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editor’sdiary

B C M A G A Z I N E 0 6 M A Y 2 0 1 0

May 1-29Running for the month of May, the Macau Arts Festival features 70performances from 25 countries, with a strong emphasis on localartists debuting their art. Among the highlights on the programme,the Macao Chinese Orchestra presents a concert on May 8 featuringthree world premieres: Liu Wenjin: Vision of Mazu GuzhengConcerto, Kuan Nai Chung: The Bewitching Braid and Li Binyang:Macao Capriccio; rounding out the programme is Tang Pangjing:Poem of Macao Suite for Chinese Orchestra. On May 15, theSpaghetti Western Orchestra presents a concert of the best of EnnioMorricone – with such favourites as The Man with the Harmonicaand Cheyenne both from Once Upon a Time in the West; Ecstasy ofGold from The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly and ChiMai from TheProfessional. Also in the festival, directed by Ines Pasic andperformed by Pasic and Gabriela Bermudez, is Gaia Teatro: TheWorlds of Fingerman on May 8 and 9 a non-verbal puppet theatreshow with fingers as the puppets describing the life and times of themythical Fingerman. Then Visual Poems from Spain, Jordi Bertran’sproduction on May 15 and 16, manipulates foam rubber letters tocreate further symbols to the accompaniment of guitar music. Forthe complete rundown of the Macao Arts Festival, visitwww.icm.gov.mo/fam/fam_prgE.asp.

May 8The Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra will be attending the ShanghaiSpring International Music Festival as Hong Kong’s representatives,but before the orchestra make their way to this and the 2010Shanghai World Expo, they will be playing a sample programme in apre-tour concert led by Conductor Yan HuiChang and with soloistsAkiko Suwanai on violin and Wong Chi-Ching on pipa. Theprogramme includes Guo Wenjing: Three Melodies of West Yunnan,He Zhanhao and Chen Gang: The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto(arranged by Ng Tai-Kong) and Law Wing-fai: A Thousand Sweepsfor Pipa and Orchestra. The climax of the concert is Cheng Dazhao:The Yellow River Capriccio. The 33rd Shanghai Spring InternationalMusic Festival Pre-Tour Concert - 8pm, HK City Hall, Concert Hall.Tickets are $380, $250 and $150 from Urbtix: 2734 9009.

Rubik’s Cube and its Aftermath comprises two parts, the first beingRubik’s Cube, a play written by Tao Jun and performed in 1985 bythe Chinese National Youth Theatre. Scenes from Rubik’s Cube areused to depict society during post-Mao China. Then the second halfof the show is a devised theatre piece about contemporary HongKong, with attempts to predict developments in the city during thenext 25 years. Directed by Shu-wing Tang, the dean of drama at theHK Academy of Performing Arts, Rubik’s Cube and its Aftermath runson May 8 at 2:30pm and 7:30pm at the HKAPA Drama Theatre.Tickets are $100 and $65, available at HK Ticketing: 31 288 288.

May 8-12The Mexican Film Festival is a celebration of Mexican cinema andoffers glimpses into the world of Mexican film beyond renownedfilmmakers such as Alfonso Cuaron (Y Tu Mama Tambien), Gillermodel Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy) and Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu(21 Grams, Babel). The 5-day event will showcase a combination offeature-length and short films such as Arracame La Vida (Tear ThisHeart Out) by Roberto Sneider in which post-revolutionary Mexico isportrayed from a female perspective. Also included in theprogramme is Rudo y Cursi (Rough and Vulgar) in which the brotherof Alfonso Cuaron and writer of Y Tu Mama Tambien, Carlos Cuaron,directs Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna in a comedic satire ofmodern-day Mexico. Admission is free with tickets available for pickup outside agnes b cinema or at Café Punta del Cielo (L/GF, Shop 1,Lyndhurst Tower, 1 Lyndhurst Terrace, Central, 3796 6111).

May 8, 9 and 15The collaboration of pop acts with stage productions has becomemore and more popular over the years. Trinity Theatre gets into thegroove with its musical theatre, Dear Victoria, which features MikiYeung, formerly of the now-disbanded girl band Cookies, as Ria,whose relationship with childhood friend Victor over 40 years mirrorsthe changing face of Hong Kong during that time. The stage show isperformed in Cantonese. Dear Victoria runs at the Sha Tin TownHall’s Concert Hall on May 8 at 8pm and May 9 at 3pm, and on May15 at 8pm at the Tuen Mun Town Hall’s Concert Hall. Tickets are$230, $160, $100 for the shows on May 8 and 9, and $210, $140,and $100 for the May 15 performance, all from Urbtix: 2734 9009.

May 9-10The Sunshine Boys, Neil Simon’s widely acclaimed play, comes tothe stage for local audiences in an adaptation by the Whole Theatreat the Ngau Chi Wan Civic Centre. The leads, representing thefamous comedy duo Lewis and Clark, are taken by Chung King-fai,renowned stage and television veteran, and Jeffrey Ho, prolific actoron the local theatre scene. Together they bring to the local stage AlLewis and Willie Clark’s acerbic but, to outsiders, often-humorousrelationship as former partners of a once-popular vaudeville act.Willie could never quite reconcile himself with Al’s decision to bringdown the curtain on their successful act. At a reunion years later,exchanges between the two stubborn performers celebrate Simon’shumour, which, under Whole Theater’s treatment, comes withreferences to local culture. The Sunshine Boys runs at 8pm fromMay 6-8 and on May 10, with a 3pm show on May 9. Tickets are$350 and $320 from Urbtix: 2734 9009.

May 12-13Presented by three Vietnamese artists – Nhat Ly Nguyen, LanMaurice Nguyen and juggler Tuan Le – Lang Toi (My Village) is astage production that, with circus acrobatics, juggling and physicaltheatre, describes the daily lives of the inhabitants of a Vietnamesevillage. Set designs are bamboo-themed, the plant playing asignificant role in Vietnamese life. A series of acts reflects on daily

goldfish is meant for dying | may 14- 16

dear victoria | may 8, 9 and 15