Postcards from RSC's King and Country in Hong Kong
Hey WhatsOnStage!
We have hiked the Great Wall in Beijing, climbed the dizzying heights of the Shanghai Bottleneck Tower and now we find ourselves in Hong Kong, the King and Country tour's final stop in China. It has been an epic journey and we have met so many beautiful people along the way – hard working dressers, quick thinking translators, confused taxi drivers, tai chi gurus, overworked crew and selfie loving audience members.
The translations have really worked in performance – we're delighted. Something I've noticed here is a real
love of romance and fairytales. When it comes to our final wooing scene with Henry V and Princess Katherine, the audiences really take to it and are sometimes quite vocal! One of my favourite heckles of the tour:
"She loves you Henry, she wants to be Queen, long live the King!" I felt like I was on a hen night.
We have just opened all three shows at the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts – all with the help of our wonderful associate director Owen Horsley. It feels like we have stepped onto the set of Fame; I've been exploring today and almost got lost in the maze of mural painted corridors. Around every corner is someone painting a set, playing music or eating lunchtime ramen whilst discussing their latest production of Macbeth (yeah, they said the M word in the theatre and didn't even flinch). Everyone is busy and buzzing, it's a real working space and it feels good being here.
As for Hong Kong, (translation: fragrant harbour) it's a lively city, if you look a little deeper you can find some kick ass cheap eats and coffee shops. Favourites so far have to be; Coffee Academics, Ping Pong and I hear Maxims City Hall dim sum is delicious. I have loved landscaped parks here and watching people of all ages doing Tai Chi and hitting themselves to wake up their muscles. A tad worrying at first to witness but I'm told by a man, with silver teeth, a cracking beard, drinking what appears to be sake at 8 in the morning that it's good for circulation, as is the barefoot pebble trail that I painfully attempted. We have also managed to venture to some of the islands. Lamma has definitely been my favourite so far. We hiked, found some beaches, swam in the South China Sea and shared the freshest seafood in town at Tai Yuen. And later today we're venturing to Kowloon to make a wish at the Wong Tai Sin Temple – apparently it has a 100% success rate.
But for the moment I can hear Ollie Ford Davies' Chorus over the tannoy and that means it's time to put on my costume.
Bye for now. Much love,
Leigh
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