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Things to do in Hong Kong, including sports, festivals, and markets
A sexy production of Pippin is being staged in a brand new venue, sort of, writes Bourree Lam
It’s a Friday night, you’ve just finished an early dinner in Central, and you’re on your way to Yumla for a quick drink. Hoping to cut through the usually empty amphitheatre, you realise you can’t – because there’s a production of Pippin going on. You’re shocked: this is customarily a desolate public space. And you’re right: according to the LCSD, no official performance has ever occurred here before.
The fairy godmother of this story is Marion McDonald, of Baz&Maz Productions, who jumped through six months of hoops to realise her production of the Tony Award-winning musical Pippin. “It’s not an easy process to convince a governmental department to stage an outdoor theatre production in one of their venues,” sums up McDonald. “There’s a lot of risk for them and every department involved, from the police to environmental protection, noise protection, engineering, food, and hygiene.”
Read: lots of work, lots of time, and lots of upfront financial costs and potential losses in order to meet all of the government’s requirements. But McDonald was determined to make her dream of outdoor theatre in Hong Kong come true, and after lots of hard work, she succeeded. “We’ll finally be bringing people to Lan Kwai Fong for a cultural reason,” says McDonald.
Outdoor theatre – most notably Shakespeare in the Park performances – is immensely popular in other cities around the world, and met with great support from both local governments and audiences. It is surprisingly difficult to set up in Hong Kong, though, perhaps due to the novelty of the idea, though the tradition of outdoor dramatic performances stretches all the way back to ancient Greece, where open amphitheatres hosted crowds of thousands. Lok Hing Lane Amphitheatre (yes, it actually has a name) can host 100.
Murphy Li, the manager of the amphitheatre and the man who worked with McDonald to gain use of the venue for Pippin, explains that the lengthy process is due to the sheer number of departments that must be consulted before giving the green light to any production in the public space, which is officially classified as a park.
“There are no specific activities here,” says Li, “but no commercial activities are allowed.” With debates of public space issues still in the air, there will probably be no easier way to book the venue than to fight the bureaucracy as McDonald has done. Her advice to future hopeful hosts of outdoor cultural events is to be prepared, and start very early. “It’s a lengthy process,” admits McDonald. “You certainly can’t say ‘Concert! In two weeks time!’”
Baz&Maz Productions has justly made changes to make Pippin even more fit for the drinking district – with edgy costumes, young vibrant actors, and a storyline of a young man’s unfulfilled quest for pleasure. You can even go if you don’t have a ticket – McDonald welcomes all those who want to watch from the staircase above.
“I think it’s absolutely important that people push on and keep taking on the challenge to make this kind of thing happen in Hong Kong,” says McDonald. “Or we’ll all just give up. I think it’s important that people try.” Equally important is to show up to support this worthy act of cultural benevolence, and experience theatre as Hong Kong’s never seen it done before.