There is an order in the four seasons, and everything has its time. In early summer, when flowers are in full bloom, it is a great time to encounter art. This year, the 34th Macao Arts Festival takes ‘Wonder Encounter’ as its theme and presents a series of fantastic, wonderful and novel programs, enabling the audience to discover and embrace art. When the curtain rises, countless figures shine brightly under the spotlight. Whether it is a beautiful encounter, a passionate date, or a rare reunion, it will be a magnificent encounter.
The opening masterpiece ‘The Jungle Book (Revisited)’ reshapes the fantasy masterpiece. Dance legend Akram Khan, together with a top-notch team, adapts the timeless classic of Nobel laureate Rudyard Kipling into a thought-provoking dance theater work, exploring the existential crisis of all humanity from a child’s perspective. The circus masterpiece ‘The Duckling Falls into Swan Lake’ is inspired by Tchaikovsky’s ballet ‘Swan Lake’ and Andersen’s fairy tale ‘The Ugly Duckling’. The boundary-breaking acrobatic troupe from Australia will return to Macao and bring a joyous and interesting theater experience to the audience with their superb skills. ‘Fantasy’ and ‘dream’ are also inseparable. From fairy tales to ballets, ‘The Sleeping Beauty’ has always exuded charming charm. Marco Morau, winner of the Spanish National Dance Award, together with the Lyon Opera Ballet, presents the contemporary ballet ‘The Sleeping Beauty’, which may add a bit more strange magic. Shakespeare’s tragedy ‘Macbeth’ is an immortal classic and has always had shocking interpretations. This year’s art festival will present a version of ‘Macbeth’ never seen before on the Macao stage – Sardinian x physical theater ‘Macbeth’. This work boldly selects an all-male cast and explores the primitive power of the classic tragedy in a rough and desolate atmosphere. Another work, ‘Blood Ties’ presented by the Portuguese Companhia do Nom, is a work depicting family relationships. It brings the friction and rivalry between brothers onto the stage and deeply analyzes human emotions. Art often originates from life and is closely related to reality. For thousands of years, writers, painters and countless artists have shown true human nature through art. ‘Portrait of a Woman in the City’, directed by Marie Brassard, is inspired by the short life of female writer Nelly Arcan. This work transforms Nelly Arcan’s powerful words into songs of life, telling the fragility of human nature. Legend is not passed on without being strange. What kind of chemical reaction will occur when the traditional Chinese opera’s ‘one table and two chairs’ meets Eugène Ionesco’s absurd play ‘The Chairs’? The Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe presents the experimental Kunqu opera ‘The Chairs’, using traditional opera skills to explore eternal topics such as love, loneliness and the meaning of life that span ancient and modern times and different countries. The local new Cantonese opera ‘Huaiyin Ji’ is also brave in innovation. Cantonese opera star Zhu Zhenhua will unite with a group of local elites to showcase their skills and explore the inheritance and innovation of traditional skills on the stage again.Childhood is the critical period for nurturing creativity and imagination. The Bazaar Theater Troupe from Poland has specially prepared the婴幼儿 theater ‘A Book for Babies’ to open a door to a wonderful world for children through a wordless book. Additionally, Veronica, a beloved figure among adults and children in Macao, has returned! Local artist Bernardo Amorim, skilled in plastic arts and multimedia, once again casts his magical spell to present the family-friendly program ‘Staying with You’, inviting the audience to explore the inner world of the little grown-up Veronica. Among the ‘Strange Encounters’, there are also several programs created with local historical and cultural themes. Dancer Chen Ming, inspired by self-combed women, combines traditional opera elements to create the environmental dance theater ‘She Says’; the Macao-born Portuguese-language drama troupe continues to promote the ‘Macao-born Portuguese-language Drama’, a national intangible cultural heritage rooted in Macao; the Strange Old Tree Theater Troupe performs ‘Dreaming Back to Yilong’ at the former Yilong Firecracker Factory site, blending imagination with the rise and fall of Macao’s firecracker industry. The Macao Arts Festival has been dedicated to promoting the professionalization of local art groups and providing a platform for local elites to showcase their talents. The performance of ‘Medical Record Number: XXXX’ at the Zhuo Theater, adapted from the famous play ‘Equus’ by British playwright Peter Shaffer, combines real-time imaging technology to expand the dimensions of viewing and contemplation. The ‘Science/Monster’ at the Acting Space, adapted from the classic science fiction novel ‘Frankenstein’, will be accompanied by audio description and visual translation services, allowing people of different abilities to share the joy of watching theater. At this art event, artists and audiences can also communicate and integrate through wonderful melodies. The Macao Chinese Orchestra collaborates with Hong Kong’s ‘Super Diva’ Yip Lai-han to perform classic hits for music lovers; the Portuguese rock band Capitão Fausto (Captain Faust) will perform on the same stage with Chinese singer Huang Dawei, creating a colorful moment of Sino-Portuguese cultural exchange. In addition, the ‘Baiyi Viewing Pavilion’ continues to ignite community vitality with diverse performances; the exhibition ‘Focus: Adaptation of Sino-Western Visual Arts in the 18th and 19th Centuries’ carefully selects more than 300 pieces/set of exhibits, recreating the historical exchange between Chinese and foreign artists; the heavyweight extension event ‘International Stage Image Selection’ continues to bring top works from art groups around the world, expanding the space for artistic imagination. Between the rising and falling of the curtains, strange lights shine directly into the soul, reflecting a journey of splendor and brilliance. With beautiful hopes, we sincerely invite you to embark on this fantastic and colorful artistic journey! The entire event is open from May 3rd to June 7th.
