**********************************************************
Edward Lam, a very talented and creative director in contemporary Chinese theatre, is collaborating with sought-after Hong Kong playwright Wong Wing-sze again to stage "I Hate Therefore I Marry" in January next year.
The play is set in a wedding banquet where venomous tongues shoot out and hate is a vengeful answer to love. The eldest daughter in the story grew up in a family that suffered from betrayal. She does not believe in marriage, yet she is going to get married. In a private wedding reception, her family, her ex-boyfriend, her husband-to-be and her one-night-stand partner are all present. Once the door is shut, there's going to be a lot of clawing, snarling and neck-biting to send off the bride.
After adapting literary classics in "Awakening" and "What is Success?", Edward Lam and Wong Wing-sze have now created a new original play on self-hate in the modern era. Marriage is a lifelong vow between two persons who are not related by blood to build a family and to become united by blood through their children. This is a story of the marriage of someone who is a daughter from a broken family. Playwright Wong said of the production, "What intrigues me is why women would still want to marry even when there is the possibility of divorce. What kind of man would they choose to marry? And where do these values come from?" In the play, Wong explores the meaning of "family" through a woman's marriage and "reconciliation" through disillusionment.
"I Hate Therefore I Marry" also investigates the influence of a family on self-identity. Director Lam has always been concerned about women's issues. He said, "Many women are put under pressure from their families and society when they are single at a certain stage and age. They are eager to get married because of self-desire and great expectations from society." Lam has always wanted to create a family drama because, in our lives, the earliest sweetness that comes from expectations and the bitterness that comes from disappointment both originate from the family. Everybody experiences the pain and joy that come from expectations and disappointment, and when there is a setback, people just swear to god that the family does not exist or long to embrace it in thankfulness. That is why these feelings all stem from the family.
Apart from Lam and Wong, the strong creative team also includes lighting designer Billy Chan, composer Chen Chien-chi, choreographer Chen Wu-kang, set designer Ewing Chan, multimedia designer John Wong, sound and music designer Chung Chak-ming and artistic director and image designer Kary Kwok. The performers include Chu Hung-chang, Shi Yi-hsiu, Hsieh Ying-hsun, Joanne Deng, Chao Yi-lan, Huang Chien-wei, Liu Chia-chi, Wang Shi-wei, Dai Miu-shiue, Liao Hao-min, Patty Chu, Wang Hung-yuan and Rebecca Yip.
Presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and produced by Edward Lam Dance Theatre, "I Hate Therefore I Marry" (in Putonghua with Chinese surtitles) will be performed at 7.45pm on January 24 and 25 (Friday and Saturday) and at 2.30pm on January 25 and 26 (Saturday and Sunday) at the Auditorium of Kwai Tsing Theatre. Tickets priced at $120, $220, $320 and $420 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 full-time students and CSSA recipients are available on a first-come, first-served basis.) A maximum discount of 20 per cent is offered for the group booking package. Please refer to the programme leaflet for details of the group booking discount.
This programme contains coarse language and adult content. For programme enquiries, please call 2268 7325 or visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/Programme/en/theatre/program_422.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/Thursday, December 5, 2013
Issued at HKT 14:50
NNNN
