Cover Le Corsaire (Photo: courtesy of Brescia e Amisano and Teatro alla Scala)
Le Corsaire (Photo: courtesy of Brescia e Amisano and Teatro alla Scala)
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From multimedia experience ‘Van Gogh in Me’ to William Shakespeare’s ‘Julius Caesar’ in Chinese opera style, the upcoming Hong Kong Arts Festival will be an ambitious comeback
The 52nd edition of the Hong Kong Arts Festival is returning to its full scale for the first time since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, and will run from February 22 to March 22, 2024. The festival will feature 45 programmes by 1,400 international and local artists, and more than 350 outreach and educational events at various locations around the city.
The theme this year is Years in Bloom, and the festival team have spent more than HK$150 million to bring established international groups and artists—such as La Scala Ballet, the Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh and five-time Grammy-winning singer Angélique Kidjo—to Hong Kong, to develop original productions that involve the innovative use of technology, to adapt beloved classics and more. One highlight we’re looking forward to is Arab Arts Focus—Morocco, Palestine, Egypt, a new series that present contemporary dance and theatre in the Arab world.
On top of all that, there is also a lot of anticipation for the stage adaptation of Crime and Punishment, based on Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky’s 1866 novel of the same name. The production will star local actors Terrance Lau, who found fame through his romantic psychodrama Beyond the Dream (2019), and Cherry Ngan, who was nominated for Best Actress at both the Hong Kong Film Awards and Golden Horse for her portrayal of a dancer in The Way We Dance (2013).
Tickets for the Hong Kong Arts Festival went on sale on October 13, but if you haven’t bought any yet because you’re having a hard time choosing what to see, here are Tatler’s top picks from various categories.
1. Ballet: Le Corsaire
Above Le Corsaire (Photo: courtesy of Brescia e Amisano and Teatro alla Scala)
Le Corsaire (Photo: courtesy of Brescia e Amisano and Teatro alla Scala)
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Marking its first return to Hong Kong since its last visit in 2006, Milan’s La Scala Ballet will put on a production of Le Corsaire, a 19th-century adventurous classic about pirates, shipwrecks, romance and comedy. The performance will also boast an elaborate set and one of ballet’s most iconic pas de deux—a dance duet in which two dancers, usually one male and one female, perform a ballet routine together.
La Scala Ballet has been in operation for more than 240 years, and is responsible for the rise of the some of the ballet world’s biggest superstars such as Rudolf Nureyev and Natalia Osipova.
From March 15 to 17, 2024. Grand Theatre, the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Tsim Sha Tsui.
Don’t miss: Hong Kong Ballet returns with a new take on an all-time classic
2. Flamenco: Farruquito—Flamenco
Above Farruquito (Photo: courtesy of Farruquito)
Farruquito (Photo: courtesy of Farruquito)
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Spanish dancer and composer Juan Manuel Fernández Montoya, who performs under the name of Farruquito, is coming to Hong Kong for the first time for his show, Farruquito—Flamenco, which will see him demonstrating the essence of gypsy flamenco, so named for the artform’s historical association with the Andalusian Roma of southern Spain.
Farruquito inherited his passion forflamenco dance from his grandfather—El Farruco, one of the most recognised dancers in the history of flamenco—and starred in a Louis Vuitton performance for the fashion house’s world summit in 2010, as well as Carlos Saura’s film Flamenco (1995) when he was just 11 years old.
From March 8 to 9, 2024. Concert Hall, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Tsim Sha Tsui.
3. Chinese opera: Julius Caesar
Above A poster of Julius Caesar (Image: courtesy of Hong Kong Arts Festival)
A poster of Julius Caesar (Image: courtesy of Hong Kong Arts Festival)
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Wu Hsing-kuo, a Peking opera pioneer, and Zhang Jun, who received a Unesco Artist for Peace recognition in 2011 for his preservation of kunqu (a 600-year-old type of Chinese opera that originated in Kunshan), are bringing to the stage an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. The historical tragedy about the Roman dictator’s assassination by politician Marcus Brutus will be given a twist and presented as a hybrid production that features Chinese opera, modern theatre and multimedia storytelling.
Wu is no stranger to integrating traditional Chinese opera into modern theatre. In 2018, he mixed pop music and Peking opera in The Water Margin; and in 2004 he worked on a film adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest with Tsui Hark, which combined Peking opera, kunju and a style of Taiwanese aboriginal dance.
From February 22 to 24, 2024. Lyric Theatre, HKAPA, Wan Chai
Don't miss: A day in the life of Keith Lai, Cantonese opera actor
4. Music: Angélique Kidjo—Mother Nature
Above Angélique Kidjo (Photo: courtesy of Fabrice Mabillot)
Angélique Kidjo (Photo: courtesy of Fabrice Mabillot)
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Beninese French singer songwriter Angélique Kidjo will be performing songs from Mother Nature, her 2022 Grammy-winning album dedicated to the planet that celebrates musical diversity, for her upcoming visit to Hong Kong.
The five-time Grammy award-winning artist has a career that spans four decades. She originally trained in a Paris jazz school, and it was her debut album with Island Records Logozo (1991) that shot her to international fame; after which she evolved her musical style to include singing about about motherhood, African deities and the diasporic experience. Her music also explores the African roots of musical traditions in the United States, Brazil and the Caribbean, and she has worked with Alicia Keys, Sting and Yo-Yo Ma—just to name a few.
From February 23 to 24, 2023. Concert Hall, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Tsim Sha Tsui.
5. Theatre: Miss Julie
Above Birdy Wong Ching-yan, who stars in Miss Julie (Photo: courtesy of Hong Kong Arts Festival)
Birdy Wong Ching-yan, who stars in Miss Julie (Photo: courtesy of Hong Kong Arts Festival)
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Hong Kong-born, London-raised playwright Amy Ng, who has been commissioned by established theatres such as the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Young Vic in the past, transports Swedish literary giant August Strindberg’s 19th-century play Miss Julie to 1940s post-war Hong Kong.
In this new production commissioned by the Hong Kong Arts Festival, the titular character is the mixed-raced daughter from an upper-class family who crosses the social boundaries of her time when she seduces her Chinese chauffeur. Their love affair descends into a power game of sexual politics, wealth, race, class, privilege and servitude.
From March 1 to 17, 2024. Theatre, Hong Kong City Hall, Central.
6. Musical: I Am What I Am the Musical
Above A poster of I Am What I Am the Musical (Photo: courtesy of Hong Kong Arts Festival)
A poster of I Am What I Am the Musical (Photo: courtesy of Hong Kong Arts Festival)
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The “three musketeers” of Hong Kong’s Broadway-style Cantonese musicals—composer Leon Ko, lyricist Chris Shum and playwright Cheung Fei-fan—is bringing to the stage a new production that centres around three teenagers who, despite their humble backgrounds, manage to climb the social ladder as they pursue their dream of being top lion dancers.
As well as soul-stirring music, this musical will also feature Lingnan lion dance, an intangible cultural heritage of Hong Kong.
From March 8 to 10, 2024. Grand Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Tsim Sha Tsui.
In case you missed: Is Hong Kong becoming the ‘Broadway of the East’?
7. Art tech: Van Gogh in Me
Above Van Gogh in Me (Photo: courtesy of Netherlands Chamber Choir)
Van Gogh in Me (Photo: courtesy of Netherlands Chamber Choir)
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The Netherlands Chamber Choir, best known for putting on progressive concert experiences, is combining a vocal performance with a visual journey projected onto a massive screen to create a truly multimedia, immersive experience. Van Gogh in Me will use real-time, interactive technology that tracks the choir's vocal performance and marries it with animated brushstrokes of artworks by Dutch painter Van Gogh and Austrian artist Gustave Klimt.
The performance is the perfect example for how to intertwine moving imagery and music from fin-de-siècle Europe—including music by Satie, Debussy, Saint-Saëns, Mahler, Strauss and Schoenberg—to create an emotional experience for the audience.
From March 1 to 2, 2024. Concert Hall, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Tsim Sha Tsui.
Zabrina is the Senior Editor, Arts and Culture of Tatler Hong Kong. She specialises in performing arts, visual art and film. Her wanderlust was first fuelled by the Mighty Rovers Antarctica Expedition 2010. Over the years, she has interviewed A-list artists and filmmakers, including Oscar winners Chlóe Zhao and Tim Yip, Golden Horse winner Sylvia Chang, In the Mood for Love cinematographer Christopher Doyle, Pachinko author Min Jin Lee, and Coachella’s first Chinese solo singer Jackson Wang. She won gold at the WAN-IFRA Asian Media Awards for her 2021 feature on the waves of hate crimes targeting Asian Americans.
