Dear Editor,
Re: “Spotlight shines on modern life woes,” News, Sept. 16.
Some weeks ago, a Richmond News article mentioned in passing that the then coming-soon Pacific Festival could be a bridge linking diverse cultures, a well-wishing sentiment that prompted me and my partner to buy tickets to the plays.
Now that the festival is here, playing at the Gateway Theatre, and has been adequately covered by the News in an Arts in the City article, the stage is set for a fruitful harvesting of cultural ideas and artistic feelings. I consider myself an observer, experiencing and witnessing things to come.
On the night of Sept 16, we went to the Gateway Theatre to meet the creative team for the shows that we would be seeing two nights later, on Saturday.
About 30 people were present for the drama talk; the informal chat that took place was vivacious, and the on-the-spot translation, weaving between English and Chinese, was fluent, lively and very entertaining by itself. All in all, a night well-spent in the theatre.
From my vantage point, of those who were present, there was one Caucasian–looking gentleman. Most of the others looked Asian or Chinese, and appeared bi-lingual. A handful of others, I would guess, knew more English than Chinese.
The presence of a good translator was justified, and if one paid close attention, some stimulating ideas would come through. During the (verbal) exchange, a question arose concerning one of the cast members performing (recently in London) Shakespeare’s Macbeth in Cantonese. However, the subsequent discussion was glossed over, as it seemed unrelated to the Pacific Festival.
Come to think of it, Shakespeare in Chinese and Tuesdays with Morrie (one of the plays selected for the current Pacific Festival) in Chinese may differ in terms of intellectual depth, but Mitch Albom’s book was an international best-seller, hence an excellent choice to set the pace for the bridge-building project at hand.
For movie fans, award-winning movies in foriegn languages can attract as big a crowd as English-speaking movies, as long as there are English sub-titles.
Whether Tuesdays with Morrie as a play works well with local theatre-goers is yet to be seen; let’s keep our fingers crossed.
James Ling Hung
Richmond
