From circus to Shakespeare: Hong Kong Arts Festival 2016 line-up announced
UPDATED: It's a festival 'in, of and for Hong Kong', event director Tisa Ho says as she sets out eclectic 32-day programme featuring over 1,000 artists
Serious arts aficionados in Hong Kong get out their wallets when advance sales for the Hong Kong Arts Festival are announced, whatever the quibbles about repertoire or ticket prices. The festival's 44th edition is eclectic indeed, comprising genres from circus to Shakespeare.
Tisa Ho, festival executive director, announced the line-up of programmes she said are "in, of and for Hong Kong". The festival will last 32 days, from February 19 to 20 March 2016, and will feature 50 performing groups and soloists, 24 venues and over 1,000 artists in total.
The Arts Festival continues to present big names in the face of rising costs, despite having seen no increase in government support over the past six years.The festival gets about a third of its HK$110 million budget from the government, another third from box office takings, and the other third from sponsorships and donations.
Among this year's biggest names is superstar soprano Anna Netrebko, who is making her first appearance in Hong Kong. Other than Netrebko, the Mikhailovsky Ballet of St Petersburg has stepped in, at the last minute, to replace the Berlin State Ballet in The Sleeping Beauty. Another blockbuster is The Royal Shakespeare Company's "King and Country", three Shakespearean history plays - Henry IV parts I & II and Henry V. One show that looks like it could sell out quickly is Rufus Wainwright's Prima Donna.
