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Oliver Chou

Datong – The Chinese Utopia 
Hong Kong City Hall 
Theatre March 20
 
A century-old China dream has been retold in a new local opera that turns City Hall theatre into a time machine.
The three-act chamber opera Datong touched on a utopian ideal advocated by early 20th-century scholar Kang Youwei and his daughter Tongbi for a future China based on the Confucian tradition of human virtues and reform.
To cover the chaotic times from the fall of the Qing dynasty to the Cultural Revolution and personalities from Empress Dowager to President Theodore Roosevelt in under two hours requires something special. A star-studded team delivered just that.
Following the success of the 2013 chamber opera on ill-fated writer Xiao Hong, University of Hong Kong composer Chan Hing-yan set music to a rich literary text with great effects. The bilingual libretto by New York-based Evans Chan was eloquent, and director Tang Shu-wing harnessed maximum impact from limited space. Topping it all was the superb singing cast and the 11-member ensemble under conductor Lio Kuok-man.

Act 1 began with Tongbi, sung by soprano Louise Kwong, in a dialogue with a missionary on a cruise to Penang. Musical lines were simple and played by Western instruments until the teenager recalled her childhood in Peking, which brought out the erhu playing excerpts from Jiang's River of Sorrow.
The two-string fiddle was also the musical reference for Kang. Sung by bass Apollo Wong. Kang emerged from the backdrop resembling a photo-frame. He and a company of five in period outfit singing as a mixed choir, told the story of the aborted reform, which led to the creepy appearance of Empress Dowager.
Mezzo-soprano Carol Lin's versatile singing was breathtaking.
The White House scene in Act 2, featuring the father and daughter discussing with the US president the best way out for China, showed how little has changed.
The opening of Act 3 with the Beatles' hit Let it be raised some eyebrows. The song, recorded in 1969, was used to contrast with the ongoing Cultural Revolution scene, and the way it transited to the Red Guard song Revolution is Not a Dinner Party was superb.
Kang was long dead and Tongbi was alone with her daughter. Whether suffering came from the Confucian tradition or a loss of it was left unanswered as Tongbi expired.
 
 


Dream idea takes a special ride on time machine

Datong - cover the chaotic times from the fall of the Qing dynasty to the Cultural Revolution and personalities from Empress Dowager to President Theodore Roosevelt in under two hours requires something special. Photo: HK Arts Festival

University of Hong Kong composer Chan Hing-yan set music to a rich literary text with great effects. Photo: HK Arts Festival

News

Hong Kong

A century-old China dream has been retold in a new local opera that turns City Hall theatre into a time machine.
