ReviewEast meets West as Opera Hong Kong’s Carmen takes place in 1970s Hong Kong
Opera Hong Kong’s bold Hong Kong-set Carmen reimagines Bizet’s classic with triad gangsters, Cantonese lines and electrifying performances
Carmen is back – again. Opera Hong Kong’s fourth production of Georges Bizet’s masterpiece takes a bold approach by setting the story, not in 19th century Spain, but in 1970s Hong Kong, a fitting move for the local audience’s favourite opera.
East meets West can be a cliché – here, it worked superbly. The concept was executed brilliantly by director Jia Ding and an all-mainland Chinese design and production team, while strong performances from French singers in the leading roles and fine conducting from their countryman Franck Colombier ensured an authentic reading of the music and libretto.
The transposition from Spain to Hong Kong is intelligently thought out and neatly done. Don José is now a police officer instead of a soldier, and his home village is on the mainland; the smugglers are triad gangsters shipping their contraband from the Kwai Chung container terminal in Hong Kong instead of over the mountains on muleback.
The staging is full of clever touches – the occasional line of dialogue in Cantonese delighted the audience, and there were lively vignettes of immediately recognisable local characters from members of the chorus, whose acting and movement were the best I remember seeing from them.
