The 40th Hong Kong Arts Festival opened last month but there are still three weeks left (the festival ends March 8) to sample the array of quality local and international performances which give weight to the claim that this is Asia’s premier arts festival.

Over its 45 day run the festival features over 170 productions staged at 17 venues, including 38 ensembles or solo artists dropping in from overseas and 16 from Hong Kong. The program runs the gamut from orchestral works, opera, and ballet to modern dance and drama, with productions catering to both the traditionalists and devotes of more innovative approaches. So how do you choose what to see? ARTINFO HK brings you our picks for the events you shouldn’t miss.

Drama: “Journey to Home”

Playwright Santayana Li’s first ever script, “Journey to Home,” was chosen to be one of the commissioned local productions featured in the Festival’s New Stage Series, which is designed to  promote up-and-coming young writers. “Journey” tells the story of an 18-year-old girl who decides to go to Taiwan to look for her mother, who left the family when her children were still young. Inevitably the search becomes not just one for her mother but also for an idea of home. Li’s play benefits from being directed by prominent actor/director Lee Chun-chow.

Be quick for this one, it runs Feb 15-18 at the Hong Kong Cultural Center

Drama: “The Classics of Of Mountains and Sea”

Directed by mainland China’s most prominent director Lin Zhaohua, this specially-commissioned work utilizes music, dance and puppetry to reimagine Nobel laureate Gao Xingjian’s play “The Classics of Mountains and Seas.” The work itself draws heavily on Chinese supernatural stories and myths and Lin Zhaohua infuses it with elements of Nuo opera, a thousand-year-old art form that grew out of sacrificial customs and religious rites. Given Lin’s high reputation in avant-garde theatre and Gao’s literary vision, the play promises to be an extraordinary experience.

Feb 24-27, Auditorium, Kwai Tsing Theater

Opera: “Così Fan Tutte”

Mozart’s famous riff on the question of women’s fidelity “Così Fan Tutte,” has been declared a jewel in the repertoire of the famed Bavarian State Opera. The magicial simplicity of Dieter Dorn’s direction and Jürgen Rose’s elegant design perfectly complement the story about two army officers who attempt to woo each other’s fiancés in order to win a wager about whether all women are fickle. The opera will be performed in Italian with English and Chinese subtitles.

Feb 23-26, Grand Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Center

Multimedia: “TeZukA”

The inspiration behind this show was the work “Astro Boy and Buddha” by the Japanese animator and manga artist Osamu Tezuka. With a cast of ten performers, three musicians and a calligrapher, “TeZukA” blends tradition, science fiction and the contemporary world. Tezuka’s original illustrations are presented alongside work by video artist Taiki Ueda and calligraphy by Tosui Suzuki. Using the dancers’ movements to trace the physical evolution of Tezuka’s drawings, this show brings the so-called “God of Manga’s” philosophy, drawings and characters vividly to life.  

Feb 17-19, Grand Theater, Hong Kong Cultural Center

Theater: “Faith Healer”

Irish playwright Brian Friel’s extraordinary and highly acclaimed work “Faith Healer” has been reinterpreted by the U.K.’s oldest theater company, the Bristol Old Vic. The play relates the tale of Francis Hardy, an itinerant Irish faith healer, who for years travelled the remote and desolate halls of Wales and Scotland attempting to cure the sick and suffering. It takes a deeper look at the nature of art and belief through monologues put into the mouths of Francis Hardy, his wife Grace, and his manager, Teddy.

March 1-4, 6-8, Shouson Theater, Hong Kong Arts Center

Check out full programme details and booking arrangements on the Hong Kong Arts Festival website: www.hk.artsfestival.org/tc/

Kon