Preview-The Double Bass-Brave Heart Theatre
21-10-14
By: Meaghan McGurgan
If you’ve been in Hong Kong pre-handover you might remember The Double Bass (in Cantonese) directed by Tang Shu Wing at the 1995 Hong Kong Arts Festival. Written by award winning German playwright and novelist (who wrote Perfume) Patrick Suskind, it tells the story of a musician working in an orchestra as (you guessed it) a Double Bass player.
It was that Cantonese production which inspired director Tom Hope to bring this play back to HK for its English-language debut as Braveheart Theatre’s first production in its inaugural 2014 season. “It’s perfect for a Hong Kong audience”, says Tom. “The protagonist works brilliantly as this displaced orchestral expat, on a secure package with a local SAR orchestra, hunkering down in HK’s ‘cultural desert’, taking the money but not running..."
Neil Art, an established local actor (and Canadian expat) who plays Suskind's Player in this production - and also, as it happens, plays a real-life double-bass around town for his 'day job' - agrees: “It’s about a man battling with his hopes and dreams, fears and disillusionment – career-wise, relationship-wise, and other-wise. Many of its themes are universal, like 'Is what I'm doing worthwhile? Do I contribute anything of value to society, to myself? Am I loved, am I capable of loving?' — these are questions we all ask of ourselves, things we can all relate to.”
Neil’s favorite part of the show is his “character's obsession with a woman who doesn't know he exists. “Who hasn't suffered from unrequited love at some point in their life” he muses “and perhaps even gone a bit batty about it?”
So what's it like, in real life, to be a double bass player? According to Wikipedia, there’s a big thing in the Double Bass community about whether to sit or stand while playing the instrument. “Often in an orchestra the double-bass musicians are seated', comments Neil. 'The chairs have to be extra tall to accommodate the proper ergonomics of the player to the large size of the double-bass. I prefer to stand, but in the venues I play in there is often not a chair or stool tall enough – cos that’s the size of man I am.”
And what's it been like to rehearse this one man show? Neil describes it as "protracted". One can appreciate a man of few words but one has to wonder what exactly they've been getting up to for such a long time. They would not share with us any secret stories from behind the curtain, sadly.
His director expands: “Neil has a gift for comedy and an instinctive empathy for the double bass, which throughout acts as a sort of ‘straight man’ – so, in a way, it’s more a duet than a solo piece – and we needed to get our hearts as well as heads round that, which I think we’ve done. But what’s also demanding for Neil is he plays a character who drinks beer throughout, getting steadily drunker and wilder as the show goes on – and I guess I shouldn’t reveal quite how dedicated a method actor Neil has been in this regard…”
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It's not just Neil who will be doing the drinking. Something The Double Bass team is very excited to share with audiences is their beer ‘support’ from local company Scapa Scandia furnishing bottles of its Eastern European import SVYTORY'S EKSTRA. Each audience member gets to drink as much free beer as - well, as seems appropriate to their and Neil’s appreciation of proceedings. Neil’s character drinks beer to calm his nerves on stage but he's also offering it to all who've come for this ‘inaugural lecture launching the 'Hong Kong Double Bass Appreciation Society’ says Tom ‘so, whether it's drunk by Neil or the audience, the beer is part of the show.’ (There's also free water for those who don't 'do' alcohol.) Drinkalong theatre? Well, who knows - maybe there'll be The Double Bass, Drinking Game Edition!
Their target audience for this production is adults, due to some adult content and language – and the beer. It is recommended for ages 18 and up. “They don’t have to be beer drinkers' says Tom 'and they don’t have to be double bass enthusiasts either. They don’t even have to like classical music. They just have to be interested in the human condition or having a laugh – or both.”
Ticket prices for The Double Bass are very reasonable. During this opening preview week, all tickets are 100HKD online, 150HKD at the door. After that, full price adults will be 200HKD online and 250HKD at the door but students are always $100 to enter. Performances are at 7pm and 9pm, starting tomorrow (Wednesday 22 October) at Premium Sofa Club, basement of 212 Wing Lok St. in Sheung Wan. Online tickets can be purchased through ticketingover.com.
The Double Bass is playing at Premium Sofa Club through November 7th. For more information, click here.
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