Documentary Theatre/ Ethnotheatre Workshop 【French May Arts Festival 2024】French May Arts Festival
HKD 200 / per unit
HKD 550 / 3 units
Documentary or ethnographic theatre is based on real interviews or existing documentation and literature. This approach differs from traditional fictional theatre in terms of writing, directing and acting. This series of workshops will explore each these three elements separately. Participants may join individual modules according to their interests. If they join all of them, they will gain a more comprehensive understanding of this technique, which is becoming increasingly popular.
Modern theatre is no longer confined to a particular form, and the technique or spirit of documentary theatre has permeated various theatre productions. Even if participants will not be engaged in documentary theatre in the future, they will still be able to gain insights that can be applied to other types of theatre productions.
Directing Unit:
Documentary/ethnographic theatre does not have as clear a time and space as traditional scripts do, and there is often no traditional story to rely on. Representing already-made materials is a major challenge for directors. Pants Theatre Production’s Artistic Director Wu Hoi Fai has directed and translated numerous local documentary/ ethnographic theatre works. He will share his experience and discuss directing documentary/ ethnographic theatre with concrete examples.
Performance Unit:
What are the differences between the roles in documentary/ ethnographic theatre and those of traditional fictional scripts? Wu Hoi Fai has led actors of varying skill-levels to perform different types of documentary/ethnographic theatre texts. He will share his experience and discuss the characteristics of documentary/ethnographic theatre performance.
Playwriting Unit:
Documentary/ethnographic theatre writers are often confronted with a large volume of information. Playwright Callas Cheang has successfully tackled high volumes of information in researching the relationships between fathers and sons for Fantasia on Fathers and Sons and the work of end-of-life carers in Eternal Flame in the Dark. Shewill be guide participants to compile a theatre play.
- Workshop conducted in Cantonese.
