Hong Kong Repertory Theatre 2019-20 Season Presents LONG LIVE THE CLASSICS!
By: Stephi Wild Mar. 19, 2019
The Hong Kong Repertory Theatre launched its 2019 20 season on 4th March with the theme Long Live the Classics! , both prolonging the appeal of works that have stood the test of time and creating new homegrown works in hopes of developing tomorrow's classics. Season highlights include the contemporary Chinese masterpiece A Dream Like a Dream, the renowned Cantonese musical The Good Person of Szechwan, a preview of The Great Pretender a musical and revivals of the celebrated productions Le P re and The Big Meal as well as the 2019 edition of Invisible Men, the Australian play Speaking in Tongues, and two Black Box productions: The Unforgettable Chapter and The Ward.
The HKRep has produced popular classics that have been warmly embraced by our audience, explains Artistic Director Anthony Chan. When we revive a production, we can use that opportunity to refine our craft and elevate artistic quality. Our company is also dedicated to creating more new works, hoping they'll become the classics of the future, providing the public with theatre productions at high standards.
Apart from producing fine theatre productions, the HKRep holds cultural exchange as a crucial mission. Last year, HKRep's Hu Xueyan, my Dear won six awards out of 14 nominations at the 2nd Chinese Theatre Awards. The play was listed among the Top Ten productions by The Beijing News, a media outlet that gave the same honour to Field of Dreams the year before. These are testaments to the company's fine achievements. This season, the HKRep will bring to China both the American play The Big Meal and The Good Person of Szechwan, a co-production with the Actors' Family, while Le P re makes a tour to Macau, bringing Cantonese theatre that is uniquely Hong Kong to other Chinese-language regions.
Main Stage Productions
Le Pere - An Award-winning play makes a comeback - When illusions and memories are woven into filial bonds, should one let go?
As her elderly father gradually loses his ability to live independently, Anne moves him in to live with her and her boyfriend, tending to his daily necessities. Her father, suffering from Alzheimer's disease, vacillates between a humorous disposition and states of confusion. Reality gradually dissolves in his mind, challenging their father-daughter relationship. Le P re is the work of one of France's most popular young playwrights, Florian Zeller, and winner of the 2014 Moli re Award for Best Play. The Hong Kong production is directed by Assistant Artistic Director Fung Wai Hang, with Director Laureate Fredric Mao reprises the title role, joined by original cast members Pang Hang Ying and Alice Lau with HKRep's illustrious ensemble, summoning this intense work of drama onto the stage once more. (This production will run from 4th to 18th May at Hong Kong City Hall Theatre after its Macau premiere at Macao Cultural Centre in April 2019.
Le Pere's title sponsor is CMB Wing Lung Bank and sponsored by Chan Dang Social Services Foundation.
The Great Pretender a musical (Preview) - The world has gone topsy-turvy, and snow falls even in June.
Fong Tong Geng, Guangdong's most prominent advocate, is known for his greed and malice and his shenanigans in the magistrate. But Heaven deals him a blow. One morning, he awakes in a pigsty, his money and property turned to naught, all because of a curse laid on him 16 years ago. In order to save himself, Fong must fight his way back to the magistrate to right his wrong, and redeem himself as the champion for the common man. Commissioned by the West Kowloon, co-presented and co-produced by West Kowloon and the HKRep, The Great Pretender assembles Hong Kong's top creators and performers. Using the language of musical theatre to separate truth from falsehood, and the stage to enact an old fable for our contemporary world, it holds up a bright mirror in defence of justice for all. (23rd May to 26th May 2019 at Grand Theatre, Xiqu Centre, West Kowloon Cultural District. Ticketing details will be announced in late April 2019)
A Dream Like a Dream - An epic Chinese masterpiece returns to Hong Kong after a 17-year hiatus
The story begins with a recently graduated doctor and his terminally ill Patient No. 5 , whose tale encompasses complicated relationships and emotions. The plot unfolds across time and space, alternating between reality and dreamscape. After a journey through a life, the story returns to where it all began. A Dream Like a Dream is one of our most talked about Chinese-language theatrical innovations. Conceived by acclaimed theatre director Stan Lai, the play creates a dreamlike experience with both staging and audience seating are uniquely designed and an eight-hour performance duration. In 2002, HKRep presented this epic in a sold-out run and received three accolades at the 12th Hong Kong Drama Awards: Best Overall Performance, Best Costume Design and Best Supporting Actor (Tragedy/Drama). After 17 years, the HKRep stage a new production, co-presented by West Kowloon, with guest artists Louisa So, three-time Hong Kong Drama Award Best Actor Poon Chan Leung and Cecilia Choi, who played the female lead in ViuTV's acclaimed mini-series My Very Short Marriage. (28th July to 25th August 2019 at The Box, Freespace, West Kowloon Cultural District)
The Big Meal - Time and youth pass by, but the warm glow of family remains
The Big Meal chronicles 54 meals spanning five generations of a family, from Sam and Nicole's meeting and marriage to their offspring from one generation to the next. Every meal reflects changing relationships, but no matter it concerns flaring emotions at hand or life in general, the moment is transient. Written by Dan LeFranc (US), The Big Meal is translated and directed by Artistic Director Anthony Chan. The Hong Kong premiere last season has been nominated Best Director, Best Actor and Best Lighting Design at the 28th Hong Kong Drama Awards. (After the Hong Kong production run from 25th October to 2nd November 2019 at Hong Kong City Hall Theatre, The Big Meal will make its China premiere at Shanghai's Theatre Above in November 2019 as one of the programmes of Festival Hong Kong 2019 A Cultural Extravaganza@Shanghai and Hong Kong Cultural Week of the 21st China Shanghai International Arts Festival.)
The Big Meal's title sponsored is Shun Hing Group and Hong Kong & Shanghai Tour is sponsored by Chow Sang Sang.
The Good Person of Szechwan the musical - A tale of good and evil and life's vicissitudes
Three divinities land in corrupt and dilapidated Sichuan in search of a good person, yet they find only hunger and treachery. Eventually, they encounter the only good person there: Shen Teh. Nonetheless, this cruel world has no place for Shen, who resorts to straddling between good and evil, questioning and eroding morality and humanity. Adapted from Bertolt Brecht's same name production, Hong Kong's own The Good Person of Szechwan is created by the celebrated music-and-lyrics team of Leon Ko and Chris Shum with director Victor Pang premiered in 2003, winning six Hong Kong Drama Awards including Best Overall Performance and Best Original Music. Eight years after its last re-run, the HKRep and Actors' Family join hands in injecting this contemporary classic with new verve. (This production will embarks its China tour after the Hong Kong runs from 23rd December 2019 to 2nd January 2020 at Lyric Theatre, The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. Not applicable for Season Advance Booking discount.)
The Hong Kong and China tour of The Good Person of Szechwan the musical is proudly sponsored by China Everbright Limited and the Hong Kong run is sponsored by Hong Kong Society of Nephrology.
Speaking in Tongues - In face of loneliness and love, we become speechless like mayflies
The play starts off with two couples embroiled in extra-marital affairs. A high-heeled shoe in the bushes, a therapy session, with a few phone messages and numerous love letters trace the overlapping relationships and conflicting emotional associations entangling nine characters. Loneliness and marital bonds are overwhelmed by the thrill to connect intimately with a stranger. Why are we so ill-equipped to speak of love? Despite our best efforts in expressing our emotions, words often fail to communicate what is lodged deep in our hearts. Written by Australian playwright Andrew Bovell, Speaking in Tongues is adapted for Cantonese and directed by Artistic Director Anthony Chan. (4th to 19th January 2020 at Hong Kong City Hall Theatre)
Invisible Men - Opposite philosophies of life surface at a chance encounter
A bottled-water delivery man (Sung Shui) and courier delivery man (Shun Fung) find themselves trapped in a lift. Shun Fung longs for a short respite from work, while Sung Shui wishes to be rescued as soon as possible so he can finish his job. In this long night, as two men while away their boredom, they come face to face with opposite philosophies of life. Do these men have the right to choose their own paths? Are we aware of them as we rush about our daily lives? The premiere production of Invisible Men won not only applause and commendation, but also Best Play and Best Actor (Adam Tang Yu Ting) at the 8th Hong Kong Theatre Libre. It is written by Chan Siu Tung and directed by Chan Wing Chuen. (20th to 29th March 2020 at Hong Kong Arts Centre Shouson Theatre)
Black Box Productions
The Unforgettable Chapter
A father takes his life without bidding farewell, leaving behind his widow and three children. Years later, once the middle daughter leaves to set up her own home, her mother suddenly moves in, barging into her life and reuniting the siblings. When they open a book that's connected to their late father, the past rushes back. Following the celebrated premiere and re-runs of An Unjust Good Fellow, Callas Cheang shifts her acute sensitivity from social problems to family relationships, shining a light on endless strands of tangled emotions in this new play, directed by Octavian Chan. (7th to 22nd September 2019 at HKRep Black Box)
The Ward The Open Platform
Tung is tirelessly devoted to Sai Hing, who has been in a coma for years, but pressures are mounting. Time might have paused for Sai Hing, but Tung has to carry on her life. Another man appears on the horizon. What should she do? What will unfold for her as time marches on? The Ward is the work of up-and-coming playwright Lee Wai Lok, and directed by HKRep company member Lau Shau Ching. (24th October to 2nd November 2019 at HKRep Black Box)
Advanced booking is now available (from now till 20 May 2019), offering up to 30% discount, for the best seats available in the house. The new season brochure is distributed through URBTIX and HK Ticketing Agencies, also available on www.hkrep.com/1920. Subscription programme enquiry: 3103 5900.
The Hong Kong Repertory Theatre acknowledges the following organizations for their support of the 2019-20 season: (in alphabetical order by company name)
- Chan Dang Social Services Foundation
- Chow Sang Sang Holdings International Ltd.
- CMB Wing Lung Bank
- China Everbright Limited
- Hong Kong Society of Nephrology
- MTR Corporation Limited
- Shun Hing Group
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