A GREAT SUCCESS!

"Last night’s performance [Hong Kong: Fa Hoi Fu Kwai] to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the ESF was outstanding. I was overwhelmed by the impact of the performance. The opportunity for our students to take their performance skills to this level is going to impact on them for many years. I heard people around me saying that this was the best theatre they have seen in years!"

Hong Kong: Fa Hoi Fu Kwai, performed for the first time in Hong Kong last week, loosely translated as “the blossom opens, and all prospers". The show examined the history and progress of Hong Kong from small Chinese fishing village to major international city. The narrative uncovered the ongoing impact of colonisation and tracked Hong Kong's shifting identity. The heartbeat of the work focused on the city’s ability to transform and thrive "against all odds". The production also took on a similar theme last week as Zen Zen Zo directors, Lynne Bradley, Steven Mitchell Wright, Noa Rotem & Shane Jones, along with their Hong Kong casts and crew, faced an endless series of obstacles… tempests, illness, injury, monstrous technical hurdles and the Rugby 7s! The production, nonetheless, blossomed and was a huge success, with the 70 participating students from the ESF International Schools of Hong Kong showing their true warrior spirit. Zen Zen Zo would like to thank them all for their courage and hard work, and a super huge thank you goes out to Ian Baker – for making it all happen.

"A blossom did open last night in Hong Kong! The presence that was created by the performance made such an impact that people stopped and watched. I have always loved outdoor theatre and I can now add a Hong Kong ‘well’ of high rise buildings to a Cornish cliff face quarry, the Sherwood Forest woodland glade, and a London Park. The sense of dynamism of the city was mirrored in the physicality of the theatre. This is a city testament to the power of having no resources and a curtailed hinterland and therefore paradoxically had to both find ways of earning a living and had to become a global city. It’s the best piece of theatre I have seen in Hong Kong."

(Anne Durbin)

This new work, which loosely translates as "the blossom opens, and all prospers", examines the history and progress of Hong Kong from small Chinese fishing village to major international city. The narrative uncovers the ongoing impact of colonisation and tracks Hong Kong's shifting identity. The heartbeat of the work focusses on the city’s ability to transform and thrive "against all odds".

Hong Kong: Fa Hoi Fu Kwai is the product of an exciting long-term strategic partnership with the ESF International Schools in Hong Kong which Zen Zen Zo has been developing over the past 5 years. Previously the relationship has involved Zen Zen Zo conducting an annual two-week training residency for both students and teachers, as well as a tour of Zen Zen Zo's ROMEO & JULIET in 2005. 2008 marks an exciting evolution of this partnership, as Zen Zen Zo will work closely with four of the International schools to collectively create Hong Kong: Fa Hoi Fu Kwai, a new physical theatre work with a cast of 80 students.

This site-specific performance, which will debut in March 2008 in Hong Kong’s Tai Khoo Place, will also be the culmination of a huge journey of transformation for the students, which began with them all traveling to Australia for the initial development of the work in 2007. During this intensive training and creation retreat, the students worked alongside professional artists from the Zen Zen Zo company to develop their personal and professional skills as young arts leaders, and explore the themes and events that the show covers. Hong Kong: Fa Hoi Fu Kwai will be an exciting historical montage, showcased in Zen Zen Zo's hallmark physical theatre style, aimed at engaging young people both as art makers and audience members.

The piece will be directed by Zen Zen Zo Artistic Director Lynne Bradley, Shane Jones, Noa Rotem and Steven Mitchell Wright.

"It really was a terrific evening showing the best of [the ESF] students’ energy, creativity and self-confidence and it was a real show-case for how great teaching brings out great talent. I was delighted to have the opportunity to meet the Zen Zen Zo directors afterwards. They really do something special with young people and I’m glad that we are going to be working with them again in the future."

(Heather DuQuesney – CEO ESF)