West Kowloon Bamboo Theatre

West Kowloon Bamboo Theatre is one of the flagship programmes of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority (WKCDA). The West Kowloon Bamboo Theatre has been held since 2012 by the WKCDA which aims to promote Cantonese opera and the West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD). Due to its popularity, the WKCDA continues to organise the West Kowloon Bamboo Theatre annually after 2012. Starting from 2013, apart from Cantonese opera, the theatre also provides performances of modern music and Chinese dance. There was a New Year Fair being provided as well.

Since 2012, a temporary bamboo theatre, covering 1,800 square metres, has been set up by the WKCDA during the Chinese New Year for the performances. It is located next to the Tsim Sha Tsui Fire Station, at the junction of Canton Road and Austin Road, which is the future site of the Xiqu Centre. In 2014, the performing stage has moved to the West Kowloon Waterfront Promenade in the WKCD.

The West Kowloon Bamboo Theatre is the first cultural event organized by the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority to celebrate the Chinese New Year with theatrical inspiration. The cost of land levelling and bamboo scaffolding is about HK$1,000,000. The Bamboo Theatre was constructed traditionally using over 10000 bamboo stalks by 10 bamboo scaffolders within 2 weeks to provide 800-seat auditorium. In addition, it is the largest bamboo theatre built in Hong Kong.

The Cantonese opera actors from The Chinese Artists Association of Hong Kong performed a total of 11 Cantonese operas from 20 January 2012 to 23 January 2012, including “Prime Minister of Six States” and “The Sassy Princess and Her Blunt Husband”. The Authority decided to put on two extra performance since the tickets of 6 original performance sold out within half an hour. In order to attract local people, each ticket cost relatively low (HK$10). It is estimated that the Authority had to pay for about one million as allowance.

An exhibition of newly commissioned works by five contemporary artists, including Chu Hing-wah, Gaylord Chan, Michael Wolf, Samson Young and Henry Chu, is held in M+ (the future Museum of Visual Arts). Five rarely-seen opera-themed film classics, including John Woo's Princess Chang Ping (1976) and Ann Hui's Spooky Bunch (1980), also be shown in back-to-back outdoor screenings with English subtitles.

The West Kowloon Bamboo Theatre 2013, themed "City Memories" was held between January 30 and February 16, 2013 at the West Kowloon Cultural District, attracting a hundred thousand visitors. The 2013 Bamboo Theatre was covered by a golden orange nylon net so as to make the venue look like an ancient palace-like architecture, holding various performances, a fair and an exhibition during the 3-week period. A crossover of tradition and innovative Augmented Reality (AR) technology was also introduced in 2013's West Kowloon Bamboo Theatre. Visitors only needed to pay for some of the performances this year while the other activities are free of charge.

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Wikipedia