Inspired by Franz Kafka's "A Report to an Academy", an experiential theatre performance, "Report ii: the illegal-i", created by director and choreographer Ivanhoe Lam, will be staged from October 29 to 31 at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre.
 
     Combining creative text, parkour, movement, dance, narrative, live music, rap and video, "Report ii: the illegal-i" tells the story of an ape - a research subject being educated to become human struggling to find itself and freedom during its transformation.
 
     Boundary pusher Lam and his team presented the site-responsive performance "Report i: Which I am I" at the former Prison Yard of Tai Kwun, Hong Kong, in 2019, linking the site's history with the performance. As a follow-up, "Report ii: the illegal-i" is set in the Studio Theatre of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre and is drawn from the different perspectives of a cross-cultural team of creative performers. Audience members are taken on another experiential journey to reflect on how vulnerable the values of liberty and equality are in the contemporary world. The team also goes further to explore how institutional forces, for their own benefit, manipulate one's sense of self and purpose.
 
     Having graduated from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, where he studied contemporary dance, choreographer Lam furthered his studies in Codarts Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, majoring in choreography. Lam's works have toured Shanghai, Dusseldorf, Zurich, Guangzhou, Beijing, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht and Amsterdam. His recent creations have appeared in the New Vision Arts Festival (NVAF), i-Dance Festival, the Hong Kong Arts Festival at the Hong Kong Jockey Club Contemporary Dance Series, and more.
 
     "Report ii: the illegal-i" is one of the highlights of the NVAF. It will be held at 8pm on October 29 and 30 and at 3pm on October 30 and 31 at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Studio Theatre. The programme will be performed in Cantonese and English, with occasional Chinese or English surtitles.
 
     Tickets priced at $320 are now available at URBTIX (www.urbtix.hk). For credit card telephone bookings, please call 2111 5999, or use the mobile ticketing app "My URBITX".
 
     A meet-the-artist session will be held after both evening performances on October 29 and 30.
 
     Organised by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, the NVAF will be held from October 23 to November 28, showcasing a range of creative, pioneering and interdisciplinary programmes. For programme enquiries and concessionary schemes, please call 2370 1044 or visit www.nvaf.gov.hk.

Ends/Wednesday, October 20, 2021
Issued at HKT 16:45

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