Director Jia Ding on reimagining Georges Bizet’s Carmen as a Hong Kong story

Opera Hong Kong’s Carmen, running from May 7 to 10, promises to be a seductive strut down memory lane.

Under the direction of Jia Ding, the classic tale has been reimagined. The opera, by French composer Georges Bizet, is a story of burning love and brutal passion traditionally set in Seville, Spain. But what would the story look like if that drama took place in 1978 Hong Kong instead?

Jia is a tour de force in the performing arts, being an acclaimed lyricist, playwright and director. For someone who started directing “as a hobby”, he has racked up some impressive numbers, having overseen more than 400 national-level performances, including the 100-day countdown events for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics as well as the CCTV Spring Festival Gala shows. He also worked with Opera Hong Kong on 2024’s Turandot, at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre.

Here, Jia tells PostMag about his decision to change the setting for Carmen, bringing the theatrical vision to life and creating an immersive experience for a new generation of opera fans.

Tell us about your take on Carmen.

This is a show that has been done many times, with many interpretations. We wanted to make ours modern and relevant to the audience here. We chose to set it in Hong Kong in 1978 for a few reasons. It was the beginning of Hong Kong’s golden era, so it would be significant to locals. It was also the time when the mainland started looking outwards, and Hong Kong was seen as aspirational. There was quite a bit of cross-cultural flow between Hong Kong and the mainland at the time.

How will you bring 1978 Hong Kong to life?