Hong Kong International Shakespeare Festival to bring fresh takes on the Bard’s classics
The nine Shakespeare adaptations include a Cantonese version of Othello starring TVB actress Mandy Wong and a story of Hamlet’s Ophelia
All the world’s a stage for Tang Shu-wing, the theatre director and actor who will host the second Hong Kong International Shakespeare Festival in June.
The festival, launched in 2024 by the Tang Shu-wing Theatre Studio, will bring plenty of violent delights to the Hong Kong Cultural Centre and WestK venues.
Award-winning dance and theatre troupes from across the globe, including from Hong Kong, Tibet, Guangzhou, Romania, Poland, South Korea and Britain, will present nine unique adaptations of Shakespeare’s works. Audiences can look forward to fresh takes on plays including Othello, Macbeth, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet and Twelfth Night.
He has this to say when asked why we should still watch Shakespeare today.
“Why do we still read the Bible today, or the various sutras of Buddha, or various scriptures of ancient civilisations? Because they’re able to pinpoint certain fundamental philosophies of human existence,” he explains.