Memories of China from Joel

Memories of China seem to get more vivid as each day passes. Thought I'd
send the following, It was my reply to a journalist who covered opening night in Hong Kong and
asked for my thoughts:
Hosting the audience feedback after the March 1 performance of "1984" was
really fascinating for me. The audience seemed to want to know a lot about
the actors' experiences. What is it like being tortured onstage? What is it
like to do the torturing? The cast did a superb job in Hong Kong - I've seen
them perform it literally all over the world, but they never had greater
commitment to the material than in Hong Kong. They obviously empathisized
with the audiences and the themes of the work itself in Hong Kong because
there was so much proximity to the transitioning political situation. Big
Brother seems like he might actually be gradually becoming a presence in
people's lives. The actors chatted with the audience on all of these issues
and one actor actually said the he felt he "needed" to do this particular
play at this particular time in this particular place (Hong Kong). The
relevance seemed palpable.
Everyone with The Actors' Gang was excited to be there and that level of
excitement kept up through each performance. I think I speak for the company
in saying that we hope to return to Hong Kong with other productions in the
future - the city, its people and its culture remain unforgettable to all of
us.
With memories of tea at the Peninsula Hotel and so much more,
-Joel

From Keythe: A Hong Kong Connection

Performing 1984 in Hong Kong was an amazing experience in so many ways, but I wanted to share one experience that touched me most deeply. The words of this masterpiece resonated so deeply with me on our Opening Night that it was difficult to concentrate on my performance. As I spoke of "creating a society where there is no loyalty except loyalty to the state; no love except the passionate love of Big Brother; and nothing that we (the powerful) are not in control of" I could feel in the perfect stillness of the audience members a connection to the material that I haven't felt in the past year that I've been performing this play.

Here in America, I fear we are skirting dangerously close to the type of society that Orwell outlines in his novel, but in Hong Kong, they find themselves under control from the government of mainland China for almost a decade, and while they have been promised that nothing will change in the way that they choose to govern themselves, the spectre of actual Totalitarian rule looms much larger than it does here in America. A gentleman I met in Hong Kong described it as if you lived in a neighborhood for many years, and suddenly someone comes in and buys up all of the land. She promises that she won't throw you or your family out of your house, but she rearanges all of the fences. You are free to live just like you lived before, but your yard is going to be a little diffferent.

The courage of the organizers of the Hong Kong Arts Festival in presenting this piece at this point in their history is a bold and brave move, and is an inspiration to me.

Stay Tuned

Stay tuned and visit often for more words and pictures about Hong Kong and Beijung in the coming days and weeks. Also, hopefully this blog will stay alive and be picked up and updated by the folks on the national tour of 1984 and future road productions of The Actors' Gang!

Closing Night!

The last show of a great week here in Hong Kong. The audiences were very receptive and the actors responded to a great energy from all. After the performance we all went for one last meal together (not including breakfast the nex morning). It all seemed to go by so fast, and everyone packed so much into the limited time here. Much more to come later I'm sure after everyone has had a moment to reflect. Some are off to Beijing tomorrow for a few days and I can't wait to here how that went. Greg, Bosco, Sybil, Keythe and myself are off to the airport in a few minutes to returrn to LA. See you all soon.
-David

The Big Buddha and Two Shows a Day

Hello all. The home stretch is upon us. Today starts two days of two shows each and two days until we leave. How's that for numerology? The cast is gearing up for the grueling schedule, especially P. Adam, I don't know where he gets energy, he exhausts himself every show.
I decided to take a day for myself and went up to Ngong Ping, the home of the "Big Buddha". A massive bronze statue of the Buddha, and a nearby monastery along with the prerequisite touristy things. Most of the others have already visited, but I was busy that day getting a much needed massage so I played catch up today. It was incredible. Give me a bit to post some photos 'cause I gotta go through them, but man, I'm glad I went. There are many interesting things to see and experience there; The monastery, with it's golden Buddha statues, Buddhists in prayer and reflection, visitors in prayer too, lot's of incense lit all over the place as an offering, Bodhisattva statues, traditional veggie lunches, the stairway you HAVE to walk up to get to the Buddha, though you can see it from miles away. There's the Tea Gardens, which is at the beginning of The Wisdom Path, which continues up to Lantau peak. I think only Toni went all the way up. I made it to these stonehenge type towers, except they're carved, split trees with what I guess are words of wisdom! Very beautiful. I took the skyrail up to the area, which is basically an enclosed cable tram, the only way to go, in my opinion, and I guess I'm the only one who went up there that way. Everyone else took the bus when they visited. There's so much about this place and I seem to always be writing about things when it's late and I'm tired, so that's it for now, more detail to come.
-David

Friday, In the Groove

Friday's show went fantastically, everyone continues to shine. Some folks went to Kowloon for shopping earlier today. By the way, many went to see the "Big Buddha" yesterday. Hopefully someone will blog their experience on that, google it if ya wanna know more for the moment. I'm (David) prodding others to step up and give some more interesting input on this blog than I've been able to so far, as I'm a bit tapped out at the moment, though I imagine me like others will have an easier time, if they're so inclined, to write something after travel is finished and there's time to reflect. For now check out the photos we've posted, there's usually more every day. Alright, it's 1 in the morning on Saturday, 9am Friday LA time, I'm going to bed, good night!
(good morning!)

Opening Night

Opening night was great and went off without a hitch. Again, the folks at the theater are really good at what they do, and made everything go as smoothly as is possible. It was a sold out house, I think 1200 people, with probably a 50/50 mix of our Asian brothers and sisters and westerners. It seems that this is one of the only English language plays in the festival, and we were told that that tends to bring in people who may not otherwise go to a play here. One would hope that those folks might venture out more often in the future?!
The performance was great and everyone was on top of their game, and a beat was not missed. The audience was riveted and laughed in most of the right places, and was with it right to the end. We were told that the audiences here were reserved in comparison, and I suppose that's true to some extent, but only in a vocal sense. You feel an energy and you sensed they were dialed in and getting it and appreciating it. It was also astonishing how the dialog of this play took on a whole new meaning and relevance, given where we are. Think about it!
Afterward, we were generously treated to a wonderful meal and drinks at a Thai restaurant that kindly stayed open for us.
All in all, this journaler doesn't think that an opening on the road could go any better, at least until the next one!

<---- Check Out The Photo Gallery <----

On the left, I've set up a photo gallery link, just click on any thumbnail pic in the box and it'll go to the gallery. Do a slide show, or whatever. Some of us are going on to Beijing next week for a few days and hopefully they will submit pics, but probably won't be able to be posted until their return to LA. Stay Tuned!