Piccadilly Revisited is a live multimedia piece commissioned by Chinatown Arts Space (CAS), which explores the hidden life story of the first East Asian Hollywood movie star Anna May Wong.
Using the classic silent film Piccadilly (1929) as the main platform, a new live soundtrack has been created by composers Ruth Chan and Suki Mok. Other mediums including contemporary video, narration, dance and theatre has also been entailed to enable audiences to rediscover Anna May Wong’s artistry and give voice to her silent screen persona.
Piccadilly Revisited has been performed at the Thames Festival in London, Royal Opera House, Hong Kong Arts Festival 2011, and most recently in Beijing as part of the UK Now Festival in Apr 2012. We are also planning to take the project to North America, Europe & Asia in 2013/14.
Critic Reviews:
With freshly composed music, narration and video, up-and-coming composer Ruth Chan and director David Tse recreated, with a contemporary touch, the life behind the silver screen of Anna May Wong in Piccadilly Revisited. A century of dream through light and shadow (i.e. film), time seemed to have “blossomed” right on stage like the eternal flower of the orient.
Wen Wei Po (Full Chinese language review here)
With silent film, music and theatre, Piccadilly Revisited attempts to blend elements of modern theatre such as live vocals and narration with Anna May Wong’s most well-known film work Piccadilly, creating a most delicate alchemical effect weaving the past and the present.
CforCulture (Full Chinese language review here)
This year’s Hong Kong Arts Festival presented the “New Stage” series, featuring a production which brought the 1929 English silent film classic Piccadilly on stage with live music. The performing quality (texture) of Piccadilly Revisited was delightful – not only was the film enlivened by fresh editing, there was also an air of contemporary sensibility under the director’s artistic touch.
Ta Kung Pao (Full Chinese language review here)
“Congratulations on the success of Piccadilly Revisited! This is certainly a show with legs, and I look forward to conversations about Macau and other possible future destinations.”
Tisa Ho, Executive Director of HKAF
“The score is a shimmering, evocative and jazzy East-West brew”
The Times
“[Piccadilly is] bold, beautifully crafted… one of the truly great films of the silent era”
Martin Scorsese