Adrian Noble Comes to HK
28-10-14
Last night Adrian Noble gave a free talk at the Cultural Center about his career as a director, his stance on Shakespeare and his upcoming production of Hedda Gabler with New Vision Arts Festival. Adrian Noble is an award-winning director and administrator from the UK, known for his unique style of taking classical pieces and reinventing them with grand scale designs. He was the Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1991 to 2003 and worked with prolific actors during his tenure like Ben Kingsley, Helen Mirren, Daniel Day Lewis and many others.
His book, How to Do Shakespeare was published in 2009 and has become one of the most popular acting texts in recent years. A self-proclaimed "nut" about rythym and pacing, his book is an excellent source for teachers and actors wanting to know more about the nuts and bolts of performing Shakespeare's text from a formulaic perspective.
We attended the talk with Adrian and had a chance to sit down with producer Sean Curran of Theatre du Pif to ask some questions about creating theatre for international audiences. "Working with a director like Adrian has been a dream come true for our team", says Sean. "He's wonderful and very inspiring to work with."
Hedda Gabler is being produced in Cantonese with English surtitles. The actors can understand English in rehearsals and there's a Cantonese speaking Assistant Director with the team at all times. This isn't the first time Mr. Noble has directed international work. "I typically work on operas in French, Italian... things I can follow. I did a production of The Twelth Night in Tokyo that was quite challenging... It was hard because it was a comedy and I couldn't tell if it was funny. Hedda Gabler has been easier to do because there's this ability (in the Cantonese language) to focus on a word... There's this line in Hedda, "I'm desperate"... In the Cantonese we can really focus on this line... unlike in French where it would be a phrase."
Adrian believes that theatre and art can communicate effectively, no matter the language of presentation. He's working with an international cast and design team, including the award winning set designer Lee Yun Soo of Korea. She's known for her work at the 2003 Cairo Festival of Experimental Theatre and did some work recently for Shakespeare's Globe.
"Actors are the same, no matter what country they're from.... It's traditions that are quite different," says Adrian. Referring to these traditions, he began to speak of the different styles in which actors are taught based on where they're raised. It was a very interesting perspective. He loves it when actors get off book really early because then he can explore with them. "I've done my most experimental work with opera singers because they already know the work backwards and forwards... And they're also quite keen to try new things since they've done the part more than once... I enjoy working with opera singers."
Hedda Gabler is playing at part of the New Vision Arts Festival next month. It's playing November 6th through 9th at the Studio Theatre at the Hong Kong Cultural Center. Adrian's unique vision of the play includes staging in the round. There are evening and afternoon performances.
"Not many shows are done in the round in Hong Kong because of the space limitations," says Sean Curran. "I think audiences will enjoy seeing the show because it's really different and beautiful."
Even though the show is presented in Cantonese, Sean wants to encourage non-Chinese speaking people to attend. "If you know the story of Hedda Gabler, you'll really like what Adrian and the team have done with the show... It's really beautiful and I don't think you need to speak Cantonese to appreciate it."
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