Read Sing Eileen Chang features texts selected from Eileen Chang's novels and essays in the form of storytelling and singing, which are then integrated with creative stage technology by Zuni Innovation Lab led by Mathias Woo. The writings of Eileen Chang become three-dimensional as a team of musicians and performers from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Beijing engage in a creative experiment on sound, acting and technology. The show combines technology and live performance, blending a variety of traditional and modern forms of storytelling and singing. This inventive way of bringing Eileen Chang's celebrated works to life again, builds on the experience of the Lab's past presentations of In Search of Lost Time and Blind Musician Dou Wun.
Based on Eileen Chang's works
© Roland Soong and Elaine Soong through Crown Culture Corporation
*This programme supports the “2020/21 Arts Experience Scheme for Senior Secondary Students” presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department
Based on Eileen Chang's works
© Roland Soong and Elaine Soong through Crown Culture Corporation
*This programme supports the “2020/21 Arts Experience Scheme for Senior Secondary Students” presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department
"It is rare that although there were only one actor and one actress on the stage talking, it can still be so intriguing and inviting."
Yonfan, Director
"The enlarged photos and words of Eileen Chang have a swirling, enticing and gravitating
power. Many paragraphs from Dui Zhao Ji have been selected and performed, which is not
very often, being translated onto the stage also has brought a sense of immersive and present."
Carole Hoyan, Associate Professor of the Department of Chinese Language and Literature, the Chinese University of Hong Kong
Yonfan, Director
"The enlarged photos and words of Eileen Chang have a swirling, enticing and gravitating
power. Many paragraphs from Dui Zhao Ji have been selected and performed, which is not
very often, being translated onto the stage also has brought a sense of immersive and present."
Carole Hoyan, Associate Professor of the Department of Chinese Language and Literature, the Chinese University of Hong Kong
"Using the words of Eileen Chang to create her sentimental chronicle is very interesting. It is also crucial to get the young to meet and know about Eileen's literary legacy."
So Kowk-wan, Associated Program Director, Hong Kong Art Festival
"An integration of different artistic styles - visual, digital, monologues, read sing, music, with Eileen Chang's words; at such distressed times, the performance gave me comfort like novels and prose does"
Beike, Online Audience
"An integration of different artistic styles - visual, digital, monologues, read sing, music, with Eileen Chang's words; at such distressed times, the performance gave me comfort like novels and prose does"
Beike, Online Audience
Zuni Experimental Theatre Eileen Chang 100
Eileen Chang, one of the most influential Chinese female writers in modern history. Zuni has reinterpreted various works by Eileen Chang. The year 2020 marks the 100th Anniversary of the birth of Eileen Chang. In a tribute to this legendary writer, Zuni launches the Eileen Chang 100 - sound and visual experiment Read Sing Eileen Chang. Live-stream at the Studio Theatre in June, and Live performance at the Grand Theatre in November.
Read Sing Eileen Chang features texts selected from Eileen Chang's novels and essays in the form of storytelling and singing, which are then integrated with creative stage technology by Zuni Innovation Lab led by Mathias Woo. The writings of Eileen Chang become three-dimensional as a Hong Kong cum cross-strait team of musicians and performers engage in a creative experiment on sound, acting and technology. The show combines technology and live performance, blending a variety of traditional and modern forms of storytelling and singing, which are then juxtaposed with sounds and images from Zuni's past works on Eileen Chang to create a new piece of work.
Explore more
Literary Legend Eileen Chang
Zuni Experimenting Eileen Chang 100
Zuni Tell and Sing
Isolation and Decluttering: reading Eileen Chang in 2020
Creative Team
Director, Script, Music Producer, Visual Design: Mathias Woo
Performance: Rebecca Yip, David Yeung, Sylvie Cox
Music/ Read Sing: Yao Chang, Yang Mo-han
Voice-acting (Recording): Karena Lam
Music/ Guitar/ Vocal (Recording): Cheer Chen
Creative Coordinator: Cedric Chan
Music Arrangement: Edgar Hung
Sound Design & Mixing: Can. Ha
Lighting Design: Adonic Lo
Text Arrangement: Pia Ho
Research & Script Assistants: Carson Chung, Megan Hung
Video Production: Wing Chan, Li Ming
Graphic Design: Rachel Chak
Illustration of Eileen Chang: Lai Tat Tat Wing
Director, Script, Music Producer, Visual Design: Mathias Woo
Performance: Rebecca Yip, David Yeung, Sylvie Cox
Music/ Read Sing: Yao Chang, Yang Mo-han
Voice-acting (Recording): Karena Lam
Music/ Guitar/ Vocal (Recording): Cheer Chen
Creative Coordinator: Cedric Chan
Music Arrangement: Edgar Hung
Sound Design & Mixing: Can. Ha
Lighting Design: Adonic Lo
Text Arrangement: Pia Ho
Research & Script Assistants: Carson Chung, Megan Hung
Video Production: Wing Chan, Li Ming
Graphic Design: Rachel Chak
Illustration of Eileen Chang: Lai Tat Tat Wing
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Rebecca Yip
Professional devising actress. Television host in Artspiration by RTHK and a film actress in the local indie production Love Me Not.
Sylvie Cox
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With a distinctive cultural style in her works and concepts, she is not just a singer, but an artist, a quiet actionist. From selling DIY demos beside the sea to being the first female Chinese singer-songwriter standing on the stage of Taipei Arena, Cheer Chen uses her unique, calm and unhurried pace to become a spiritual guide for contemporary young people.
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Mathias Woo
Co-Artistic Director of Zuni Icaosahedron.
Scriptwriter, director, producer, and curator.
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Founding member of Zuni Icosahedron. Performed and participated in the creation of Hua-Yen Sutra, 1587, A Year of No Significance, East Wing West Wing, Tears of Barren Hill,
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Karena Lam
Hong Kong actress and curator. She won the Best Leading Actress in the Golden Horse Award (2015), making her the first actress who has earned Best New Performer, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Leading Actress. She curated Japanese calligrapher Yuchi Inoue’s “Hana by Yuchi Inoue” and Japanese artist Watanabe Mayumi’s “Send in the Clowns” exhibitions.
Flamboyance and Desolation
Read Sing: Yang Mo-han
Original Text: Eileen Chang
Lyrics: F$$ (Yang Mo-han . Xiao-Zuo)
Music: Yang Mo-han, Beat by Veysigz (Chinatown)
My Dream of Being a Genius
Read Sing: Yang Mo-han
Original Text: Eileen Chang
Adapted Lyrics: Yang Mo-han
Music: F$$ (Yang Mo-han . notbe), Blade901 x 5Head (Are You Afraid)
Fan Liu-yuan
Read Sing: Yao Chang
Original Text: Love in a Fallen City by Eileen Chang
Lyrics: Yao Chang
Music: Yao Chang, Lee (You’re Beautiful)
Bai Liu-su
Read Sing: Yao Chang
featuring Rebecca Yip
Original Text: Love in a Fallen City by Eileen Chang
Lyrics: Yao Chang
Music: Yao Chang, Moon Juice (Ocarina Of Time)
Tong Zhen-bao
Read Sing: Yao Chang
Original Text: Red Rose, White Rose by Eileen Chang
Adapted Text: Yao Chang
Music: Edgar Hung
A Life in a Mansion
Read Sing: Yang Mo-han
Original Text: Eileen Chang
Lyrics: Youngbean, Yang Mo-han
Music: Youngbean, Yang Mo-han, Harold Arlen & Johnny Mercer (Come Rain Or Come Shine by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers)
On Painting
Read Sing: Yang Mo-han
Original Text: Eileen Chang
Adapted Lyrics: F$$ (Yang Mo-han)
Music: F$$ (Yang Mo-han), Eric Godlow Beats (Lovely)
Read: Rebecca Yip
Shen Shijun
Read Sing: Yang Mo-han
Original Text: Half a Lifelong Romance by Eileen Chang
Text: Yao Chang
Music: LCS x Jurrivh (See The Lights)
Love
Read Sing: Yang Mo-han
Original Text: Eileen Chang
Adapted Lyrics: F$$ (Yang Mo-han)
Music: F$$ (Yang Mo-han), Jazz Old School Rap Beat (Utopia)
Background Music
Sonata for Viola da Gamba No.2 in D major, BWV 1028
Performed by John Gibbons (Harpsichord)/ Andreas Brantelid (Viola da Gamba)
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1 Prelude No. 19 in A major, BWV 864
Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2 Prelude and Fugue No. 8 in E flat minor, BWV 877
Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1 Prelude and Fugue No. 6 in D minor, BWV 851
Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2 Prelude and Fugue No. 21 in B flat major, BWV 890
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
Performed by Kimiko Ishizaka (Piano)
St Matthew Passion, BWV 244
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
Performed by Erich Majkut, Harold Buchsbaum, Laurence Dutoit, Maria Nussbaumer, Otto Wiener
Academy Chamber Choir, Vienna Chamber Orchestra
Conductor: Ferdinand Grossmann
Pictures at an Exhibition
Composed by Modest Mussorgsky
Performed by Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
Conductor: Ernest Ansermet
Wedding March from A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op.61
Composed by Felix Mendelssohn
Performed by London Festival Orchestra
Conductor: Alfred Scholz
The Moon's Reflection on the Second Spring
Music: A Bing
Erhu: Hung Hung Kwan
Three Rules and Eight Notices
Lyrics arrangement: Cheng Tan and Collective Lyrics Adaptation
Music: Unknown
Movie Clips
Love in a Fallen City (1984)
Director: Ann Hui
Women (1985)
Director: Stanley Kwan
Production Team
Technical and Stage Manager: Chow Chun Yin
Production Manager: Carmen Cheng
Rehearsal Master: Charmaine Cheng
Deputy Stage Manager: Zeta Chan
Disguise System Operator: Li Ming
Video Operation: Johnny Sze
Assistant Stage Manager: Chan On Ki, Megan Hung
Make-up Artist: Billie Siu
Hair Stylist: Lam Sai Choy Ricky
Wardrobe Assistant: Ellen Kong
Stage Crews: Kenneth Chan, Ray Chan, Chim Man Lung, Tse Man Kuen
Backstage Interns: Chan Yuen Yee, Kong Siu Kit, Li Tsz Nang, Wu Yi Wen
Programme & Marketing
Company Manager (Administration and Finance): Jacky Chan
Company Manager (Programme): Doris Kan
Senior Researcher: Theresa Leung
Senior Programme Manager: Bowie Chow
Public Relations Manager: Luka Wong
Programme Manager: Ho Yin Hei
Assistant Programme Manager: Ricky Cheng
Programme and Art Administration Trainee: Stephy Yeung
Video Documentation (3JBK production): Marco Chan Lok Him, Cheng Kwok Pan, Chow Yan Yip, Mak chun wah, Ng Yu Fung
English Translation: Mona Chu, Megan Hung, Moyung Yuk Lin
Graphic Design (Season 2020 “Art ‧ Society ‧ Technology” Key Visual): David Lo of LOMATTERS Design Studio
Graphic Design Assistant: Coco Cheung
Promotion Photos: Sunny Wong
Documentary Photograph: Cheung Chi Wai, Franz Lai, Vic Shing
Academic Support
Technical Partner


Music: LCS x Jurrivh (See The Lights)
Love
Read Sing: Yang Mo-han
Original Text: Eileen Chang
Adapted Lyrics: F$$ (Yang Mo-han)
Music: F$$ (Yang Mo-han), Jazz Old School Rap Beat (Utopia)
Background Music
Sonata for Viola da Gamba No.2 in D major, BWV 1028
Performed by John Gibbons (Harpsichord)/ Andreas Brantelid (Viola da Gamba)
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1 Prelude No. 19 in A major, BWV 864
Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2 Prelude and Fugue No. 8 in E flat minor, BWV 877
Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1 Prelude and Fugue No. 6 in D minor, BWV 851
Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2 Prelude and Fugue No. 21 in B flat major, BWV 890
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
Performed by Kimiko Ishizaka (Piano)
St Matthew Passion, BWV 244
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
Performed by Erich Majkut, Harold Buchsbaum, Laurence Dutoit, Maria Nussbaumer, Otto Wiener
Academy Chamber Choir, Vienna Chamber Orchestra
Conductor: Ferdinand Grossmann
Pictures at an Exhibition
Composed by Modest Mussorgsky
Performed by Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
Conductor: Ernest Ansermet
Wedding March from A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op.61
Composed by Felix Mendelssohn
Performed by London Festival Orchestra
Conductor: Alfred Scholz
The Moon's Reflection on the Second Spring
Music: A Bing
Erhu: Hung Hung Kwan
Three Rules and Eight Notices
Lyrics arrangement: Cheng Tan and Collective Lyrics Adaptation
Music: Unknown
Movie Clips
Love in a Fallen City (1984)
Director: Ann Hui
Women (1985)
Director: Stanley Kwan
Production Team
Technical and Stage Manager: Chow Chun Yin
Production Manager: Carmen Cheng
Rehearsal Master: Charmaine Cheng
Deputy Stage Manager: Zeta Chan
Disguise System Operator: Li Ming
Video Operation: Johnny Sze
Assistant Stage Manager: Chan On Ki, Megan Hung
Make-up Artist: Billie Siu
Hair Stylist: Lam Sai Choy Ricky
Wardrobe Assistant: Ellen Kong
Stage Crews: Kenneth Chan, Ray Chan, Chim Man Lung, Tse Man Kuen
Backstage Interns: Chan Yuen Yee, Kong Siu Kit, Li Tsz Nang, Wu Yi Wen
Programme & Marketing
Company Manager (Administration and Finance): Jacky Chan
Company Manager (Programme): Doris Kan
Senior Researcher: Theresa Leung
Senior Programme Manager: Bowie Chow
Public Relations Manager: Luka Wong
Programme Manager: Ho Yin Hei
Assistant Programme Manager: Ricky Cheng
Programme and Art Administration Trainee: Stephy Yeung
Video Documentation (3JBK production): Marco Chan Lok Him, Cheng Kwok Pan, Chow Yan Yip, Mak chun wah, Ng Yu Fung
English Translation: Mona Chu, Megan Hung, Moyung Yuk Lin
Graphic Design (Season 2020 “Art ‧ Society ‧ Technology” Key Visual): David Lo of LOMATTERS Design Studio
Graphic Design Assistant: Coco Cheung
Promotion Photos: Sunny Wong
Documentary Photograph: Cheung Chi Wai, Franz Lai, Vic Shing
Academic Support

Technical Partner





Acknowledgement
Miss Cherry Cheung, Prof. Carole Hang-fung HOYAN, Mr. Hung Hung Kwan, Mr. Anais Mak, Ms. Elaine Soong, Mr. Roland Soong, Mr Ivan Wong, Mr. Yonfan, Crown Culture Corporation, Media Asia Talent Management Limited, Team Ear Music, Workshop Studio
Terms and Conditions
Running time approximately 100 minutes with no intermission
Performed in Cantonese & Putonghua with Chinese and English surtitle
No latecomers will be admitted, until a suitable break in the performance.
Zuni Icosahedron reserves the right to add, withdraw or substitute artists, vary advertised programmes, and/or terminate the programme without prior notice.