27th Macao Arts Fest,  world events

27th Macao Arts Festival

08 Macao Arts Festival

I am always interested to find out about Arts Festival around the world. I recently found out that Macao will be having its 27th Macao Arts Festival (MAF) and the line up of programmes looks very interesting.

Themed around “Time”, MAF will kick off under the slogan “Reshape Your Imagination. Experience the Spirit of the Times” conveying the message that classics always go hand in hand with our lives.

MAF will be orchestrating 27 fascinating programmes, divided into seven distinctive categories: Thematic Highlights, Groundbreakers, Cross-Disciplinary Creations, Family Entertainment, Quintessence of Tradition, Concerts and Exhibitions. The shows and outreach programmes, more than 100 in all, are set to satiate each and every spectator through an encounter with the soul and essence of culture and arts alongside a taste of beauty and sorrow in the passage of time.

As this year marks the 400th anniversary of the death of the western world literary giant William Shakespeare and of Ming Dynasty’s famed Chinese playwright Tang Xianzu, MAF will present a number of their works in tribute to the two virtuosos.

01 A Midsummer Night's DreamA Midsummer Night’s Dream

07-MacbethMacbeth

The cultural spectacular will kick off with Shakespeare’s romantic comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream rendered by the Shakespeare Theatre Company, and Macbeth, presented by Third World Bunfight from South Africa. It will be seasoned by a rewritten and adapted score originally conceived by Giuseppe Verdi.

I am currently into Shakespeare and read some of his plays (read each one over and over because of the Early Modern English that was written in a rhythmic poetic iambic pentameter), and since I have yet to read both plays above, I thought it will be interesting to watch. Yay, yes, I am attending the festival!

06-The-Legend-of-the-Purple-HairpinThe Legend of the Purple Hairpin

Two of Tang’s tours de force will be staged: local Cantonese Opera maestro Chu Chan Wa and a number of professionals will interpret Tang’s widely admired The Legend of the Purple Hairpin. Meanwhile, The Peony Pavilion, recognised as one of the Four Great Chinese Classical Dramas, will delicately portrays bittersweet love in the form of Yue Opera excerpts.

02-Krapp's-Last-TapeKrapp’s Last Tape

Other highlights include renowned 20th century playwright Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape interpreted by consummate U.S. director Robert Wilson in person. To debunk stereotypes of disability and theatrical experience, a group of mentally challenged persons will perform in the Disabled Theater with their homespun bodies. Tao Ye, a talent in contemporary dance circles, will pilot TAO Dance Theater through “6” & “7”, presenting minimalism in dance. All these shows, among others, promise immense excitement.

The Cultural Affairs Bureau of Macao is dedicated to introducing tremendous international productions to widen audience’s horizons and to encouraging local artists as well as offering arts education, thereby accumulating a profound and sustainable element to Macao’s culture.

If you happen to visit Macao between 30th April – 29th May, you might want to attend and check out MAF’s programmes: 27th Macao Arts Festival.

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