Nominated for Best Director, Best Actress, Best Actor at the 20th Hong Kong Drama Awards

April 28, 2011 - PRLog -- (HONG KONG REPERTORY THEATRE) “Two couples who never knew each other meet for the first time, discussing what to do after their sons had gotten into a fight. They all appear civilised and polite, well-mannered in their speech … Eventually people burst into fierce arguments, tearing off their seemingly gentle masks, losing all traces of human civility!” The above is quoted from Sek Kei’s apt description. He also granted his seal of approval to this production: “[Le Dieu du carnage] vividly depicts the petty fights of modern bourgeois families. It exudes tears along with genuine laughter.”

Adapted from French playwright Yasmina Reza’s award-winning play, HKRep’s Le Dieu du carnage received critical acclaim last season, winning such praises from the audience and media for its fine script and excellent character portrayals, rendering it a veritable farce on contemporary middle-class existence. To open its 2011/12 season, HKRep revives this outstanding comedy of wits with the original cast, reuniting HKRep Resident Director Roy Szeto, translator Sonia Au (working from the original French), along with company members Ko Hon Man, Poon Chan Leung, Pang Hang Ying and Karrie Tan Hui Lei. Le Dieu du carnage will be presented at the Hong Kong City Hall Theatre from 6th to 15th May, performed in Cantonese, with Chinese and English surtitles. Tickets are now available at URBTIX outlets.

HKRep Artistic Director Anthony Chan praises Le Dieu du carnage as a masterpiece: “This is an outstanding script, set as a simple meeting that charts the upswings and emotional undoings of two couples, revealing the playwright’s sensitive treatment of urban life. I strongly believe this work should be revived, so that Hong Kong audiences may be re-introduced to this modern classic.” Roy Szeto, nominated as Best Director for the current Hong Kong Drama Awards, also derives his own views on the irony in the adult world: “Le Dieu du carnage is about fighting with words. But in the end, nobody wins. I agree with a popular French saying, ‘What do we really know?’ Accidents and tragedies occur every day in this modern, civilised world of ours. Has the human race actually made any progress?”

Le Dieu du carnage has enjoyed successful runs both in the West End and on Broadway. These urban productions further accentuate the story’s dramatic effects: arguments and fights between couples are a real reflection of the pressures on urban families. Of the four actors featured, Ko Hon Man, Poon Chan Leung and Pang Hang Ying are nominees in the Best Actor and Actress (Comedy/Farce) categories for the current Hong Kong Drama Awards. The humorous and witty dialogue, minimalist and fast-paced plot and nuanced on-stage performances veritably mirror middle-class existence. Le Dieu du carnage is a programme of Le French May.

About Director: Roy Szeto

A graduate of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts in directing, Roy Szeto joined the HKRep in September 2006 as resident director. He has been involved in productions large and small including Snow Wolf Lake, The Legend, Freemen Show 2, War of the Genders, Cheung Tat-Ming's One-Man Show 1 & 2, and Butterfly Lovers. In 2000, Szeto's 1941 Girl not only was a theatrical hit but also created tremendous cultural resonance. The following year, Szeto directed the blockbuster stand-up comedy by Cheung Tat Ming and Sandra Ng. In 2002, Szeto began his collaborations with the W Theatre company and has sinced directed Best memories in my life, Superman Forever, Butterfly Lovers, Once in a life time, Last Smile First Tear, Unhappy and Octave along with co-director Wong Chi-Lung. He has also contributed multi-media creations for Best memories in my life, Funny Money, The Glass Menagerie, Queer Show, Rotate 270o, EMPTY and Mr Snow White and Mr Cinderella, Richard III, Scrooge: The Musical, and Unhappy. Szeto's HKRep directorial contributions include such productions as Xi Nai on Rock, The Lost and Found Trilogy, Calling, the original musical Family Protection Unit, Moon over Buffalo, Beautiful Connection and Communicating Doors.

Many of Szeto's works have been selected among the Top Ten Popular Works at the Hong Kong Drama Awards. He has received three Hong Kong Drama Award nominations as Best Director. A practitioner who is constantly refining his art, Szeto has been enrolled in the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts Masters Degree Course in Directing since September 2008.

Le Dieu du carnage

6-7, 9, 11-15/5/2011 - 7:45PM
8, #14/5/2011 - 2:45PM
#Post-Performance Talk

Hong Kong City Hall Theatre
HK$250, $150 ($230, $130 weekday prices)

Ticket Discounts:

- Half-price tickets are available for people with disabilities, age 60 or above, and full-time students (limited offer for full-time students only).
- 20% discount for HKRep Pals
- Up to 30% discount during 2011-12 season advance booking period (now until May 16, 2011)
- 20% discount for VisaPlatinum cardholders
- For other discount offers, please visit the HKRep website

Telephone Enquiries & Booking: 2111 5999 / www.urbtix.hk
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Media Enquiries:

Anita Wong  (Head of Marketing & Development)
Phone: 852-3103 5933
E-mail: anitawong@hkrep.com   

Dennis Chung (Assistant Manager - Marketing& Development)
Phone: 852-3103 5922
E-mail: dennischung@hkrep.com

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Established in 1977 and incorporated in 2001 as an independent company, the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre is the largest professional theatre company of its kind in Hong Kong. It is a registered non-profit-making organisation.