Bach is Heart Sutra was brought on stage in 2009,2018, and 2020. Directed and designed by Mathias Woo, the premiere and the first re-run invited Korean Cellist Yoohong Lee and Hong Kong pianist KJ Wong to be part of the creative team. Bach is Heart Sutra‘s inspiration comes from the famous saying, “All reality is a phantom, and all phantoms are real” from the Heart Sutra. Together with Bach’s Unaccompanied Cello Suites, the performance infuses Buddhism and theatrical production to cleanse the soul with art.
Cross-disciplinary multi-media theatre pioneer Mathias Woo came across Heart Sutra when he worked with Taiwanese calligrapher Tong Yang Tze – Woo, who is known for utilising multi-media technology in stage productions, turned Heart Sutra into motion graphic in a projection installation. In the modern days, technology is often used to create stimulation; Woo wishes to utilise technology to create a meditative space, to bring mindfulness and modern slow living with state-of-the-art technology.
Bach is Heart Sutra (2020) innovate classics with theatre technology, bringing the audience into a mirrored space to experience the hymn of The Heart of The Prajna-Paramita Sutra and the music of Bach’s Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello. Each session is limited to four audiences to immerse in an “emptied” mirrored phantom. Construct a spiritual universe with music, projection, and space, create a gentle sensory fiesta, and transmit the healing power of the theatre.