05-08-19
Actress Stella Adler said once upon a time, “The word theatre comes from the Greeks. It means the seeing place. It is the place where people come to see the truth about life and the social situation. The theatre is a spiritual and social X-ray of its time. The theatre was created to tell people the truth about life and the social situation.”
Pleasing and pleasurable, theatre is a place that we, as audience, can enjoy the absolute freedom of mind and for that reason, the people on or behind the stage are given the absolute freedom to express. Provided that you sit at all times, clap between times and stand up when time is right, theatre is a paradise for us to run away from the unpleasant reality. Some go to theatres to search and ruminate upon the spiritual substance of a performance. Some go there just for fun and enjoyment. The coming up of 2 theatre boxes (often referred to as a ‘Black Box’) gave an upgrade to the performing industry. There is a square, minimal and friendly black box theatre in the West Kowloon Cultural District, Hong Kong by the name of FREESPACE. There is another new theatre in Cotai, Macau which is full of imaginative devices, with multiple functions and to the surprise of stage designers. FREESPACE is basically a stylish bare shell and what may happen is all up to the performing group to design and work it out. On the other hand, MGM Theater is a fully equipped, complicated and magic structure where the 6 sides of the box can be moved and adjusted; and may each provide various sound and vision installations. I would compare FREESPACE to a decent Boston college chap and MGM Theatre to a dynamic New York dude.
To celebrate such a spectacular venue, MGM Theater presented a three-dimensional immersive show Fuerza Bruta which was an Argentina production. It is a variety show filled up with singing, dancing, acting and acrobatics, maximizing the marvelous stage facilities which the box provides. The show is a brew of perhaps Cirque du Soleil and contemporary stage art. I must say it is very entertaining but artistically familiar.
Back to West Kowloon, Hong Kong Repertory Theatre presented a play called A Dream Like a Dream. It is about the love stories of a mid-aged male cancer patient told to his young and pretty female doctor (fantasy for all men?). Lasting about 8 hours, the play became not as interesting as it should be because the storylines were over-exhausted. However, 4 sides of the box were turned into 6 performing platforms for almost 20 actors to parade their talents. Due to the many stages available within the black box, different characters, different points of time and different places can convey their stories of dream or reality to the audience simultaneously. People, time, place and story, the 4 ingredients of a drama create countless ‘mapping’ combinations on the 6 stages. Audience might be too busy and felt confused. Yet, the production is a brave and commendable artistic adventure.
The beauty of a black box theatre is its flexibility and changeability. It can help theatrical professionals realize their dream by supplying them with the ‘3E’: Experimental, Experiential and Expedient trials.
All in all, Fuerza Bruta and A Dream Like a Dream are technically well-calculated and artistically passionate. Sense and Sensibility is not just a novel written by Jane Austen, but a name which I gave to the 2 gripping performances!
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