***********************************************************
Following on from "10 Years. Han. Xiao", Theatre Ronin will adapt local writer Hon Lai-chu's work "Sew & Soul", to be staged in May. Theatre Ronin promises to expose the tragi-comic phenomena of contemporary society with an image-rich performance.
The play centres on a piece of legislation called the Body Attachment Law. People are rushing to the Body Matching Centre and using their height, weight, age and metabolic rate to pair up with and have their bodies sewn and attached to someone else. It is generally believed that no one is an integral whole, and that combining with another person is the best way to live. In order to fully "combine" with another body, people have to undergo long and repeated processes of delight, heartbreak and disputes before enjoying ultimate fulfilment as a "whole". As the number of body attachment cases increases, the economy improves and the unemployment rate drops. Doctors advise young people to undergo the attachment operation so that their lives will be smoother thereafter. Youngsters are also warned not to feel negative, because they may pay dearly for "separating".
"Sew & Soul" is co-directed and co-adopted by Tam Hung-man and Wong Man-ho, with Tam also stage designer. Dung Kai-cheung is literary consultant, and Ivanhoe Lam is the choreographer as well as a performer. The main cast includes Shirlee Tsoi, Grace Yuen, Ng Fung-ming, Anson Lam and Leung Ho-pong.
Founded in 2006 by Tam Hung-man, who is currently artistic director, Theatre Ronin is now being financed under a one-year grant from the Hong Kong Arts Development Council. The company is dedicated to creating theatre productions imbued with local cultural characteristics and is inspired by Hong Kong literature. Its repertory includes "Memorandum: 10 Years. Han. Xiao", "The Mariana Trench", "P.E. Period 2.0" and "Landscape in the Mist".
Presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD), "Sew & Soul" (performed in Cantonese) will be staged at 8pm on May 9 and 10 (Friday and Saturday) and at 3pm on May 10 and 11 (Saturday and Sunday) at the Theatre, Sheung Wan Civic Centre. Tickets priced at $180 and $120 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 group booking package, please refer to programme leaflets for details.
A pre-performance talk (in Cantonese) will be held at 2pm to 3.30pm on April 19 (Saturday) at the Commercial Press Tsimshatsui Book Centre (Shops B1007-1010, B1/F, Miramar Shopping Centre, 132 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon). Speakers will include Dung Kai-cheung, Tam Hung-man and Wong Man-ho. Guest host will be the author of "Sew & Soul", Hon Lai-chu. Admission is free. Limited seats are available. For enquiries, please call 3971 0831 (Theatre Ronin).
Post-performance talks will also be held after the evening performances on May 9 and the matinee performance on May 10.
The programme contains coarse language. For programme enquiries, please call 2268 7325 (LCSD) or 3971 0831 (Theatre Ronin) or visit the LCSD's website www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/Programme/en/theatre/program_510.html. For ticketing enquiries, please call 3761 6661. For credit card telephone bookings, please call 2111 5999. For Internet bookings, please visit www.urbtix.hk.
Ends/Friday, March 21, 2014
Issued at HKT 10:00
NNNN
