Take a prince, his true love and an evil spell and you have the makings of a fairy tale. Change the prince into a pop-singer and place the source of evil in a music corporation and you have Black Swan. Trapped by contracts and stymied by his soulless manager, this modern-day prince must escape from the evils of corporate greed in order to compose the heartfelt music of love.

Under the mentorship of Fredric Mao, the outstanding young playwright Yat Yau teams up with director Victor Pang to produce this modern version of Swan Lake.

Mentorship Scheme – Fredric Mao
The HKAF launches a three-year Mentorship Scheme with Fredric Mao as the first mentor. Through in-depth discussions about the script's finer points, Mao will guide and collaborate with playwright Yat Yau during the script writing process. The Scheme aims to raise the artistic standard of script writing and the awareness about the value of nurturing artistic talent.

Performed in Cantonese with English surtitles

Artistic Advisor & Dramaturg: Fredric Mao
Playwright: Yat Yau
Director: Victor Pang*

Special Appearance: Louis Cheung
Performers: Chan Kin-ho, Brenda Lam, Chan Cho-kin, Man Kit-chung, Guthrie Yip, Johnny Tan, Angela Lam
Guest Appearance: Lau Yuk-chui, Eli Fung, Fiona Yee

Music Composer: Yu Yat Yiu @ PMPS Productions
Lyricist: Chris Shum
Set Designer: Yuen Hon-wai
Costume Designer: Cheng Man-wing
Lighting Designer: Alice Kwong
Sound Designer: Lau Wing-tao
Movement Director: Rex Chiu
Video Designer: Chris Chan
Technical Director: Frank Yeung#
Executive Producer: Alex Lam
Produced in association with Class 7A Drama Group

*With kind permission from the Actors' Family
#With kind permission from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts

Seeking TRUE Love, Twisting the Classic - Black Swan
19 Jan 2008

11:30am - 2:20pm

Speakers:Yat Yau, Victor Pang, Yu Yat Yiu@PMPS

Twisting the fairy tale classic Swan Lake, Hong Kong playwright Yat Yau and director Victor Pang transform this ballet into modern music theatre. Joined with composer Yu Yat Yiu@PMPS, they will share with audience this creative journey of turning white swans into black.

Black Swan - Meet-the-Artist (Post-performance)
20 Feb 2009

Fredric Mao – Friend and Mentor

by Daisy Chu

Editor: The Hong Kong Arts Festival has launched a three-year Mentorship Scheme, an exciting project that focuses on providing artistic support to artists participating in Festival productions. Fredric Mao, a renowned theatre artist in Hong Kong who cares deeply about directing, script-writing and performance, is the first mentor in this three-year programme. In an interview with Mao we learn about the background and concept of this Scheme.

Fredric Mao’s life in theatre continuously evolves. After completing his graduate studies in theatre arts in the US, he entered the American professional theatre scene, an initiation that served him well upon his return to Hong Kong where he has since pioneered creative activities in the arts. Important posts have included Head of Acting Department of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) and Artistic Director of the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre (HKRT). Recently having completed his term at HKRT, Mao was eager to explore a different artistic undertaking. A conversation on creating original works with Hong Kong Arts Festival Programme Manager, So Kwok-wan, led to the birth of a Mentorship Scheme. The HKAF is proud to launch this creative project with Mao as the first mentor.

When asked what was lacking in the local theatre scene, Mao discussed his observations over his decade-long tenure at HKAPA. “Many students face obstacles that impede their development despite opportunities to perform on stage.” He believes that even the most talented actors need to hone their craft by performing in quality works. “Take Louisa So as an example. Thanks to critical acclaim for her leading role in Love in a Fallen City (2005/06), she was able to cultivate greater interest and confidence in her subsequent creative endeavours. This demonstrates the importance of being part of a quality production,” he said.

For Mao, creative script-writing is crucial to top-notch performances. He discussed the need to constantly revamp elements and styles of writing, noting that original scripts for local theatre have morphed over time. He recalled how original plays used to be composed in a more realistic vein, mirroring daily life; representatives of this style, who made their works accessible to the general audience, include Raymond To, Anthony Chan and Mok Hei. Mao saw this era was followed by a phase in which concept, physical movement and other alternative, more exploratory styles prevailed, foregrounding form over content; as development of text lagged behind, some even proclaimed script passé. “I absolutely disagree with this,” said Mao. “I think the script is the cornerstone on which theatre is built. Of course, there are many types of scripts; not all of them have to be realistic. There are numerous styles and forms to choose from – lyrical, figurative, abstract – there are many alternatives.”

Mao perceived changes in theatre scripts and styles over the decades. From the late 1960s to the early 1970s, theatre in the West took an anti-establishment stance. With revolutionary fervour, artists rejected traditional scripts. As time passed, new texts emerged that dealt with feminism, violence and other prevailing social concerns, substantiating Mao’s theory that scripts go through constant metamorphosis. Mao used the recent “in-yer-face theatre” of Sarah Kane and Martin McDonagh from the UK to show that performance hinges on continuously evolving script ideas that inspire new representations. Scripts by Kane and McDonagh reflect a certain social psyche tortured by anxiety and in desperate need of catharsis. “Such works require a new performance language to convey their inner angst,” said Mao.

Mao adds that he is not referring to the text’s literary value but to the practical value of its content in the creation of a successful theatrical work. “Performance is closely bound with drama,” Mao asserted, “just as mastery of singing, acting, recitation and acrobatics cannot guarantee a truly distinguished Chinese opera performance in the absense of well-composed songs and libretti.”

With care and profound understanding about script-writing and performance, Mao believes that a long-term plan to develop theatrical arts should facilitate direction and script-composition research alongside performance studies. He remarks that while the Hong Kong Government subsidises local art groups, this support is not enough to raise the artistic level of performance. More attention and resources are needed to explore, intensify and transcend the existing level. This is one reason the HKAF’s Mentorship Scheme is so important. Mao hopes the programme will raise consciousness about the content of theatrical productions and help playwrights improve their creative processes in order to produce better works.

“Mentorship is not as much about teaching as about sharing one’s experiences, so as to motivate and inspire the creativity of others,” Mao said. At the core of this programme is the nurturing of talent. Step one is to provide more avenues for creating original works. Step two builds on the participants’ acquired experience to hone and elevate their artistry. The scheme has been provisionally planned to run for three years. Each year the project will mentor one performing arts group or artist. Although initially focusing on theatre, the Hong Kong Arts Festival does not preclude thurning attention to other disciplines in the future.

The first participant in the scheme is playwright Yat Yau, whose new work, Black Swan, will be presentead at the 37th HKAF in 2009. Yat Yau has already had several discussions with Mao. Because Yat Yau is a veteran playwright, Mao said they immediately began work on the script’s finer points. Mao raised some questions to prompt Yat Yau to explore elements of the script further, and then they met again for more discussion. Mao hopes that this process will deepen the playwright’s work and offer a more complete and polished script to the director.

When asked about the impact of working with only one participant per year, Mao replied: “It’s not about how much I can achieve on my own. It’s more about inspiration. I hope my efforts draw attention to what needs to be done in this field. The Scheme can become a springboard to raising awareness about the value of nurturing artistic talent, thus garnering support from wider spheres in society. If the scheme works, it will be a sign of Hong Kong people’s confidence in their city and her talents.”

Daisy Chu is the Editor of FestMag.