Forever Enthralled

Hong Kong has seen numerous cross-industry collaborations and modern modifications created to save Cantonese opera, Hong Kong's most traditional form of theatre arts. But how successful have they been so far? A new generation of artists give Tatler the lowdown 

- Zabrina Lo

An AI robot may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think about an artform as traditional as Cantonese opera. Yet in the summer of 2022, a lifelike robot installed with an AI program and modelled after famed Cantonese opera actor Law Kar-ying was seen interacting with actors in a production of Magic Tea House in West Kowloon’s Xiqu Centre.

The performance is one of the recent, ongoing projects by Naomi Chung, the head of Xiqu Centre, to promote Cantonese opera to a younger generation—both in terms of audience and practitioners. As well as working with the industry’s maestros and newer Cantonese opera artists on modernised productions, Xiqu Centre has been offering docent tours, school and public educational workshops and talks, and the space for Cantonese opera groups to stage their shows since its opening in January 2019.

Xiqu Centre isn’t the only body trying to reinvigorate the sunset industry. Across the city, commercial companies, NGOs and art groups have been modernising and promoting Cantonese opera in their own ways. How effective have these efforts been? How do they contribute to the scene? And what new challenges have the new generation been facing and targeting?