The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) - HKAPA

The clash between human will and divine power, brought to life by Greece’s top theatre talents in a contemporary take on Euripides’ classic play

Greece’s premier theatre company revisits one of mythology’s greatest tragic heroes in Hippolytus, a daring production that puts a contemporary spin on an ancient classic about the existential conflict between human will and divine power.

Based on Euripides’ classic play, Hippolytus is centred on its titular protagonist, the illegitimate son of Theseus and an avowed upholder of chastity, whose moralistic rejection of carnal desire offends Aphrodite, the goddess of love. To punish him, the vengeful goddess makes his stepmother fall in love with him, marking the beginning of his downfall.

The production focuses on Aphrodite, who watches with voyeuristic pleasure as mortals become playthings of her vengeful whims. Her gaze becomes ours as the characters are stripped bare, their naked bodies conveying the explosiveness, lust and lasciviousness—but also the purity—of the human race.

By juxtaposing the binaries of abstinence and lust, the sacred and the profane, and disgrace and redemption, Hippolytus delves unflinchingly into complex psychological and moral issues with a modern sensibility while asking the age-old question: who is responsible for tragedy, gods or men?

This 2023 production is helmed by the distinguished stage director and artistic director of the Athens Epidaurus Festival Katerina Evangelatos with the support of a superb creative team and a 20-strong cast of actors, chorus and musicians. It’s a large-scale Greek tragedy rarely seen on Hong Kong stage and is not to be missed!

A titan of Chinese theatre will take the Festival by storm 

Best known for his first play Thunderstorm, Cao Yu (1910-96) is widely regarded as the Thunderstorm by Cao Yu founding father of modern Chinese drama. Often compared to Shakespeare, Ibsen, Chekhov and Eugene O'Neill, Cao Yu achieved his canonical status in China due to his powerful portrayal of people and exploration of human complexity, and his works continue to touch the hearts of 21st-century audiences.  

Thunderstorm is set in the home of an industrialist in northern China, where a family has gathered with all the inexorable fatality of a Greek drama. It’s a play full of tension, where the illusion of love and power intertwines with the destiny of a woman yearning for freedom in a patriarchal family. Over the 24 hours in which the action takes place, these tensions mount as the inevitable fate swiftly approaches. 

One of the most popular dramatic works of the past century, Thunderstorm has been adapted into film, dance and opera, including film director Zhang Yimou’s Oscar-nominated film Curse of the Golden Flower.  

Come and discover this titan of Chinese theatre in the 2025 HKAF commission of Thunderstorm, directed by veteran Beijing director Li Liuyi and featuring a stellar cast of celebrated Chinese actors, with set and costume design by award-winning Hong Kong art director William Chang.

Commissioned by the Hong Kong Arts Festival

 

Dostoevsky’s psychological thriller about a young man’s journey towards redemption

Young, impoverished and possessed by self-righteousness, a former student commits murder in the name of alleviating human misery, but ends up with a tormented conscience. He later meets a prostitute with a pure soul, who shines a beacon of light on his path. Will he spiral deeper into anguish, or will he finally resurrect himself in a moment of truth?

A masterpiece by Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment traces the protagonist’s psychological journey and moral dilemmas after he commits the ultimate crime. Probing the relationships between the individual and society, morality and power, and religion and freedom, the drama revolves around the protagonist’s battle with himself and those around him, illuminating the conflicts between radicalism and morality, and free will and the will of God.

Adapted by Phillip Breen, an Associate Artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and directed by renowned Hong Kong director Desmond Tang together with Breen, the 2025 Hong Kong version embodies a contemporary touch and features a powerhouse local cast.

Led by Ben Yuen, named Best Supporting Actor at the Golden Horse Film Awards, who plays the relentless inspector in pursuit of righteousness, the 15-strong ensemble of stage and film/TV actors will bring to life this epic drama full of poignant characters and dark humour. Get ready to experience a thrilling theatrical reflection on good and evil that will set your heart ablaze.

Commissioned and produced by the Hong Kong Arts Festival