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The pioneering New Vision Arts Festival-produced performance of Henrik Ibsen's classic drama "Hedda Gabler" will be held in November, featuring the work of eminent British director Adrian Noble and leading Hong Kong theatrical talents.
One of Ibsen's most challenging and compelling plays, "Hedda Gabler" tells the story of a well-to-do daughter of a general in the 19th century. The gracious, clever and ambitious Hedda marries a rising but dull academic. Bored by the end of their honeymoon, the newlywed is made more discontented when she discovers her former lover is in another relationship with her friend. Driven by jealousy, Hedda's troubled mind gradually drives herself and others towards disaster.
The production's director, Adrian Noble, was praised by the New York Times as being "one of the most consistently imaginative of directors". In the upcoming production, he will team up with leading local artists including Bonni Chan, Tang Shu-wing, Chan Wing-chuen, Tommy Chu, Ivy Pang, Amy Chum and Mandy Yiu. Together, they will traverse Hedda's middle-class mindset and her improvidence, self-indulgence, resentment and cunning, as well as how a seemingly ideal life is transformed into tragedy.
Noble joined the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in 1980 and was appointed as the Artistic Director and Chief Executive in 1990, a post he held until 2003, during which he produced over 200 productions. Noble is noted for his faith in well-spoken poetic language as the cornerstone of a good Shakespearean production as well as for his love of spectacular staging. He has won the Drama Critics' Award for Best Director and Best Revival and the Globe Theatre Award for Best Director, and has received more than 20 Olivier Award nominations. In 2003, Noble left the RSC to pursue a freelance career in theatre, musicals, opera and film.
Also featuring Sean Curran as the co-producer and translation by Rupert Chan, "Hedda Gabler" is one of the highlights of the New Vision Arts Festival and one of the programmes commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. It will be held at 8pm from November 6 to 9, and at 3pm on November 8 and 9, at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Studio Theatre. It will be performed in Cantonese with English surtitles. Tickets priced at $420 and $360 are now available at URBTIX. Half-price tickets are available for full-time students, senior citizens aged 60 or above, people with disabilities and their minders, and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance recipients. Other booking discounts of up to 20 per cent are available for full-price tickets of New Vision Arts Festival performing arts programmes.
A series of extension activities on "Hedda Gabler" will also be held. Details are as follows:
1. Talk: In Conversation with Adrian Noble
(in English)
October 27 (Monday), 8pm
Hong Kong Cultural Centre Studio Theatre
Speaker: Adrian Noble
2. Pre-performance Appreciation Talk (in Cantonese)
November 9 (Sunday), 7.30pm
Hong Kong Cultural Centre Level 4 Foyer
Speaker: Gilbert Fong
3. Sharing Session: Inside the World of
"Hedda Gabler"
(in Cantonese and English)
November 13 (Thursday), 8pm
Hong Kong Cultural Centre Administration Building
Level 4 AC1
Speakers: Sean Curran, Rupert Chan, Bonni Chan,
Tang Shu-wing and Ivy Pang
Admission is free. Limited seats are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
The New Vision Arts Festival, organised by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, is running from October 16 to November 16, showcasing an array of innovative and outstanding performances that cross cultural and disciplinary borders. Programme brochures are available at URBTIX outlets or at the festival website www.newvisionfestival.gov.hk.
For programme enquiries, please call 2370 1044. Internet bookings can be made at www.urbtix.hk. Telephone credit card bookings can be made on 2111 5999.
Ends/Saturday, October 25, 2014
Issued at HKT 16:00
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