一 一
Hard Times Work-in-progress
Three singer-actors, together with director Edward Lam, push the boundaries of the theatre experience through a new experimental format.
金燕玲
Elaine Jin Yam-ling
張國穎
Margaret Cheung
鄭君熾Jordan Cheng
Stage director Edward Lam enlists award-winning screen veteran Elaine Jin Yam-ling and musical theatre stars Margaret Cheung and Jordan Cheng for a highly experimental work of theatre that explores loss and longing.
Each playing a version of themselves, the three performers sing, act and interact with an invisible fourth “character” — the final missing piece at the core of the story that stirs nostalgia, intimacy and bittersweet emotions.
In hard times, we are constantly reminded of the people or things that are missing from our lives, and find ourselves asking, “How do I live without you?” Through a series of classic songs and personal stories, Hard Times hopes to offer a sense of solidarity and catharsis for those still waiting for reunion, for recovery, or for a new start as we slowly come out of the shadow of a global pandemic.
Lam’s latest artistic exercise is a site-specific work customised for The Room, which incorporates the venue’s unique features into the conceptualisation and content of the experience. The acclaimed theatre-maker also collaborated with the performers in exploring an innovative form of theatre that combines singing and acting, while introducing to the audience a new way of participation.
This work-in-progress invites both its creators and viewers to step out of their comfort zone, and together immerse themselves in the creative process of an audacious future work that’s taking shape right in front of their eyes. The finished production of Hard Times is expected to officially open in the autumn of 2023. More detail will follow in the coming months.
Art Park, West Kowloon Cultural District
The Room, Freespace
2023.1.12-15 (Thu-Sun) 20:00
Performed in Cantonese, Mandarin and English
Approximately 1 hour 10 minutes without intermission
Ticket：$280
Tickets available on West Kowloon Website
Concessions price $168
Concessions price for senior citizens aged 60 or above, people with disabilities and a companion, Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) recipients and full-time students. Ticket holders must present proof of eligibility on admission. Full-time student concession tickets are available on a first come, first served basis.
Ticketing Enquiries:
(852) 2200 0022, ticketinfo@wkcda.hk
Artistic Team
Performer
Elaine Jin Yam-ling
Since beginning her career in the 1970s, Elaine Jin Yam-ling has appeared in close to 100 films including Love Unto Wastes (1987), People's Hero (1988), A Confucian Confusion (1994), Port of Call (2016) and Mad World (2017). The veteran actress has been an enduring screen presence in Taiwan and Hong Kong for over 40 years, and worked with some of the most celebrated Chinese-language filmmakers such as Stanley Kwan and Edward Yang. She is a four-time Hong Kong Film Award winner and a two-time Golden Horse Award winner.
Performer
Margaret Cheung
Margaret Cheung is an actor, singer and vocal coach. She obtained her Bachelor of Creative Industries degree from the Queensland University of Technology, Australia, and a diploma from the School of Drama at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. As an in-demand musical performer, she has worked extensively with professional theatre companies in Hong Kong. Cheung also works frequently with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta as a vocalist, and presented a solo concert with the orchestra in 2017.
Besides her work in musical theatre, she has branched out into a cappella, Cantopop backup singing, and voiceover work in recent years.
Performer & Music Director
Jordan Cheng
Jordan Cheng is a musical theatre performer and playwright. He received his Master’s degree in Musical Theatre from the Guildford School of Acting in the UK and trained extensively under the mentorship of Mohamed Drissi, Artistic Director of Hong Kong 3 Arts Musical Institute.
Cheng won the 2017 Toronto Theatre Critics Award for Best Actor in a Musical, and was nominated for Outstanding Male Performer in Musical Theatre at the 39th Annual DORA Awards, Best Leading Actor at the 26th Hong Kong Drama Awards, and Best Supporting Actor at the 29th Hong Kong Drama Awards. He has appeared in more than 70 theatre productions in 20 cities worldwide and created several Cantonese musicals, which have been performed to wide acclaim.
Director | Edward Lam
Performers | Elaine Jin Yam-ling, Margaret Cheung, Jordan Cheng
Dramaturg | Hsu Yen-mei
Creative Coordinator | Ho Ting-wai
Music Director | Jordan Cheng
Sound and Music Designer | Chung Chak-ming
Scenography | Jonathan Wong*
Lighting Designer | Au Yeung Hon-ki
Art Director and Image Designer | Kary Kwok
Video Director and Editor | Darwin Ng
Production Manager | Joyi Tsang
Project Coordinators | Tiffy Lau#, Meredith Wong#
Deputy Producer | Franco Yau#
Producers | Lai Siu-fai, Bobo Lee#
#Staff of West Kowloon Cultural District
*Appearance by kind permission of The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts
Co-presented and co-produced by:
為《艱辛歲月》點唱
《情人的眼淚》
為什麼要對你掉眼淚 你難道不明白是為了愛
只有那有情人眼淚最珍貴
一顆顆眼淚都是愛都是愛
為什麼要對你掉眼淚 你難道不明白是為了愛
要不是有情郎跟我要分開
我眼淚不會掉下來掉下來
好春常在 春花正開 你怎麼捨得說再會
我在深閨 望穿秋水 你不要忘了我情深 深如海
為什麼要對你掉眼淚 你難道不明白是為了愛
要不是有情郎跟我要分開
我眼淚不會掉下來掉下來
《何日》
寒風吹送雪花 隨歌聲飄飛
投入白茫夜裏 在心中喚碎
浮起千串記憶 和那次的你
何日在何日 問何日君再來
可知呀可知何日
你輕輕再吻干從前淚
用你甜蜜呀一一依你我盟誓
問何日再共一次醉
漫天千片雪花 隨心思飄起
人在寂寞夜裏 輕輕問句
誰可以告知 重演那一次
何日在何日 問何日君再來
可知呀可知何日
我再可以與君重聚
若再重會一一供你我回味
是迷是愛是痴醉
若再重會一一供你我回味
是迷是愛是痴醉
《I'm Still Here》
Good times and bum times, I've seen them all
And, my dear, I'm still here
Plush velvet sometimes
Sometimes just pretzels and beer, but I'm here
I've stuffed the dailies in my shoes
Strummed ukuleles, sung the blues
Seen all my dreams disappear but I'm here
I've slept in shanties, guest of the W.P.A., but I'm here
Danced in my scanties
Three bucks a night was the pay, but I'm here
I've stood on bread lines with the best
Watched while the headlines did the rest
In the depression was I depressed?
Nowhere near, I met a big financier and I'm here
I've been through Gandhi, Windsor and Wally's affair, and I'm here
Amos 'n' Andy, Mahjong and platinum hair, and I'm here
I got through Abie's, Irish Rose, Five Dionne babies, Major Bowes
Had heebie-jeebies for Beebe's, Bathysphere
I lived through Brenda Frazier, and I'm here
I've gotten through Herbert and J. Edgar Hoover
Gee, that was fun and a half
When you've been through Herbert and J. Edgar Hoover
Anything else is a laugh
I've been through Reno, I've been through Beverly Hills, and I'm here
Reefers and vino, rest cures, religion and pills, and I'm here
Been called a 'Pinko', commie tool, got through it stinko by my pool
I should've gone to an acting school, that seems clear
Still someone said, "She's sincere", so I'm here
Black sable one day, next day it goes into hock, but I'm here
Top billing Monday, Tuesday, you're touring in stock, but I'm here
First you're another sloe-eyed vamp
Then someone's mother, then you're camp
Then you career from career to career
I'm almost through my memoirs, and I'm here
I've gotten through, "Hey, lady, aren't you whoozis?
Wow, what a looker you were"
Or better yet, "Sorry, I thought you were whoozis
Whatever happened to her?"
Good times, bum times, I've seen 'em all
And, my dear, I'm still here
Plush velvet sometimes
Sometimes just pretzels and beer, but I'm here
I've run the gamut, A to Z
Three cheers and dammit, c'est la vie
I got through all of last year, and I'm here
Lord knows, at least I was there, and I'm here
Look who's here, I'm still here
《笑看風雲》 鄭少秋
《幾時再回頭》 陳芬蘭
《路邊的野花不要採》 鄧麗君
《尋夢園》 姚蘇蓉
《人生何處不相逢》陳慧嫻
《千億個夜晚》林子祥
《今晚夜》陳潔靈
《舊夢不須記》雷安娜
《像霧又像花》姚蘇蓉
《阿蘭娜》
《在水一方》江蕾
《淚的小花》青山
《夢醒不了情》楊小萍
《庭院深深》
《上海灘》葉麗儀
《負心的人》
《往事只能回味》
《Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye》 Ella Fitzgerald
《明星》
《凡星》陳蕾
《千個太陽》
《歡樂年年》鄭少秋 汪明荃
《雙星情歌》 許冠傑
《Twelve Days of Christmas》
《晚風》葉蒨文
《We All Are》MIRROR
《La Vie en rose》
《給我一杯愛的咖啡》
Articles
Bookstore Sharing
🎵每個人每天被那首歌傷害
——來與林奕華一起給《艱辛歲月》點唱
2022/12/15 Thu📍舍下Hiding Place
2022/12/18 Sun📍界限書店 Boundary bookstore
2022/12/17 Sat📍貳叄書房 jisaam.books
2022/12/18 Sun📍夕拾x閒社 Mellow Out
分享會點唱歌單——那些歌女之歌：
《一水隔天涯》、《情人的眼淚》、《不了情》、《海上花》、《癡癡地等》
🎤🍋參加者分享
// 好充實的分享會，借歌曲、影像、電影以及故事，溫柔地帶我們經驗一次思考和成長。喜歡Edward的結語：陽性、Hardness為這個時代帶來很多傷害，而我們需要更多的星星和月亮，讓我地在柔和的光線間互相關懷。期待日後繼續有這種小型的聚會。//
// 分享會給我很多啟發和鼓勵，特別是拉出不同時代的人、事、歌、曲和戲，不僅僅在講人心、人情也是在講歷史。Edward對『過去』的看法也給了我好大的啟發（我是修讀歷史的學生），不是把過去的知識當作「過去了」的事情，反而看作改變的可能。//
// 原來還可以這樣比較新舊影片跟歌曲，感覺像走進了大觀園。//
//『被歌曲傷害』這個用詞或者概念很有趣，平常我們會用『以歌寄情』、『用歌曲去療癒』，但其實歌曲能否療癒有待商榷，能否察覺我們正在『被傷害』是另一個話題。 如果「傷害」存在的話，究竟誰在「傷害」； 如果「傷害」發生過的話，究竟是怎樣發生的？ 歌曲是人創作的，人如何創作，在於如何看待自己與事情。 思考是行為的種子。//
// 謝謝帶來『賞析歌曲、探視自己』的新角度。 //
// 沒想過可以這樣去分析且了解一首歌，並以之作脈絡去看現代人的一些態度，也相當感謝這個分享的鋪排。//
你也有「每天被不同歌曲傷害」的個人經驗？
🎵我會很想聽關淑怡的《地盡頭》，雖然完全是不承認自己的軟弱，但有那一種希盼和力量，或者，葉德嫻小姐的《服了她》
🎵莊鵑瑛的《何必紀念》，有趣的是MV比較直接講分開，有時候自己一個人看著 YouTube，會被它不期然地傷害著。
🎵去年差不多同一時間，看了楊凡的《海上花》，所以這次聽到林生分享感覺一種奇妙的巧合。Edward說《海上花》是無我，我想它唱的也是命運。《紅樓夢》裡香菱被人說『有命無運』，不過《海上花》的最後，女主角用自己的命去行漂泊的運。這是我關於歌曲和傷害想到的。