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Internationally renowned directors Peter Greenaway and Saskia Boddeke will soon lead a strong production team to stage the Hong Kong debut of the multimedia theatre production "The Blue Planet".
"The Blue Planet" is a modern multimedia work that blends the arts of acting, singing and live music with modern technology, using high-definition images that reproduce aspects of reality and illustrate a conversation between God and Noah. Accompanied by music composed by Goran Bregovic, the scenario will lead the audience to a virtual world.
The performance offers a liberal and anachronistic recreation of myth. The mix of languages, including Spanish, English, Italian and French, meanwhile reminds the audience of ancient texts that suggest that Noah's sons are the progenitors of all peoples of our planet.
This multimedia theatre production is about the great flood and the slow but accelerating destruction of our planet. Noah has built his ark and filled it with animals two by two according to a list given by God. Noah regards himself as unclean and hides with the pigs, which are deemed by God as unclean animals and are not allowed to board the boat. Noah also hides to evade his wife, Joan, the major protagonist of this music-drama, who does not want to board. She refuses to give mankind another chance to destroy the planet and to repeat mistakes. Joan's children beg her to join them onboard. They convince her that they will do better in the future.
God keeps watching like a silent angel – on one hand keeping a promise not to flood again while on the other witnessing how the people cope with the flood - and whispers the mantra "God Makes, Man Breaks". Joan eventually boards the ark, as she has no choice. Her love for her children makes her believe that there must be hope, and that the next generation can turn the tide.
Peter Greenaway came to fame in the 1980s with his narrative feature film "The Draughtsman's Contract", which established him on the international front as one of the most important and original filmmakers of our time. In the 1990s, he started his collaboration with Dutch opera and theatre director Saskia Boddeke. "The Blue Planet" is their brainchild that crosses the borders between cinema, theatre and the new technologies of digital images.
Performed in English, Spanish and Italian (with occasional French and Dutch), with Chinese and English surtitles, "The Blue Planet" is presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. It will be held at 8pm on March 30 and 31 (Friday and Saturday), and at 3pm on April 1 (Sunday), at the Auditorium, Kwai Tsing Theatre. Tickets priced at $420, $360, $280 and $180 are now available at URBTIX outlets, on the Internet and by credit card telephone booking. Half-price tickets are available for senior citizens aged 60 or above, people with disabilities and their minders, full-time students and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) recipients (limited tickets for CSSA recipients available on a first-come, first-served basis). A maximum discount of 20 per cent is offered for various booking packages.
The performance may contain coarse language and nudity. Audience members aged 12 or above are welcome and children below the age of 6 are not permitted.
For programme enquiries, please call 2268 7323 or visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/Programme/en/multi_arts/00000375.html. Ticketing enquiries can be made on 2734 9009 and credit card telephone bookings on 2111 5999. Tickets can also be booked online at www.urbtix.hk.
Ends/Friday, February 3, 2012
Issued at HKT 14:14
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