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Venue
Arts Pavilion, West Kowloon Cultural District
Date and time (HKT)
15 Oct (Tue) 14:00
Pass holder
FULLDAYSTUDENT
Full pass holders, Day pass holders and Students pass holders are eligible to attend
Language
English mainly, supplemented with Cantonese or Mandarin
Date & Time Sessions
15th October (Tue)
14:00 – 14:30 On & On Theatre Workshop
14:45 – 15:15 Rooftop Productions (HK)
15:30 – 16:00 Theatre Ronin
16:15 – 16:45 Sham Chung-tat
17:00 – 17:30 BEYOND Bollywood
17:45 – 18:15 The Gong Strikes One
18:30 – 19:00 Boonfaysau

 

On & On Theatre Workshop

Established in 1998, On & On Theatre Workshop is a professional theatre organisation supported by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council. The company established the Cattle Depot Theatre at Cattle Depot Artist Village, making it the first public performance venue independently run by a local theatre company. On & On focuses on pioneering exploration and independent creation with innovative and contemporary perspectives. In recent years, the company launched its “Contemporary Writing for Theatre” to explore new possibilities. In 2022, it established “From Stage to Reality” to examine the relationship between theatre and reality. Last year, a three-year “Table To-gather” was initiated, bringing together emerging artists to cultivate diverse dialogues and creations. 

Excerpts from “Contemporary Writing for Theatre” & “From Stage to Reality” : Flowing Warblers and With Love, Medea’s Boys (WestK x On & On Theatre Workshop)

Combining verbal explanation, performance excerpts and video screening, this presentation introduces On & On’s artistic vision and its representative programmes—“Contemporary Writing for Theatre” and “From Stage to Reality”—introducing the potential for production and touring.   Flowing Warblers is an original piece penned by On & On artistic director Chan Ping-chiu inspired by European new writing. Having received its premiere in June, the work draws on Hong Kong’s recent emigration wave, chronicling the decisions of four families through a multi-threaded narrative, reflecting the Zeitgeist with an epic perspective and minimalist aesthetics.   With Love, Medea’s BoysWith Love, Medea’s Boys co-directed by Miu Law and Sham Chung-tat features a cast of child and professional actors. This project reimagines the Greek tragedy Medea through the eyes of the murdered children, exploring themes of their autonomy and destiny. This work exemplifies the creators' approach of reinterpreting classics with non-professional actors and sonic experimentation. 


Rooftop Productions (HK) 

Rooftop Productions is a Hong Kong theatre group promoting contemporary multidisciplinary ideas about theatre performance, training, multimedia and technological development. Apart from developing local cutting-edge artistic practice, we also encourage cultural exchange and aim to promote Hong Kong theatre both locally and internationally. Rooftop Productions was founded in 2014 by Ivor Houlker and Michelle Li; both trained in London and have previously worked throughout Europe. They were the recipients of the Award for Young Artist (Drama) at the 16th Hong Kong Arts Development Awards in 2022.

Karaoke

Karaoke is the brand-new solo show created by Rooftop Productions featuring co-artistic director Michelle Li. Based on her experience growing up in Hong Kong, Karaoke uses songs to take the audience on a journey through the city’s recent history. From Cantonese opera repertoire she heard from her mother to singing in a children’s choir and participating in the 1997 Handover Ceremony, we see the development of Hong Kong through the lens of Michelle’s personal connections with family, culture and identity. 


Theatre Ronin

Theatre Ronin was founded in 2006 by Alex Tam Hung Man, who serves as its artistic director. The company is currently a recipient of Hong Kong Arts Development Council’s three-year grant.  Dedicated to exploring contemporary theatrical language and the aesthetics of “Theatre of Imagery” and creating a distinctively imaginative performing style, Theatre Ronin’s output stems from a variety of source materials as well as the culture and literature of Hong Kong and the world, creating thought-provoking theatrical works with humanistic concerns.  Playwright and director of Śūnyatā Alex Tam and composer Daniel Lo—who rose to prominence in recent years—will share their creative concepts. Renowned Hong Kong opera singer Samantha Chong and performer Shirlee Tsoi will perform an excerpt from Śūnyatā

Śūnyatā

Śūnyatā is a theatre work containing elements of Hong Kong literature and opera presented in Cantonese.    Opera has always been an important Western performance genre, and most recently also sung in Cantonese. Theatre Ronin, well-versed in exploring themes in Hong Kong literature, selected Hon Lai Chu’s novel to create an opera in Cantonese. Her poetic yet terse turns of phrase are tinged with surrealism, and opera itself encompasses spirituality, appearing “larger than life”, thus making a good match. Hon’s prose is also most akin to modern composition.    Theatre Ronin introduces this markedly local work to international theatre artists and producers. The sounds of Cantonese accentuates a “Hong Kong” perspective that extends to a new realm.


Sham Chung-tat

A graduate of the Universität der Künste Berlin with a Master's degree in Sonic Art, Sham has delved into identity politics and experimental documentary with spatial audio, focusing on spoken narratives and field recordings. Working for over a decade in Hong Kong’s theatre scene, he has served as a sound designer, sound engineer, live musician and director.  

Since 2021, his collaborations have gone global, involving partners from Hungary, Germany, Korea and beyond in diverse projects from immersive audio theatre to sound installation. In 2023, he was featured at the Hong Kong Pavilion during the PQ2023. Recent endeavours include a contemporary adaptation of a Greek tragedy, a multi-channel audiovisual installation and an experimental audio documentary on urban living. 

Echoes of Reality: Experimental Documentary Soundscapes

In this experiential presentation, participants are treated to an audio journey blending original soundscapes, documentary narratives and electronic music using their smartphones and earbuds along with live input from the sound artist. A specially developed web application enables participants to experience a virtual acoustic environment, offering a unique opportunity for a collective experience of soundscapes and a deeper understanding of the artist’s sonic experiments and research. The presentation covers three projects: 

1) Exclave (Berlin)—A 32-channel documentary sound installation, sharing life stories and challenges faced by Hongkongers living in Germany.
2) On My Way Home (Berlin / Hong Kong)—An audiovisual installation combining documentary film excerpts, dance and city soundscapes to reimagine life in subdivided flats.
3) Ground Under 땅밑에 (Seoul)—A theatre project adapted from a renowned Korean sci-fi novel, this  immersive sound experience is constructed with such spatial audio technology as Ambisonics speaker arrays, head-tracking binaural monitors, DMX-controlled head lanterns and laser lights.>

BEYOND Bollywood

BEYOND Bollywood was founded as a dance charity in 2015 to create cross-sector and cross-cultural collaborations advancing the concepts of cultural diversity, equality, respect and community inclusion through Indian dance.

In Search of Motherland

The new cross-cultural performance In Search of Motherland aims to deepen artistic creation through an interdisciplinary collaboration by integrating gong mediation to explore our relationship with our land—its rhythms, growth, joys and struggles, blending with South Asian dance forms such as Bharatanatyam, contemporary and Chinese dance. It aims to provide an empowering, inclusive and immersive experience both for dancers and audience members, awakening awareness of people’s inner strength and the relationship between humans and nature.


The Gong Strikes One

Founded in 2012, The Gong Strikes One specialises in traditional Chinese theatrical music and embraces various performance formats, including concerts, story-telling concerts, theatre and improvisation. Their debut work, I, Wu Song (2017), was a solo Chinese Opera without words that set out to explore the very essence of operatic movements and music. Since then, they have devoted themselves to producing a variety of creative and research projects. Recent projects include “Hong Kong Music Miniatures”, an online music collection; "Between the Notes", a research project on gongche scores of early Cantonese opera songs and Naamyam Audiobook.

To Learn to Walk: Interactive Traditional Chinese Theatre (Demonstration Version)

To Learn to Walk is an interactive theatre work that features the footwork and music of traditional Chinese opera. During the performance, the audience is invited to follow the performer’s footwork. Traditional tunes and set rhythms are performed live by a trio of gongs, winds and strings, while preserving the musical texture of Chinese opera.

This work premiered at the “Let’s be Together Arts Festival x Hong Kong 2021” and also appeared at Japan’s Itoshima Arts Farm International Festival in 2023.

This demonstration version consists of a 20-minute performance and a 10-minute introduction.