The 1984 screen version of Peter Shaffer's Amadeus won eight Oscars and several other awards, but for community theatre veteran Ian Pratley it doesn't compare with the original play.
The 45-year-old - who has designed sets for many productions including Big Box Theatre Productions' A Streetcar Named Desire (2008) and the more recent Misery by Wordybird Theatre Company - says he was 'blown away' when he first saw the 1979 play featuring British actors Tim Pigott-Smith and Toyah Wilcox in the early 1990s.
'It's beautifully written and there is not a single word that is not required. It certainly doesn't suffer from 'too many notes',' says Pratley, in reference to the famous complaint Austrian Emperor Joseph II is alleged to have made about Mozart's opera The Abduction from the Seraglio.
'In fact, I loved it so much that I went back the following night and watched it again.
'I thought, one day if I am lucky enough, I will stage the play.'
That day has come: next month Pratley makes his debut as a director with the Hong Kong Players in their production of Amadeus at the Hong Kong Arts Centre. Samuel Craig will play Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Stephanie Fodor his wife Constanze and Stephen Bolton his rival Antonio Salieri.
