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The "Community Oral History Theatre Project - Eastern District" was launched last year. Since then, a series of activities has been held culminating in an outreach performance to be staged at 3pm on December 13 (Sunday) in the Extension Activities Room of Chai Wan Public Library. The running time of this performance and sharing activity will be about one hour. Limited free admission is available on a first-come, first-served basis with prior registration by calling 2591 1300 or emailing abo@lcsd.gov.hk.
In the outreach performance "North Point Anecdotes" (in Cantonese) the performers tell stories about the history of Eastern District. For example, there was once a reservoir on the hill in North Point that local residents called Choi Sai Woo, which means "the lake that rivals the West Lake", on account of its similarity to the famous West Lake in Hangzhou, China. Throughout the times of rodent infestation and water rationing, the reservoir supplied water to Taikoo Dockyard and the nearby sugar factory, soft drink factory and residential areas. In the summer of 1966, Hong Kong had a rainstorm so severe that it destroyed the reservoir's embankment, causing floods and ...
In 1967 riots broke out in Hong Kong. The Government imposed a curfew as there was widespread use of petrol bombs, explosives and home-made bombs known as "pineapples". Due to social unrest, one couple was forced to retire. With a pension of $30,000, they planned to buy a property in North Point, but all they could afford was a flat in Kiu Kwan Mansion. At that time it was rumoured that most Kiu Kwan Mansion tenants were radicals. Even police officers were reluctant to enter the building. Did this couple really want to live in this "ungoverned" place, or should they look harder for an alternative?
Ko Tin-lung is the outreach performance's artistic director and Sharon Yau is the script-writer, director and drama tutor. Performing at the show will be more than 20 elderly participants from Eastern District.
In order to promote the development of arts and culture in the community, the "Community Oral History Theatre Project - Eastern District" has been co-organised by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD), Chung Ying Theatre Company, Hong Kong Society for the Aged and the Neighbourhood Advice-Action Council. Through organising a series of workshops, the project aims at gathering the personal experiences and valuable recollections of the elderly in Eastern District. Scripts are written using the oral information so collected, providing an opportunity for the elderly to act out their stories on stage. Through this project, it is hoped to encourage active participation in arts and cultural activities by the elderly. It is also hoped that young people will be able to gain an understanding from these performances of how the older generation grew up, and to reflect on their own lives as a result.
For programme enquiries, please call 2591 1300 (LCSD) / 8106 8336 (Chung Ying Theatre Company) or visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/ab/en/OH_eastern_phase4.php .
Ends/Friday, November 13, 2015
Issued at HKT 10:01
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