi of ancient times and Zhuang Sheng of modern times overlap. What would they choose and give up facing lust, fame and wealth? Who could tell if Zhuang Sheng enters the world of Zhuang Zhou, or Zhuang Zhou dreams of Zhuang Sheng from more than 2,000 years later?

As reflected in “Zhuang Zhou’s Butterfly Dream”: is Zhuang dreaming that he is a butterfly, or is the butterfly dreaming that it is Zhuang? Two “Mr. Zhuang”s; one new story.

Life After Life
8CM Drama Factory and Jalent (Beijing) Culture Communication Co. Ltd
Date: 8-10 April, 2016
Venue: HK Cultural Centre, Studio Theatre
Tickets: $280, $180 from Urbtix
More info: 8-9 April – 8pm; 9-10 April 3pm

Nowhere Near
A revelation of the concealed brutality in a family through physical theatre. At the New Year reunion after a funeral, the mere distance of a dining table makes members of a closely-knitted family seem distant and estranged, wounds hidden under the dining table are about to be torn apart.

Nowhere Near
M.O.V.E Theatre (Taiwan)
Date: 8-10 April, 2016
Venue: Tsuen Wan Town Hall, Auditorium
Tickets: $280, $200, $140 from Urbtix
More info: 8-9 April – 8pm; 9-10 April – 2:30pm; In Putonghua with Chinese surtitles

Macbeth
Macbeth does murder sleep… a rendition of Shakespeare’s classic tale in Cantonese. After a victory, King Duncan’s foremost general, Macbeth, is confronted by three demons who prophesy that Macbeth will soon become King, and the heirs of his best friend, Banquo, will become kings after Macbeth’s death.

Spurred on by his powerful wife and his own ambition, Macbeth murders King Duncan and seizes the throne. Macbeth has Banquo murdered but Banquo’s son escapes – as does King Duncan’s son, Prince Malcolm. Then Macbeth murders the wife and son of General Macduff who, in turn, wants revenge

Macbeth
Date: 7:45pm, 13-14 April, 2016
Venue: Ko Shan Theatre New Wing, Auditorium
Tickets: $160, $120 from Urbtix
More info: In Cantonese with Chinese and English surtitles

A Doomed Bug
One night, in a canton coffee shop at the back lane of a casino, a misfortunate mob leader is enjoying his last supper, fried beef noodles, in an unauthorized secret room. But a running woman and a reckless student make the supper complicated.

Just as the smuggling boat has been waiting and the escaping time is running close, there come a team of police and an undocumented worker. But the secret room make no way to escape. Everyone was thinking how to leave this canton coffee shop secretly. However, the situation has just got out of control.

A Doomed Bug
Macau Hiu Kok Drama Association
Date: 8-11 April, 2016
Venue: HK Repertory Theatre Black Box
Tickets: $160 from Urbtix
More info: 8-9, 11 April – 8pm; 10 April – 3pm; In Cantonese

Nitehawk
This is just an ordinary family, one you can find anywhere, one that talks but never communicates, one whose members keep on wishing time would pass quietly so that when the end comes, they can bowl over everything and start all over again. And yet, every night, the nitehawk’s cries outside the window are stirring up the sleeping, repressed cells in their bloodline.

Nitehawk
Drama Gallery
Date: 8-10 April, 2016
Venue: Shatin Town Hall, Cultural Activities Hall
Tickets: $180 from Urbtix
More info: 8-10 April – 8pm; 9-10 April – 3pm; In Cantonese

Mother Courage in China
Survival is only possible with courage. In the days of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (AD 907-960), war seemed to be endless. Mother Courage was carrying her cart together with her three children, selling everyday items to make a living. She was afraid of war, but even more the end of it. Surviving war with her children was not easy, making a living after war did not seem to be easier…To survive, there is nothing more to rely on except courage.
This masterpiece of Brecht is not only a story of a courageous mother but also of universal value. Following The Chalk Circle in China, Class 7A Drama Group is again going to revise Brecht’s work into ancient China context.

Mother Courage in China
Class 7A Drama Group
Date: 8-10 April, 2016
Venue: Ngau Chi Wan Civic Centre, Theatre
Tickets: $240, $180 from Urbtix
More info: 8-10 April – 7:30pm; 9-10 April – 2:30pm; In Cantonese

Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?
An adaptation of three selected works by Raymond Carver which explores the coincidence and turns in everyday life. The husband has been lying on the couch since unemployed, by then his wife observes life starts to get rotten, like food in their fridge. Hit by the sudden death of their son, the couple immense themselves in grief and fluster, until a baker irritates them with calls. A man, alone and lonely while his wife is away, gets a call and an invitation from a woman who dials the wrong number. Carver is often regarded as the ‘American Chekhov’ for his depiction of nobodies with strong humanity. The characters lives are immersed in mundanity and difficult relationships, but at the same time lack a sense of vitality

Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?
Piece by Piece
Date: 1-3 April, 2016
Venue: HK Repertory Theatre Black Box
Tickets: $180 from Urbtix
More info: 1-2 April – 8pm; 2-3 April – 3pm; In Cantonese

Gweilo
Novelist Martin Booth came to settle in British colony Hong Kong in the 50s when his father was assigned here with the British army. His childhood coincided with the emergence and growth of Hong Kong as one of the most prosperous metropolises in the world. He has a direct experience of East meeting West. In 2002, diagnosed with brain cancer he wrote a a memoir about his unforgettable relationship with the city. He died shortly after he finishing Gweilo.

Although Hong Kong is no longer a colony, this history is part of our present identity. In the last hundred years, there have been a number of people with similar experience of Martin Booth. Based upon Gweilo, we will look for similar stories to enrich the original story and create a new bilingual solo performance and examine the distinctive colonial history of Hong Kong through the lens of a golden boy.

Gweilo
Pants Theatre Production
Date: 15-24 April, 2016
Venue: HK Repertory Theatre Black Box
Tickets: $220 from Urbtix
More info: 15-16, 18, 21-23 April – 8pm; 16-17, 23-24 April – 3pm; In Cantonese and English

Kennedy – World Premiere

It’s not often we have the World Premiere of a stage show in Hong Kong, especially one that is written and produced in English by HongKongers. But that’s what you’ll be able to see this week at the HK Arts Centre as José Manuel Sevilla’s new play Kennedy has it’s World Premiere under the production and direction of Adam Harris.

Written by the award-winning Spanish poet José Manuel Sevilla who penned the local production of The Bridge in 2011, Kennedy is a noirish tale of loss and redemption set in late 20th Century Barcelona. Recently released from prison, Kennedy seeks his sister, Beatriz. Both escape from the reality of their lives into philosophical flights of fancy that keep the shadows at bay.

bc spoke to José Manuel Sevilla and Adam Harris about Kennedy which has as Adam puts it “Strong strong adult themes, language” and nudity” not Harris hastens to add his…

José Manuel Sevilla – Playwright

How do u feel when the world premiere of a show approaches?
Nervous but déjà vu type nervous; back to the pure, simple excitement of the first things in life – rejuvenating.

Are you very hands off once you find a producer, or do you like to be involved in the production?
Totally hands off, I want to be in both sides and feel like both a creator and the public, it is part of the excitement.

Do you feel your works are open to wide interpretation, or do you have a very fixed idea in your mind as to how the work should look on stage?
When I write I actually transcript on a paper a play that is represented in my head, that is already an interpretation. Directors and actors take my words and put them in their lips, they give them sound and thought and gesture: all acts of living are a sort of interpretation.

Of the various stage interpretations of your works, which have you enjoyed most and which have you gone wow didn’t see it that way?
What I enjoy most is precisely when I go wow didn’t see it that way, that’s is the origin of learning. I may disagree but it’s still learning.

Do you enjoy watching your words live on stage?
Even more than the words, my biggest joy is the “room” that is created on the stage, the complicities that invite me to enter a special place and time that lives for 90 minutes, the faces, the movements, the feelings. I know the words already, I want to be surprised by the unique silent movie around them just with a simple ticket.

Adam Harris – Director

Did you approach José or did he approach you about staging Kennedy?
José approached me following my staging of his play The Bridge in 2011. The working relationship was established back then.

What attracted you to staging Kennedy?
On first reading it, did you ‘see it’ visually take shape in your mind? I do enjoy walks on the dark side – and this is a play that may be called “heavy” in popular parlance. A look at my recent productions – Macbeth, Medea and Frozen for example – testify to this. However, Kennedy has an element of ethereal, dream-like beauty to it. It is a play in which light and shade are balanced. When first reading it, yes, certain images suggested themselves, some of which stuck.

Any pressure from the author to stage the show as he envisioned it?
Absolutely none. As with The Bridge, José gave me the script and said “do what you will with it”. He is very particular about not being involved in the process of turning a script into a performance.

How do you feel about staging a World Premiere?
It is exciting to know that this is a new thing, an entirely new thing. A sense of responsibility of course, like that felt by a midwife bringing a life into the world.

Are there any differences in preparing and creating a show that’s never been performed before?
You are freed of prior conceptions in the audience’s minds about how the play should be. This is quite empowering. On the box office front, regrettably an unknown play can expect to do less well. People in Hong Kong are so busy that the name Coward, Wilde or Albee may catch their eye. New work is less supported in Hong Kong than in should be.

Kennedy
Date: 8pm, 17-19 March, 2016
Venue: HK Arts Centre, McAulay Studio
Tickets: $200/$180 from Urbtix

Kennedy

Written by the award-winning Spanish poet José Manuel Sevilla who penned the Hong Kong production of The Bridge in 2011, Kennedy is a noirish tale of loss and redemption set in late 20th Century Barcelona. Recently released from prison, Kennedy seeks his sister, Beatriz. Both escape from the reality of their lives into philosophical flights of fancy that keep the shadows at bay.

This Stylus Productions staging of Kennedy is the world premiere of Sevilla’s latest work.

José Manuel Sevilla is a Barcelona born poet living in Hong Kong who has published several volumes of poetry including From the Limits of Paradise (1991), Contiguous Traject (1993), Alicia in Ikea’s Catalogue (2004) and Ashes of Auschwitz and Eighteen Dogs (2009). He founded ‘Poets against AIDS’ in Spain and, while living in Mexico, Sevilla started the photograph collection Street Language, which was exhibited at the Fringe Club in 2004.

Stylus Productions was founded in 2006 by Adam Harris; their previous shows include The Rocky Horror Show (2006 & 2010), the world premiere in English of The Bridge (2011, also by the award-winning Spanish poet José Manuel Sevilla), Macbeth (2014), Chimes of Freedom (2009) and last year’s Medea.

WARNING: This show includes adult language and themes.

Kennedy
Date: 8pm, 17-19 March, 2016
Venue: HK Arts Centre, McAulay Studio
Tickets: $200/$180 from Urbtix

Into the Woods

Stephen Sondheim’s epic musical Into the Woods brings together many of the Grimm brothers’ best known fairytales including Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel, and Little Red Riding Hood. Framed by a moving story about a childless couple who long to have a family of their own. With a challenging and captivating score, dark comedy and physical theatre, Face Productions brings an exciting new edge to this classic Broadway and West End musical.

When the baker and his wife are cursed to be childless by the witch from next door, the only way to break her spell is to venture into the woods to find four mysterious ingredients. With a cow as white as milk, a cape as red as blood, hair as yellow as corn, and a slipper as pure as gold, they must create a potion to appease the Witch and restore her former beauty. On their way, they cross paths with familiar characters: each with a wish of their own. Who will make it out of the woods alive? And will we find truth in the old adage of happily ever after?

Into the Woods opened on Broadway in November 1987 to massive critical acclaim winning several Tony Awards, including Best Score, Best Book, and Best Actress in a Musical. While Disney’s 2014 film adaptation, directed by Rob Marshall and featuring an all-star cast including Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, and Anna Kendrick, earned US$212 million worldwide, as well as three Academy Award nominations and three Golden Globe nominations.

Face Productions – whose recent productions include Hairspray (2013), Footloose (2014), and Legally Blonde (2015) – revival has Conor O’Grady at the Director’s helm, with Roy Rolloda and Jessica Peralta as the Baker and Baker’s Wife respectively, Candice Caalsen as the Witch, and Sophie Connell as Little Red Riding Hood. Choreographed by Claire Johnson, with Enrico Narvaez as Musical Director, the show features many professional and veteran performers, a live band, and some of the highest calibre community theatre performers in Hong Kong.

Cast
Baker: Roy Rolloda
Baker’s Wife: Jessica Peralta
Witch: Candice Caalsen
Little Red Riding Hood: Sophie Connell

Director: Conor O’Grady
Choreographer: Claire Johnson
Musical Director: Enrico Narvaez

Into the Woods
Date: 4-7 February, 2016
Venue: HK City Hall, Theatre
Tickets: $395 from Urbtix
More info:
4-6 February – 8pm
7 February – 7:30pm

Into the Woods Junior
Face Academy: $275
6–7 February – 10.30am and 2.30pm

Into the Woods

Cast
Baker: Roy Rolloda
Baker’s Wife: Jessica Peralta
Witch: Candice Caalsen
Little Red Riding Hood: Sophie Connell

Director: Conor O’Grady
Choreographer: Claire Johnson
Musical Director: Enrico Narvaez

Into the Woods
Date: 4-7 February, 2016
Venue: HK City Hall, Theatre
Tickets: $395 from Urbtix
More info:
4-6 February – 8pm
7 February – 7:30pm

Into the Woods Junior
Face Academy: $275
6–7 February – 10.30am and 2.30pm

Udderbelly Festival – 4 December, 2015 – 14 February, 2016

It’ll be interesting to see over the next couple of months if the ‘there’s nothing to do in Hong Kong’ brigade will open their wallets to support the inaugural Udderbelly Festival Hong Kong which takes place at the Central Harbourfront event space from the 4 December-14 February. Centered around the iconic Udderbelly, a 410-seat pop-up theatre in the shape of an upturned cow (specially brought to Hong Kong from the UK) the festival features a smorgasbord of shows and will sit alongside The AIA Great European Carnival. The Udderbelly cowshed will be full of entertainment, music, food, comedy (lots of comedy) and family fun throughout the holiday season. Udderbelly has proved a huge hit with audiences at the Edinburgh Festival for over 10 years and on London’s South Bank for the past seven.

Udderbelly Festival
Date: 4 December, 2015 – 14 February, 2016
Venue: Central Harbourfront
Tickets: see individual event
More info:
Check the events diary for schedule

Art School Musical

Edward Lam Dance Theatre is returning to Macao with Art School Musical, a thought provoking reflection about love and art. The Hong Kong director and playwright reinvents The Butterfly Lovers’ legend, a classic Chinese work frequently adapted into a diversity of performing expressions. Premiered last May, the piece is Lam’s vibrant, humorous and personal vision tackling a variety of themes, from gender issues to the essence of ingenuity.

Featuring Macao’s rising star Jordan Cheng, the cast for this new interpretation includes 18 actors, mostly from Taiwan and Hong Kong, in a wonderfully scored version that resets the classic tale into a contemporary school of arts. Providing thoughtful answers to some of life’s big questions, the story develops from a triangular relationship between students, two boys and a girl, all struggling with their own reality.

Art School Musical
Edward Lam Dance Theatre
Date: 25-27 December, 2015
Venue: Macao Cultural Centre, Grand Auditorium
Tickets: MOP$300, $250, $200, $150 from MacauTicket
More info:
25-26 December- 7:30pm
27 December – 2:30pm

T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land

T.S. Eliot’s seminal poem, The Waste Land, comes to life in this new, dramatic adaptation.

Internationally renowned cellist David Pereira teams up with actor and Chinese University of Hong Kong professor Julian Lamb to bring you a fusion of music and spoken word which will appeal to aficionados of The Waste Land as well as those who have never encountered it.

T.S. Eliot’s haunting vision of a spiritually barren post-war Europe is brought to life in a performance which draws out the poem’s vast array of characters as well as its rich lyrical language. Dramatic presentations of The Waste Land are rare since it is often regarded as too difficult to perform. A performance of The Waste Land with live musical accompaniment is almost unprecedented.

The Waste Land is the most influential poem of the twentieth century. It is written in short, interconnected fragments, each one offering a glimpse of humans coming to terms with a world which they find increasingly confusing. For nearly a century, readers have been haunted by its images, amused by its comedy, and absorbed by its vast array of characters.

The music will feature passages of improvisation, original composition, and direct quotation from the work of some of the most important composers of the twentieth century, including Sibelius, Shostakovich, and Schoenberg.

“Julian Lamb and David Pereira bring clarity to ‘The Waste Land’,” Canberra Times

“An utterly inspiring performance,” The RiotAct, Canberra

The Waste Land
Shadow Players
When: 22-27 September
Where: Kwai Tsing Theatre, Black Box Theatre
Tickets: $230 ($170 Seniors, Students) from Urbtix
More info:
22-26 September – 8pm
26, 27 September – 4pm
Free Seating
For each purchase of 5-10 standard tickets 10% off, 11-15 standard tickets 15% off, 16+ standard tckets 20% off