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¡§The Seas of Organillo¡¨ by Stephen Mottram¡¦s Animata (UK), which features a seductive fusion of music and visual arts, will be premiˆored in Hong Kong next month (July).
The production is about fertility and reproduction. Stephen Mottram makes use of puppets, automata, illusion and music produced by the Argentine composer Sebastian Castagna and Mottram himself to conjure up a beautiful, sexy world and take audiences on a haunting, sensual journey into the primordial waters.
Inspired by Elaine Morgan¡¦s book ¡§The Aquatic Ape Hypothesis¡¨ and Lennart Nilsson¡¦s ¡§A Child is Born¡¨, the production was first launched a few weeks before the birth of Mottram¡¦s child in 2000. A reworked version, with new staging, puppets and music, premiˆored in Poland in May 2004, and is currently touring Europe.
¡§Time Out¡¨, a UK magazine, commented: ¡§Imagine the paintings of Max Ernst and the sexual interpretations of Freud, submerged into an aqueous realm where life bubbles through a miniature organ ¡K. A richly suggestive encounter, ¡¥The Seas of Organillo¡¦ promises to hypnotise audiences through the nooks and crannies of their unconscious¡¨.
The¡§Independent on Sunday¡¨ said: ¡§Mottram takes the art of puppetry to a level of sophistication, which makes you gasp with the cleverness of it ¡K¡¨
Stephen Mottram is an artist, craftsman and puppeteer. He studied in the Hungarian State Puppet Theatre School in Budapest, and later produced and performed his own works. He has developed a unique theatre language, which exploits the relationship between electro-acoustic music and movement-image, and has travelled globally with his solo performance ¡§In Suspension¡¨. Mottram was one of the four main puppet operators in a Danish feature film ¡§Strings¡¨ and worked on films including ¡§The Little Shop of Horrors¡¨ and ¡§Tales from the Decameron¡¨.
Presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, ¡§The Seas of Organillo¡¨ by Stephen Mottram¡¦s Animata (UK) will be at 8pm on July 25 and 26 (Friday and Saturday) at the Theatre, Hong Kong City Hall; and on July 27 at the Theatre, Ngau Chi Wan Civic Centre. Tickets priced at $160 (Ngau Chi Wan Civic Centre) and $180 (Hong Kong City Hall), are now available at URBTIX outlets. Half-price tickets are available for senior citizens aged 60 or above, people with disabilities, full-time students and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance recipients (limited tickets for students and CSSA recipients available on a first-come, first-served basis).
For programme enquiries, call 2268 7323; for ticketing enquiries and reservations, call 2734 9009; for credit card telephone bookings, call 2111 5999; for Internet bookings, visit www.urbtix.hk; for more information, visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/cp.
A post-performance meet-the-artists session to be conducted in English with Cantonese translation will be held on July 25. Admission is free for performance ticket holders.
Ends/Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Issued at HKT 12:03
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