The playwright who saved the Sunbeam Theatre from closure at the last minute will turn the North Point landmark into a privately run cultural centre promoting the art of Cantonese opera - and much more.
In an interview with the South China Morning Post, Li Kui-ming said he hoped that when the theatre reopened in less than two months, it would stage a much wider range of performing arts than before. Performances would include not only various forms of Chinese opera by local and mainland troupes, but also drama, magic and even acrobatic shows.
'We hope to bring something new to the theatre,' said Li, who is also a fung shui practitioner and philanthropist. 'When the theatre reopens, it's going to play an important role as a cultural centre before the West Kowloon Cultural District is built.'
Hong Kong's only privately run theatre has served as a mecca for Cantonese opera since its founding in 1972. Its operator, United Arts Entertainment, however, has blamed big losses on rising rents and decided not to renew its lease on the building when it expires later this month.
The Sunbeam's show last Sunday was to be its last. But Li signed a four-year lease on Saturday after chief executive hopeful Leung Chun-ying put him in contact with its landlord, Francis Law Sau-fai.
Li, whose has reinvented himself as a Cantonese opera playwright in recent years, is paying HK$1 million per month under the new lease, nearly 30 per cent more than the HK$698,000 paid by United Arts.