Cityscape Hong Kong – Salzburg: Dramaturgy of Cityscape

The artistic performative examination of these questions was presented as part of an immersive scenic installation in the Blackbox of the Hong Kong Theatre Academy at the end of November 2024. The first phase of a multi-part cooperation project between the Thomas Bernhard Institute of the University Mozarteum and the  Hongkong Academy for Performing Arts ended with an intensive exchange with the specialist audience present.

A group of drama students from Hong Kong and acting, directing and applied theatre students from Salzburg set off together on a journey into the cities, listened to their sounds and rhythms, followed their traces into the past, explored the informal signs and writings on their walls and buildings as well as the use of public space. In doing so, it also focussed on reciprocal points of contact and the question of the resonances between the two very different (real and imaginary) urban landscapes of Hong Kong and Salzburg.

It began with a visit by Hong Kong students and teachers to Salzburg in July last year. This was followed by a return visit to Hong Kong in November. Both visits were characterised by intensive research in public space and the performative processing of the collected material - material in the sense of observations, encounters, movements, texts, photos, videos and objects. In addition to visits to theatres and exhibitions, a series of workshops were held by teachers from Salzburg and Hong Kong on dramaturgy and choreography, research techniques and movement in the city.

The practice of the ‘dérive’ (Guy Debord), the randomised city walk, offered a fascinating opportunity to immerse oneself deeply in the respective urban spaces. This led to a more precise understanding of the different historical and cultural contexts, which also characterise the conditions for artistic work in both locations. The perception of everyday urban life went hand in hand with the mutual perception of the participants, their hopes, expectations, social and aesthetic ideas.

In the final, collectively developed work-in-progress presentation, the audience experienced a multilingual performance (Cantonese, German and English), which transformed into an exhibition of experiences that owed themselves to the foreign and familiar view of Hong Kong and Salzburg: the atmosphere of a street scene emerged, the theme became funeral rituals, toilet cultures, stickers in public spaces, the omnipresent question in the group about the translation of Cantonese, English, Chinese and German as well as everyday encounters in public spaces, in short: questions about understanding and communication in distant cultural horizons. Accordingly, one of the final conclusions was that ‘the difference between the two cities is not the most important aspect of this project, but the dialogue between us.’

Concept and direction:
Christoph Lepschy, POON Sze Wan, LEONG Wai Ling, Mirjam Klebel

Contributors:
Luise Arnold, Nina Dalbazi, HO Hei Lam, Kevin Hummel, Alexandra Kronberger, LAM Ka Ki, LEE Ho Sang, LEUNG Hiu Fung, Christoph Mierl, Julian Plattner, TSUI Kai Yuen