Hong Kong 2007

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Day 13 - August 10, 2007

Today is a red letter day.... opening night of Mosaic in Hong Kong. It has been a very interesting day. Please see Tim's journal entry.

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The Quest Wings Company Hong Kong Tour is definitely picking up energy. Residencies at the Lutheran School for the Deaf and the Boys and Girls Club Association  (BCGA) have gone extremely well. The greatest complaint from the students attending the BCGA residency was that it was too short.

Company and staff members have also been busy with interviews with various newspapers and radio stations. Cable TV is scheduled for tomorrow. Discussions are underway for the next phase of the exchange and for future collaborations.

However, the biggest energy of the last few days has come from Pabuk and Butterfly. Our hosts have told us that there is a Chinese saying to the effect that – Important people bring the rain and the wind. Janet Tam with Arts with the Disabilities Association Hong Kong (ADA) says, “You must be very important people!” You see Pabuk and Butterfly are two typhoons. The typhoon warning system has several levels (1 – 3 – 8 – 10). Pabuk visited us yesterday and has decided to return to cause havoc. Pabuk is the first typhoon of the season and it’s the first time in 3 years that Hong Kong has posted a level 8 warning. Pabuk caused serious damage in the Philippines and Taiwan.

The consequence of Pabuk is that we had to cancel this evening’s Hong Kong premiere of Mosaic. From 9:00 AM to 11:00 PM yesterday, we loaded into the Sheung Wan Civic Center, a lovely 500 seat, fully equipped, theatre. We had completed the lighting hang and focus. We wrote the light cues, set the sound levels. We wrote the light cues and had 2 tech runs of Mosaic. This morning, we worked scenes, had a marvelous catered luncheon and then our friends from ADA gave us the ominous news. “We may have to cancel this evening’s performance.” The ADA folks are theatre folks. We’re theatre folks. So, we live by the axiom that, “the show must go on.” The cast was visibly upset. They had worked so hard. The crew and the ADA staff had given their all. We pushed ahead hoping for the best. Unfortunately, a few minutes into our photo call and just prior to our dress rehearsal word came, “Pabuk is level 8. Everything must shut down.” At level 8, all transportation and business are to close down 2 hours after the announcement.

We completed the photo call. The actors changed into their street clothes and we reluctantly headed home enveloped in a sea of umbrellas. As we approached the subway, we saw a queue outside the entrance. We had no idea what was ahead of us. The Hong Kong subway system is extremely well planned and efficient. Some of the trains are deep below Hong Kong Harbor. The Sheung Wan station was one of those very deep stations. It took us a while to get to the bottom of the steps. We were confronted with a sea of humanity and an announcement that the subway had closed down some entrances because of high volume. Instead of three major entrances to the station, all of us had to squeeze through one block of entrances. With our ADA friends, we made a lucky group of 13. There was no way that we could all stay together. The push of the crowd pulled us apart and the long journey home was nothing any of us, Americans and Hong Kongers, had ever experienced before. Our group and thousands of other people stood shoulder-to-shoulder, back-to-back many feet under the ground. The mass of people overwhelmed the air conditioning. We stood. Suddenly we were shoved forward. We sweated. We tried to remain calm in a mass of sweating bodies.   Our trip to the Sheung Wan Civic Center is normally 20 minutes. Today, we arrived back at our hotel in about an hour and 45 minutes. Separated by waves and surges, we entered the lobby in 4 different groups over a 20-minute span - each group, with similar stressful stories.

We are safe. The inside of our windows are taped. We Americans, used to the nature of hurricanes are in a bit of a quandary. There is very little rain and very little wind. However, we have watched the news reports from the Philippines and know that Pabuk is nothing to mess with. We hope that we can be back at the theatre tomorrow for our two performances. If Pabuk hangs around or if Butterfly decides to joins us, we’re thinking of entertaining the guests at our hotel with a lobby performance.

We’re here as part of a US Department of State cultural exchange program. Hong Kong is in a subtropical climate and typhoons are part of the climate and the culture. Every day, we learn something new in Hong Kong.

The MTR was PACKED with people trying to get home during the typhoon! We were pretty unhappy about having to cancel our performance.	Crazy crowded...
Hot, crowded, a normally short ride took almost two hours

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