Theatre Movement Workshop
In addition to a range of performances and exhibitions, the 35th Macao Arts Festival will feature 33 outreach activities, covering meet-the artist sessions, backstage tours, pre-show talks, lectures, workshops and screenings of international stage performances, aiming to expand the audience’s artistic imagination beyond the stage and share the beauty of arts.
Over the years, the Macao Arts Festival has been dedicated to building a bridge of communication between artists and the audience through a diverse range of outreach activities that go beyond the stage. The pre-show talk of Life of Pi will be hosted by Gabriella Bird, the resident director of the play, who will share insights into the breaking of the text boundaries and transformation of a novel into a theatrical spectacle. The session “Meet-the Artist: Geoff Sobelle, His Absurd Art and Creativity” will be hosted by Geoff Sobelle, the creator of the show Food, who will explain the poetic meaning and connotation behind his absurdist works. Furthermore, renowned Chinese playwright He Jiping will share her creative journey behind her drama Deling and Cixi.
The “Selected Screenings of International Stage Performances” will once again present large-scale international productions on the silver screen in Macao, including two plays filmed by the UK’s National Theatre Live: The Motive and the Cue, directed by the Oscar and Golden Globe-winning director Sam Mendes, and All About Eve, starred by Gillian Anderson from X-Files; as well as two masterpieces: The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter by the Tokyo Ballet and the musical Along with the Gods: The Afterworld by Seoul Performing Arts Troupe.
In addition, the “Theatre Movement Workshop”, hosted by the cast of the production Life of Pi, will demonstrate how to create dramatic body movements that convey emotions of the characters. The session “Behind the Scenes of Food” will be held after the two of the performances, in which the producer of the interactive immersive theatre Food will share the ingenious ideas of the production behind the scenes with the audience. The “Drum on the Beat Workshop” will be hosted by members of TAGO, demonstrating the use of various traditional Korean instruments in person. In the “Cave of Sounds Workshop”, music dialogues will be developed among participants through group games. The “What Complements Love? Workshop” will be hosted by the cast of the production Let No One Sleep to share insights into the creation of this drama themed around caregivers and those under their care through field research. Experts will be invited to analyse the mental state of caregivers from a psychological perspective and explore this social issue with participants. This edition of the Macao Arts Festival Outreach Programme will feature a range of pre-show talks, workshops and meet-the artist sessions, which will be open to the public with free admission. Charity sessions are also co-organised by the Social Welfare Bureau and Galaxy Entertainment Group, inviting different communities to enjoy the arts together.
For more information about the outreach activities, please visit the Macao Arts Festival’s website at www.icm.gov.mo/fam. Tickets for the “Selected Screenings of International Stage Performances” will be on sale from 10am on 22 March through the “Enjoy Macao Ticketing”, and anyone who purchases tickets for two different screenings can enjoy a 30% discount. Other activities will be open for online registration for other activities will open online through the “Activity Application” of the Macao One Account (activity.mo.gov.mo/activity-h5/activity-list-web) starting from 10am on 24 March. Limited places are available, and some activities require registration with payment.
