Organized by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC), the 29th Macao Arts Festival (MAF), presents this week, among others, the show Qui di Tacho? (What’s Serving?), by the Grupo de Teatro Dóci Papiaçám di Macau, the interactive installation Home Sweet Home by the group Subject to Change (United Kingdom) and the play When All Was Green, by Key Theatre (Israel).
On 19 and 20 May (Saturday and Sunday), at the Macao Cultural Centre Grand Auditorium at 8:00pm, the 29th Macao Arts Festival presents the show What’s Serving? by the Grupo de Teatro Dóci Papiaçám di Macau. The group is presenting their annual masterpiece on the stage of the Macao Arts Festival, in which a group of local actors point out the social ills via sarcasm and condemnation. Apart from being humorous and jocular, the content is also filled with a local flavour. It combines current affairs with humanistic feelings, reflecting the lifestyle of Macao and provoking people to think deeply. Macanese Patuá is a creole originated from the ancient Portuguese language, with a combination of Malay, Spanish, Canarese, English and Cantonese, reflecting Macao’s role as a platform for the development of multiculturalism. It has been inscribed on Macao’s Intangible Cultural Heritage List.
From 19 to 22 May (Saturday to Tuesday) the 29th MAF presents at the Old Court Exhibition Room (G/F) (19, 20, 22/5: 14:00-22:00 / 21/5: 16:00-22:00) the interactive installation Home Sweet Home, by the group Subject to Change (United Kingdom). This interactive installation gives the participants an opportunity to become an architect and construct their dream residence with everyone. Audiences will be given white cardboard houses upon admission, on which they can unleash their creativity and design their dream houses with all sorts of innovative materials, tools and decorations from the nearby Supply Shed. The town has a Postman to help participants deliver letters, and a Radio DJ at Residents Fm will broadcast live news and information. Through the entire duration, the public can visit the community and inspect for any changes. The end of the show will be marked by a party held in the community where the participants can celebrate the completion of the town. At the end, the participants can also take home the house they made.
Between 18 and 20 May (Friday to Sunday), the Festival presents, the Macao Conservatory Auditorium, at 8:00pm and also at 3:00pm on 20 May, the play When All Was Green, by the Key Theatre (Israel), a story about human, nature and greed. The Key Theatre uses puppets and props made of old books, recycled bindings and yellowing pages to vividly capture a fascinating tale of a boy from childhood to adolescence. Witnessing the felling of trees and the gradual loss of green fields for the development of buildings, the boy, in the end, still sees a green bud of hope following the disruption of a natural equilibrium by human beings. Without the articulation of a single word, the 45-minute puppet theatre confers about the relationship between mankind and nature. Established by co-directors Dikla Katz and Avi Zlicha in 1998, the Israeli groupThe Key Theatreis acclaimed for its engrossing visual effects incorporating puppets, masks and objects, bringing a variety of art and theatre forms to young audiences on top of their unique visual and theatre language.
Only a limited number of tickets is available for some of these programmes. Therefore the organization advises the public to purchase tickets as soon as possible. For more information about the programmes, ticket sales and discounts, please check the 29th Macao Arts Festival booklet, which PDF version can be downloaded from the web page www.icm.gov.mo/fam, follow the MAF page on Facebook or subscribe to ICs Wechat (“ICmacao”) account. Ticketing hotline: 2855 5555. Online ticket sales: www.macauticket.com.