Hong Kong Culturtainment Festival – King Li, the final escape (飛越老人院) drama production
June 28 - 29, 2024
We are pleased to have supported production company Have a Good Day in presenting the inaugural Hong Kong Culturtainment Festival (香港娛樂及演藝文化節), which comprises an assortment of 12 programs ranging from concerts of HK pop singers, drama, documentaries, musicals, Cantonese opera, film screenings and workshops featuring HK talents.
The first program that we supported was King Li, the final escape by Arts’ Options, a drama production inspired by Shakespeare’s classic play “King Lear”. In this Hong Kong adaptation, King Li, a once-powerful and wealthy businessman who ruled his household with a Machiavellian style, found himself living in a nursing home without any visitors in his twilight years. Encountering a variety of fellow residents, some scorned by their daughters-in-law and others separated from their wives and children, the disgruntled old friends decided to take a break and vowed to transcend the confines of the nursing home. Attracting a total of 520 audience in three matinee and night shows on June 28 and 29, the production, delivered by actors with an average age of 66, spotlighted the challenges commonly faced by seniors, including family discord, financial planning, and lack of support in daily life.
Established in 2011, Arts’ Options is a non-governmental organisation seeking to instil positive values through drama education and community activities. In 2019, under the auspices of property management firm The Link, it started to provide professional drama training for seniors aged over 55. The project aimed to improve their physical and spiritual well-being and unleash their potential in performing arts. To date, more than 800 seniors have been exposed to theatre arts in various programs. More than 70 participants have received drama training for 300 hours, becoming amateur stage performers ready to share their fruits of training in public performances at theatres, as well as community tours at The Link’s shopping malls.
In Singapore, aside from theatre shows at the China Cultural Centre, Arts’ Options also launched six outreach community tours in the shopping malls in Jurong Point and AMK Hub to showcase the passion and professionalism of the senior actors, which were well-received by the public.
