Kwai Tsing Theatre, Auditorium Mar 30-Apr 1

Peter Greenaway may be primarily known for his murderous, macabre and often breathtakingly beautiful avant-garde films, and the renowned British filmmaker’s Baroque aesthetic may seem out of place among our city’s upbeat, bustling consumerism, but here he is. This fortnight, Greenaway is set to take his multimedia performance piece to Hong Kong. Co-created with spouse Saskia Boddeke and arguably marking a step outside his usual oeuvre, The Blue Planet, unlike his cinematic looks at an imagined past, looks forward to the accelerating destruction of our planet or, as Greenaway ominously calls it, ‘the coming flood’.

Told from the perspective of Joan, the story concerns Noah’s wife (get it – Joan of Ark?) who watches as her husband herds Earth’s animals in twos on to his ship and who refuses to board herself. God looks on from above, occasionally conversing with Noah and repeating the slightly negligent mantra: “Man makes, man breaks!” What eventually unfolds is an exploration of myth, love and reality – articulated through a wide array of acting, singing, high-definition images and a Babel-esque mix of languages, including Castilian, English, French and Italian.

Like much of Greenaway’s work, the performance promises to be intellectually ambitious and visually arresting – although some of the multimedia images look distinctly Sims-ish; indeed, Greenaway cites Second Life machinima as an inspiration. The Blue Planet is Greenaway’s first major step into the deluge of technological and digital media. But only God knows if he’ll sink or swim.

Maddie Gressel

Tickets: 2734 9009; www.urbtix.hk.