Cao Zhen caozhen0806@126.com PROMINENT Hong Kong stage director Tang Shu-wing will present his acclaimed drama “Macbeth” this Friday and Saturday at Nanshan Cultural and Sports Center to unveil the sixth Urban Drama Festival which will run until mid-June. Starring Ng Wai-shek and Ivy Pang, “Macbeth,” in Cantonese with Chinese subtitles, will mostly be concerned with the physical rather than the linguistic and verbal. Tang said that he wanted to express the characters’ inner world through physical language. In the two-hour play, a modern-day couple dream of entering the universe of Macbeth in ancient China. Assuming the roles of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, they encounter a string of events, from which they become aware of the darker sides of their minds and the intricacies of humanity. Upon leaving the dream, they have to come to terms with their newfound selves in this turbulent, contemporary world. “In his interpretation, Tang stresses to release the energies of Shakespeare’s classic text,” said Ng at a promotional event in Shenzhen on Saturday. Audience members will miss the poetry and Shakespeare’s verbal imagery, but they will enjoy a unique rendition. In the play, Macbeth and his wife are dressed in modern clothing unlike the rest of the court who are in traditional dress. Moreover, Ng and Pang will reverse their roles of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in the second act to “compel the audience to examine the different facets of human nature in its psychological dimensions,” explained Ng. When the play was staged in Europe a few years ago, the Western press praised its visual aesthetics and accompanying music. Musicians create a haunting and provocative soundscape with traditional Asian instruments, such as the Chinese dongxiao (vertical flute) and erhu (two-stringed bowed instrument), the Japanese shakuhachi (vertical end-blown flute) and the South Korean buk (traditional drum). Sometimes nicknamed the “Alchemist of Minimalist Theater,” Tang received the best director award three times at the Hong Kong Drama Awards. His theater studio has staged acclaimed “Titus Andronicus” in Cantonese in 2012 at the World Shakespeare Festival, the first Cantonese production ever performed there. It is also no stranger to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, during which its first run of “Detention” was staged in 2012. They presented a production of “Macbeth” in Cantonese commissioned by the Hong Kong Arts Festival and Shakespeare Globe London in 2015. The staging of Cantonese “Macbeth” in Shenzhen on March 22-23 marks the opening of the annual Urban Drama Festival organized by local performance and ticketing company AC Orange. The three-month event will also feature Mandarin play “Dear Jinzi 2.0” adapted from master Cao Yu’s “The Wilderness” (May 24-25), Cantonese play “The Golden Cangue” (June 7-8) and English-language musical “The Decameron” by Romeo & Julia Koren (June 16). Ticketing: WeChat Wallet, juooo.com, 400-185-8666 Venue: Nanshan Cultural and Sports Center, 2106 Nanshan Boulevard, Nanshan District (南山区南山大道2106号南山文体中心) Metro: Line 1 to Taoyuan Station (桃园站), Exit B | 