AFTER LIFE Comes to Hong Kong Rep in July

After Life is headed to Hong Kong Repertory Theatre next month.  The production runs from July 13th to 28th at the Hong Kong City Hall Theatre. This play focuses on how people must select a memory to look back on an entire life, bringing a sensibility and warmth to the audience.

“What does memory mean to us?” If you must select a memory that keeps you company on your journey beyond the living world, what will you choose? An episode that is your happiest, one most memorable, or one most precious? While staying at a transit station en route to Heaven, several characters confront this difficult question. Can they cope with their most genuine feelings? Can they reflect on their lives with courage, untying the gnarly knots in their hearts?

In 2021, award-winning playwright Jack Thorne adapted renowned Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda’s classic After Life for London’s National Theatre. HKRep Assistant Director Fong Chun Kit and HKRep Theatre Literature Manager Kwok Wing Hong collaborate again after the success of Scapin in Jiānghú, Chap. 2023, wielding their stage magic on a journey through life and death, guiding audiences to revisit a treasure trove of memories and identify what is truly important. After Life is based on the film by Hirokazu Kore-eda (Japan), adapted for the stage by Jack Thorne (UK), translated by Kwok Wing Hong and directed by Fong Chun Kit, featuring Kalok Chan, ManMan Kwok, Yu Hon Ting, Karrie Tan, Chan Kiu, Chow Chi Fai, Man Sui Hing, Dee To, Tunes Ting, Ng Ka Leung and Poon Tai Ming in the cast. The production runs from July 13th to 28th at the Hong Kong City Hall Theatre. Tickets are available now from URBTIX outlets.

After Life: after death, one must stop briefly at a transit station en route to Heaven. Everyone must select a precious memory that the guides help revive. Looking back, some are filled with regret, others rack their brains, while several recall their loved ones. Perhaps this process is like collecting fragments of the past and retracing the path of life?

Translator Kwok Wing Hong states, “Memories constitute things past. When I was reading the script, I pondered if I were to select a memory that encapsulated me, would that be considered an indulgence or a relief? I wasn’t sure. Every memory carries its own weight, but lightness and heaviness are relative. There’s a thin line between “light” and “heavy” when it comes to the past, because “light” can be heavy, and “heavy” can be light. Another paradox is that memory belongs solely to each of us. Only the individual can make that decision. Furthermore, that memory can possibly exist outside objective reality, as in a mere personal interpretation. So, how can one choose? The difference between the living and the dead is: the former lives in the moment, the latter exists in the past. But life and death are not opposites. The present is made up of the past. The present also lives in the future as memories. Precisely because of this, by understanding death, we appreciate the weight of every moment, we recognise our decisions at every moment, making ourselves better persons for the future, from which we eventually set ourselves free.”

Director Fong Chun Kit shares his thoughts here. “I’ve always liked Hirokazu Kore-eda’s films. No matter what subject, they always present a big picture out of small details, and are filled with the human touch and universal concern. I’ve had flashes of inspiration to adapt a number of his films for the stage. When I heard about the staging of After Life in Great Britain, I immediately set off to explore the possibility of mounting it in Hong Kong.

The British stage version further strengthened the film’s dramatic conflicts, emphasising the perspectives of Western cultures on the issue of life and death. Although there are different viewpoints and constructs on the topic in the East and West, another important element (memory) is unique for every person. Our premiere production of After Life—from translation to staging—is tailor-made for Hong Kong audiences. We invite them to gather fragmentsof the past as we envision the full picture of the passage of life.”