Jazz musician Herbie Hancock, choreographer Wayne McGregor, saxophonist Grace Kelly (no, not the late actress), Cantopop band RubberBand and a Hong Kong version of musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch – these are just a few must-sees among the 50-plus programmes in the sixth annual performing arts season at the West Kowloon Cultural District, now rebranded WestK, in Hong Kong. “The line-up is the most ambitious to date for the performing arts division,” he says. On August 17, 18, 23, 24 and 25, Hong Kong group On & On Theatre Workshop and WestK are co-presenting a play called With Love, Medea’s Boys , which explores the world of the afterlife from the perspectives of the sons of Greek mythological character Medea and unfolds like a dark fairy tale.
The play is in Cantonese, but English simultaneous translation is available for the August 25 performance. It features dancers moving like deep sea creatures, and plays with darkness and perception. “I saw it first hand in Montpellier.
It was beautiful and brought down the house,” Tam says. Separately from the jazz festival, Grace Kelly will perform on September 25 as part of WestK’s Jazz Signatures series. The Korean-American musician first gained international attention after performing during former US president Barack Obama’s 2009 inauguration, when she was 16 years old.
Apart from jazz, WestK has three other flagship festivals: the Black Box Chinese Opera Festival, Freespace Dance and the WestK Fun Fest – which features a family-oriented programme with performances tailored for audiences of all ages. Following last year’s inaugural edition of Freespace Dance, the festival returns this year from November 21 to December 15, with Austrian choreographer Florentina Holzinger’s Tanz , an unusual “body horror ballet”. There is humour, spectacular stunt work and circus arts, Tam promises.
Thai dance artist Kornkarn Rungsawang will present Mali Bucha: Dance Offering , which will combine virtual and augmented reality elements with Thai ritual dance. For those interested in Chinese opera, or xiqu , the Black Box Chinese Opera Festival from October 3 to October 24 will feature a number of original productions. From May 30-June 1 2025, French choreographer Rachid Ouramdane will present his group, the Chaillot Théâtre National de la Danse, in a new show featuring slacklining acrobatics called Corps extrêmes .
Also in May 2025 is the exciting debut of a Hong Kong version of the cult musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch , which follows trans German singer Hedwig as she seeks revenge and stardom. The cast for the Hong Kong version – which is likely to be in a mix of Cantonese, Mandarin and English – will be unveiled in the next few months. “I think the more [audiences see performances] from around the world, the more sophisticated their taste would become, and the more discerning their taste would become,” Tam says.
“I think that’s actually a boon for our artists, because that means they have to perform better. They have to create even better works, because the audiences, they’ll have very discerning tastes.”.
