Once upon a dream: Stage production Tonnochy captures the spirit of the 1970s

If someone were to look back at the history of Hong Kong theatre a decade from now, the summer of 2014 would likely be remembered for the presence of three blockbuster local productions. Remarkably, these are not just musicals with Canto-pop stars conveniently taking singing roles but traditional theatre productions featuring some of the biggest local stars.

The 21-show run of a Cantonese adaptation of Equus - starring Anthony Wong Chau-sang and Hins Cheung King-hin - concluded earlier this month. In August, Jan Lamb Hoi-fung and Eric Kot Man-fai of Canto-rap unit SoftHard will perform in 17 performances of The Nonsensemakers' Academy of Laughter, an adaptation of the two-man play by Koki Mitani. Sandwiched between those two is Tonnochy, which arguably has the highest profile of all.

With two film stars (Carina Lau Ka-ling and Tony Leung Ka-fai) and a celebrated stage actor (Gardner Tse Kwan-ho) in its cast, the original Cantonese play sold out its 10 July performances during the advance booking period. Ten extra September shows were announced in May - before a rehearsal was even held - and six more have been added since.

"What attracted me was definitely the combination of cast and crew," says Lau when we meet on the day of Tonnochy's first rehearsal session in late May. "I've been wanting to return to the stage for several years now. A few theatre directors have approached me with projects over the years, but perhaps it's fate that I agreed to this one. I took up this opportunity without hesitation - there wasn't even a script when I accepted."

The actress' last theatrical turn was for the musical Red Boat, which ran for 64 performances from November 2000 to January 2001 at the Lyric Theatre at the Academy for Performing Arts, the venue for Tonnochy. It may feel like déjà vu for the production team: both Red Boat and Tonnochy are produced by Albert Yeung Sau-shing of Emperor Entertainment Group. They share the same director in Fredric Mao Chun-fai, and stars in Carina Lau and Tony Leung. Even Gardner Tse was assistant director for the earlier work.The concept of Tonnochy was conceived by producer Vicky Leung Lee Siu-ha, who is the director and treasurer of the Hong Kong Motion Picture Industry Association. She was an influential industry figure during the Hong Kong New Wave cinema movement of the 1970s and '80s.