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