Directed
Please
05–08.03.2025 / 7:30pm 09.03.2025 / 2:30pm
Lyric Theatre, The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts
Approximately three hours and 20 minutes including one interval
Performed in Putonghua with Chinese and English surtitles
Recommended for ages 15 and above
Commissioned by the Hong Kong Arts Festival
House Rules
※ Please switch off mobile phones and all electronic devices so they will not emit sound or light during the performance, disturbing the performers and other audience members
※ Unauthorised photography or recording of any kind is strictly prohibited
※ Please keep noise to a minimum during the performance
※ The content of all works is independently produced by the creative team, and does not reflect the views or opinions of the Sponsor
※ The content of this programme and the opinions featured in this publication solely belong to the artists/guest writers and do not represent the views or opinions of the Hong Kong Arts Festival
※ The Hong Kong Arts Festival (“HKAF”) reserves the right to refuse admission of any latecomers to the event. In the event the HKAF allows the admission of latecomers, we also reserve the right to determine the time at which and the manner in which latecomers are to be admitted. In any case, latecomers shall only be admitted at designated latecomer point(s). Audience members are strongly advised to arrive punctually. No refunds or changes will be offered if the ticket holder is refused admission due to late arrival. In the event of any dispute, the HKAF reserves all rights to make the final decision
※ The English versions of the house rules on the HKAF website and front-of-house announcements will prevail in the event of any dispute.
Contents
Chief Executive’s Message
Chairman’s Message
Foreword
Synopsis
Director’s Note
Interview
Creative and Production Team
Cast and Characters
About Cao Yu
Creative Team Profiles
Committee and Staff List Cast Profiles
About the Hong Kong Arts Festival
Acknowledgements
Message
I am pleased to congratulate the Hong Kong Arts Festival on the organisation of its 2025 season—the 53rd edition of one of the world’s most celebrated international cultural events.
This year’s Festival brings together over 1,300 international and local artists in some 125 performances covering music, dance, theatre, Chinese and Western opera and much more. The Festival-opening performance, by Italy’s Orchestra of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, conducted by Maestro Donato Renzetti, features classic Italian opera arias. Renowned Chinese conductor Lü Jia and the China National Centre for the Performing Arts Orchestra, together with international pianist Zhang Haochen and soprano Song Yuanming, bring the Festival to a close in grand style.
Festival PLUS returns, presenting a wealth of artist-audience events, including masterclasses and workshops, backstage visits, guided cultural tours and more. Besides, the Festival’s “Young Friends” programme features school tours, pre-performance talks, arts demonstrations and other special events designed to engage local young people with a world of arts and culture.
The Government is determined to enhance the appeal of Hong Kong’s culture. To further solidify Hong Kong’s position as a vibrant Eastmeets-West centre for international cultural exchanges, the Government has launched the Blueprint for Arts and Culture and Creative Industries Development in November 2024, and has been actively working on the 71 measures under four key strategic directions as outlined in the Blueprint.
I am grateful to the Hong Kong Arts Festival and its dedicated team for their unremitting efforts in promoting arts and culture in Hong Kong, throughout the region and around the world. I am grateful, too, to the many sponsors and donors for their generous support for the Festival.
I wish this year’s Hong Kong Arts Festival another resplendent season of arts and culture, entertainment and memorable community engagement.
John KC LEE Chief Executive Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Chairman’s Message
A warm welcome to the 53rd Hong Kong Arts Festival. As a leading international performing arts event, the Festival is continuing its mission of enhancing Hong Kong’s cultural landscape by showcasing over 1,300 exceptional international and local artists in more than 125 performances of over 45 unique programmes, as well as organising about 300 PLUS and educational activities for the community.
I would like to thank the HKSAR Government, acting through the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, for its annual subvention and matching grant which are not only essential to our operations, but also an important recognition of the work we do. I also want to thank The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust for its unwavering support during the past 53 years, as well as other corporate sponsors, charitable foundations and donors, whose contributions have enabled us to reach out to different sectors of the community and positively impact society through the performing arts.
My deepest gratitude goes to all participating artists for their dedication and exceptional performances. I also thank all HKAF staff, who worked extremely hard to bring this Festival to life.
Most importantly, I extend my heartfelt appreciation to all audience members for your participation and support. May you find joy and inspiration in our programmes and events.
Lo Kingman Chairman Hong Kong Arts Festival
Supporting Organisation:
Promoting international cultural exchange has always been a key objective of the Hong Kong Arts Festival. This year’s Festival continues to invite renowned global masters and internationally recognised young pioneers to present a range of worldclass programmes, respecting tradition while encouraging new, innovative initiatives. Many of these works are inspired by classic literature or offer rediscoveries of the original, bringing vibrant artistic experiences to the city.
We will also present a series of programmes centred around “fantasy and adventure”. These include works that seamlessly blend the arts with VR and AR technology, as well as captivating new creations that draw on traditional puppetry and circus performances. The Festival will also continue to support local artists and encourage exchanges to foster a vibrant and diversified platform for the arts.
We also remain dedicated to advancing arts education and audience building. Our PLUS programmes will present a series of thoughtfully curated masterclasses, backstage visits, post-performance artist talks and an exhibition. And our Young Friends and educational activities will continue to offer multidimensional arts experiences to students.
We hope that you will enjoy this year’s arts extravaganza prepared by the Hong Kong Arts Festival team.
Flora Yu Executive Director Hong Kong Arts Festival
The Hong Kong Arts Festival is made possible with the funding support of:
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Synopsis
On a winter’s day, an elderly greyhaired man enters a hospital run by Catholic nuns. Dressed in a wellkept old leather coat, he surveys his surroundings with calm and sorrowful eyes.
We then go back in time to the Zhou family mansion, where the household mistress, Fanyi, is involved in a scandalous affair with her stepson, Zhou Ping. Meanwhile, Zhou Ping and the housemaid, Sifeng, are in love with each other, while the family’s second son, Zhou Chong, has also genuinely fallen for Sifeng.
Sifeng’s mother, Shiping, visits the Zhou household to see her daughter. To her shock, she discovers that the head of the household is Zhou Puyuan, the man who abandoned her 30 years ago. She also realises that Sifeng’s lover is her own son. Meanwhile, Fanyi is determined to reveal her relationship with Zhou Ping...
© Li Chunguang
It’s been 90 years since Thunderstorm came out
The work, created by a 23-year-old Cao Yu, became an instant classic and a milestone for Chinese theatre Vibrant and alive
Cao Yu once said, “The universe is like a cruel well Once you fall inside there’s no getting out, no matter how much you holler” I always see ‘passion’ as a group of fiery women who are left in the desert, withering, by God”
They exist, like a dust particle, in the boundless universe living, dying
How did they die? Why did they die? Who did they die for? For whom? Who killed them? Themselves? Or life itself? Following the rain, wind, lightning and thunder
They destroy and create simultaneously creating something they can aspire to— an unobstructed view of life We saw the twinkling soul, the joy of life and those who destroy themselves for the sake of love “have a tragic obsession with embracing the universe that is born out of personal anguish and destruction”
They wash away brutality and cruelty with life
They are indeed blissful Mercy and praise Are we still here?
Let us take our sorrow with us as we exit the stage and live our life in happiness
Text: Li Liuyi
Interview
Back to the Original Universe of Thunderstorm—A Stage Dialogue
Between Li Liuyi and Cao Yu
Thunderstorm shocked the literary world and set new heights for modern Chinese theatre when it premiered in 1934. As the 90th anniversary of Thunderstorm was celebrated in 2024, various productions of this classic work were staged around the world. Li Liuyi, a stage director who has directed many of Cao Yu's works, also has his heart set on this work. This time, however, he stresses that this adaptation is “not subversive or deconstructive”, and he is determined to return to the characters’ most authentic psychological states.
Li has previously directed Cao Yu’s works such as Wilderness Peking Man, Family and Sunrise. Some of these works sparked debates, while others were highly acclaimed, but each brought a fresh interpretation that kept Cao Yu’s plays timeless. Li describes directing Thunderstorm as a long-held dream, with the goal of “bringing theatre back to theatre, humans back to humans”.
In an interview with Hong Kong Arts Festival, he points out that most previous performances of Thunderstorm were based on Cao Yu’s revised version from the 1950s, in which the prologue, epilogue and some monologues were deleted, and part of the original lines were modified to fit the times. This time, Li will use Cao Yu's 1936 version as the basis for his performance, retaining the prologue and epilogue, while focusing on bringing the characters back to the “human” state as emphasised by Cao Yu in his creative statement, rather than just social symbols.
Cao Yu once stated in a preface to Thunderstorm that the purpose of the play was not to expose the sins of extended families, nor is the story about karma. Instead, his aim was to reveal the cruelty of the world and the universe. Behind that cruelty, there might be a governing force—some call it "God", the Greek tragedies refer to as "fate" but in recent times, people have abandoned such ancient myths in favour of "the laws of nature". Regardless of what people call it, for Cao, Thunderstorm was a manifestation of his contemplation of the mysteries of the universe.
© Li Chunguang
Li believes that the laws of nature described by Cao Yu are in line with the spirit of Greek tragedy. For example, the recurring themes of “primitive” and “barbaric” in the script, especially in the portrayal of the female lead, Fanyi, are reflections of human instincts and primitive states.
Cao Yu describes her wildness, boldness and frenetic thinking, and compares her desire for love to that of a starving dog for a bone. Li argues that she lacks political or religious consciousness and instead embodies an instinctual drive that resonates with the fundamental motivations and ideas found in Greek tragedy.
Though often seen as a master of deconstructing classics, Li emphasises that the premise of this work is to be “not subversive or deconstructive” but to “retain the linguistic style of that era”, and at the same time not to act as a conduit for Cao Yu’s thoughts, but rather to “focus on the most important psychological structures and logic within the play to reframe the story”, so as to preserve its full dramatic character. He hopes that by returning to the original psychological state of the characters in Thunderstorm, he can reveal the hidden spiritual meanings and give them contemporary relevance.
© Li Chunguang
Li’s works are unique in the contemporary theatre scene—firstly in their alternative interpretation of the classic text; secondly in the extraordinary creation of stage space and visuals, which crafts a “new world” for each play; and thirdly in the rich and nuanced interpretation of the actors.
In directing Thunderstorm, he has shifted away from his usual abstract and minimalist style, and opted for a realistic portrayal of abstraction, with renowned film art director Zhang Shuping in charge of stage design and overall visuals, which creates a confined, suffocating space that sparks the imagination. To achieve this complexity, Li’s longtime collaborators, including Lu Fang (as Fanyi), Hu Jun (as Zhou Puyuan) and Miao Chi (as Zhou Ping), are delivering outstanding performances that build dramatic tension.
Text: Lin Wei-yu English Translation: Murakami Rin
This article was originally published on the HKAF’s News & Features website in January 2025
Creative and Production Team
Playwright
Cao Yu
Director
Li Liuyi
Scenographer, Costume & Make-up Designer
William Chang Suk-ping
Lighting Designer
Deng Wen
Producer
Zhang Minyi
Production
Jixin Culture (Beijing) Ltd.
Beijing LiLiuyi Theatre Studio
English Surtitles
Amy Ng
Surtitles Operator
Sharon Lo
Cast and Characters
Hu Jun as Zhou Puyuan
Lu Fang as Fanyi
Li Hong as Lu Shiping
Miao Chi as Zhou Ping
Li Xiaomeng as Lu Sifeng
Kai Siyuan as Zhou Chong
Lou Hengzhi as Lu Dahai
Huang Wanting as Sister A
Yang Xiaoyi as Sister B
Cao Yu (1910-1996) was born as Wan Jiabao in Tianjin. He developed a deep passion for the theatre from a young age and began participating in theatrical activities. At the age of 15, he took on leading roles in plays, including Ibsen’s A Doll's House In 1929, Cao transferred to the Department of Western Literature at Tsinghua University, where he studied Greek tragedies, Shakespearean dramas as well as plays written by Chekhov, Ibsen and O’Neill. Cao wrote Thunderstorm in 1933 and it was first published in Literary Quarterly, receiving a strong response and establishing his position in the history of Chinese theatre. Cao Yu later wrote works such as Sunrise Peking Man and The Wilderness
He served as the Honourary Director of the Central Academy of Drama, the Chairman of the China Theatre Association and the Executive Chairman of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles. In 1952,
Cao Yu became the Director of the Beijing People’s Art Theatre, where he devoted himself to nurturing talent and encouraging playwriting.
Cao Yu travelled to the United States, Japan and other countries to engage in in-depth exchanges with local theatre artists, expanding the international influence of Chinese drama. His plays have been translated into dozens of languages. The heights he achieved in Chinese theatre have become a benchmark for theatre practitioners to study, explore and strive to surpass.
Director Li Liuyi
As one of the most influential contemporary theatre directors in China, Li Liuyi is also a director and playwright from the Beijing People’s Art Theatre. He studied Chinese opera for eight years at the China Academy of Arts’ theatre department, directing numerous plays with regional Chinese characteristics. Li has created more than 60 works, ranging from classical Chinese opera to theatre, Western opera and ballet. He has been invited to perform at and has received commissions from festivals across the world.
Li developed his own theory of “Pure Theatre”, establishing a brand new aesthetic for Chinese theatre. His major theatre credits include Peking Man Family Spring Time in a Small City, Extraordinary Mahjong Antigone Oedipus Rex Death of a Salesman Uncle Vanya The Cherry Orchard a Sichuanese dialect version of Tea House King Lear and Hamlet. His main opera works include The Land of Smiles Wilderness Song of the Earth Sunrise and the ballet The Peony Pavilion. His Chinese opera credits include The Heroine Trilogy and The Golden Cangue. As a playwright with enduring literary talent, Li has created more than 20 works throughout his career. His book Li Liuyi’s Pure Theatre: Collected Works was published by the People’s Literature Publishing House, translated into various languages and made available worldwide. Scenographer, Costume & Make-up Designer William Chang Suk-ping William Chang Suk-ping is a Hong Kong art director and costume designer. He has won the Hong Kong Film Awards four times and the Golden Horse Film Awards twice. He received the Technical Grand Prize at the 53rd Cannes Film Festival for his work on
In the Mood for Love. In 2014, he received an 86th Academy Award nomination for Best Costume Design for his work on The Grandmaster Chang has served as the art director of various Wong Kar-wai films such as In the Mood for Love and Chungking Express, and appeared in As Tears Go By as an actor. Chang also worked as Wong’s film editor on the films Happy Together and Fallen Angels. He served as the costume designer on A Chinese GhostStoryII and TheLegendofthe Swordsman. His most recent work involved costume design for Li Liuyi’s stage production of Hamlet Lighting Designer Deng Wen Deng Wen graduated from the Central Academy of Drama, majoring in Stage Design. His vivid imagination and rigorous creative attitude have received extensive recognition and acclaim both within the industry and beyond. His major works include the opening of the Chinese artists’ exhibition at Documenta in Kassel, Germany, the National Ballet of China’s productions of The Peony Pavilion and The Little Mermaid theatre plays such as Beckett: En Bref The Assassins 2047 Apologue February and Hamlet, the opera The Spring River and the immersive floating theatre ZhiYinHao Deng won the award for Best Lighting Design at the National Art Troupes Performing Season, becoming the youngest designer in China to receive this award. Apart from his outstanding work in stage lighting design, he also creates unique visual design for theatre and multimedia works. Contents Cast Profiles
