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The Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) has invited theatre veteran Chung King-fai to stage "Death of a Salesman" in September, with Luther Fung as director and moderator. This will be the second production to be presented in the reader's theatre format by Chung for the LCSD.
Chung will offer theatre lovers a dramatic presentation of the classic script "Death of a Salesman" in the form of reader's theatre alongside renowned actors Lo Koon-lan, Yip Wing-wong, Johnson Yu, Yip Chun, Barry Chan, Ida Leung and Luther Fung. The format frees the performers and the audience from the limitations of conventional theatre.
"Death of a Salesman" is the work of the great American dramatist Arthur Miller, who was hailed as the "moral voice of the American stage". Written in 1949, the play was regarded as a piece of scathing criticism of the American dream under capitalism. The work was critically acclaimed, and went on to receive the 1949 Pulitzer Prize and the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play.
The play's protagonist is Willy Loman. Like all Americans, he finds value and meaning in his work and believes that as long as he works hard, he will reap his rewards. He also believes that his two sons are outstanding and cut out for greatness. But personal and external circumstances have made it impossible to achieve the kind of success and prominence he wanted, and now he is old. Worse still, he loses his job and hence his livelihood, and has to rely on a $50 weekly loan from others for sustenance. Biff, his elder son, was an athletic star in high school, but his outlook on life took a tumble after witnessing his father¡¯s infidelity by chance. At 34 years of age, he has no stable home and has descended into petty crimes such as stealing. Loman's younger son Happy, a womaniser who lacks solid values, is ambitious but incapable. In the end, Loman knows that his sons do love him, and he considers taking drastic steps to provide money for them to set up a business.
"Reader's Theatre by Chung King-fai (II) ¡ª Death of a Salesman" (in Cantonese) will be held at 2pm and 6.30pm on September 6 (Saturday) and September 20 (Saturday) in the Lecture Hall of the Hong Kong Space Museum. Tickets priced at $160 per session are now available at URBTIX. Half-price tickets are available for senior citizens aged 60 or above, people with disabilities and their minders, full-time students and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) recipients (limited tickets for full-time students and CSSA recipients available on first-come, first-served basis).A maximum discount of 20 per cent is offered for group booking packages. Please refer to programme leaflets for details of the group booking discount.
For programme enquiries, please call 2268 7325, or visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/Programme/en/theatre/program_605.html. For ticketing enquiries, please call 3761 6661. For telephone credit card booking, please call 2111 5999. For Internet bookings, please visit www.urbtix.hk.
Ends/Friday, August 1, 2014
Issued at HKT 10:00
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