Best: The Tempest, Kwai Tsing Theatre, October
As budgets for the movie industry sank further into a decline, creative talents were increasingly moving into theatre, and nowhere was this merging of genres more magnificent than at The Contemporary Legend Theatre of Taiwan’s staging of The Tempest. First performed in Taiwan in 2004, this was Hong Kong’s first opportunity to witness film director Tsui Hark’s move from celluloid to the stage. Together with the virtuoso Wu Hsing-kuo they transformed the supernatural Shakespearean tale into a sprawling and visually stunning new form of Peking opera, complete with ethereal projections that brought a vast stage experience, and dramatic costumes by the Oscar-winning designer Tim Yip. Tsui Hark told us that his move into theatre has been a thoroughly pleasurable one: “With my movies, I look back at the DVDs and always find things I’d like to change,” he said. “On stage, every performance is new. We can keep changing things forever.”
 

Runner-up: Spartacus, Cultural Centre, September
It has been an outstanding year for ballet. First the Stuttgart Ballet with the 36th Hong Kong Arts Festival, then the Royal Ballet in July, by the time September rolled around we were finally treated to a one-night explosive performance by the Bolshoi Ballet with their signature Spartacus. Propelled by Khachaturian’s bombastic score, performed with gusto by the Bolshoi Orchestra, and spectacularly staged, this sublime show was propelled into the realm of the gods every time Ivan Vasiliev took the stage. At just 19, Vasiliev has the world at his ridiculously talented feet.
 

Second runner-up: Don Carlo, Cultural Centre, September
Opera Hong Kong have had a remarkable fifth anniversary year, and their performance of Verdi’s darkest opera was undoubtedly one of their best. One of the reasons for it success is that this was an ingenious co-production of Opera Hong Kong with Hawaii Opera Theatre and Vancouver Opera: which meant the three companies shared the cost, allowing for a plush, state of the art production. The opening night was spectacular and telling of China’s emerging presence on the opera stage: Chinese talents played every role including Warren Mok as Don Carlo, and Li Xiuying as Elisabeth of Valois. But it was the attention to detail in the sets, costumes and staging that stuck in our minds long after the curtains closed.

Honourable Mentions:
Paul Taylor Dance Company, Kwai Tsing Theatre, October
The most impressive modern dance performance of the year.

Pippin, Lok Hing Lane Ampitheatre, October
Baz&Maz Productions deserve a round of applause for negotiating with the LCSD for more than 6 months to bring the first musical ever to the Lan Kwai Fong amphitheatre. It rocked.

Cirque Du Soleil, The Venetian, ongoing
The artistic acrobatic troupe from Montreal unveiled their US$100million permanent show at The Venetian, and impressed all with their signature daring aerial physicality.

Tom Cotter & HK International Comedy Festival, TakeOut Comedy Club, October
Tom Cotter delivered the best comic performance Hong Kong has seen in years, the highlight of an impressive feast of fun that proved this city has some serious comedy talent.
 

Reader’s Choice:
The 39 Steps, Academy for Performing Arts, October
The all-Australian, four-person cast stole the show, in this rip-roaring, laugh out loud story of spies and silliness –without doubt one of the most entertaining shows of the year.