Preview-ELDORADO(HK)!-Not So Loud
17-4-13
Meaghan had an opportunity to sit down and chat with Tom Hope who is producing playreadings of two new plays this weekend at the Fringe.
By: Meaghan McGurgan
The creative process for theatre can be interesting to an outsider. A new play goes through many drafts and revisions before being a finished product. Not So Loud Theatre company has been dedicated to producing new work in Hong Kong since they started over 20 years ago. Back in 2008, they started a tradition of reading new plays. Their play this weekend 'Otherhood' was first read at a public playreading in 2010. "Whenever we book a space for a production, we also like to use it for one or more readings." says producer Tom Hope.
The two plays that are being read this weekend are Wolf in the House by Simon Wu and Journeys by Rosaline Ting. You can come in and hear two new plays be read aloud for the first time in Hong Kong and then you can stick around for a short Q&A with the actors, directors and the playwrights who are skyping in from the UK!
The summary for Wolf in the House is described as: "A stormy night in Hong Kong. A university professor on the Star Ferry runs into a young man from mainland China. Kai invites Ming back to his Mid-Levels flat. Safely home the professor invites his guest to change into some dry clothes. As intimacy builds, Kai challenges Ming to a game of truth or lies. But tonight is the Festival of Hungry Ghosts where things are not all they seem."
Actors Evan Fowler and Sui Loon Leng, are taking on the roles of the wolf and the young man.
The summary for Journeys is descrived as: "Jackie (from Hong Kong) and Yoke Zheng (from Singapore) are ‘more-middle-aged-than-they-like-to-say’ Chinese women nursing personal unhappinesses in their UK home life who head East in search of something lost, something buried, something sought, something to be found…"
Actors Leeann Bennett and Gina Reid were "keen to do it" says Tom Hope.
The plays are directed by experienced playreading directors, Mike Ingham and Bernard Murphy.
For people that have never been to a playreading they'll be excited to see a new experience. You sit and listen while the actors read the lines and the director reads the stage direction. "When we did the first one it was really interesting how the actors wanted to act, and get up, and walk around with the script in their hands..."
Audience members who enjoy being part of the creative process will enjoy coming to the playreading. People who like new writing about Hong Kong from a Chinese perspective will also enjoy it. "Or if you have nothing to do on a rainy Saturday afternoon," adds Hope. Tickets are a bargain at 60HKD. Each play is about an hour long with a 15 minute Q&A.
ELDORADO(HK)!, (which stands for English Language Drama Offering Radical Alternative and Distinctive Opportunities in Hong Kong), will be playing at the Fringe on Saturday afternoon starting at 2pm. Even though the playreadings are back to back and are a doublebill, you must buy a seperate ticket to each reading.
For more information about the playreadings you can visit Not So Loud's website or click here.
Enjoy the show!
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