Arts preview: The Only Stage’s The Happy Prince is no laughing matter

Oscar Wilde's The Happy Prince is generally regarded as a children's story with a simple message of love. But when staged as a musical, the work becomes a huge technical challenge, according to writer-director Henry Fong Ka-wong, who is preparing a Cantonese version.

Featuring a migrating swallow that befriends the statue of the Happy Prince, the production involves a number of flying scenes and an imaginative set featuring a storybook kingdom.

That is where Fong's childhood memory of a Japanese production of The Adventures of Sinbad at the now defunct Lee Garden Theatre came in handy. The director remembers the theatre company's clever use of computer-generated animation, which blended seamlessly with the live action on stage.

To achieve a similar effect, the technical team has built the town digitally, while Jarita Wan Cheuk-yin, who plays the swallow, has spent a dozen painful hours "flying" on wires against a green screen.

Synchronising this virtual reality with live action gives the production a dimension that cannot be created by a conventional theatre set-up. "I hope that, several decades later, those who watched the show will remember the virtues and morals they learned from the story, which is enhanced by the hopefully seamless effects," says Fong.