Chinese Hamlet Costumes Revealed

Stage production The Chinese Hamlet <王子復仇記> opens soon and the press were invited to the dress rehearsal today, where cast members including Steven Ma (馬浚偉), Sonija Kwok (郭羨妮), Dexter Yeung (楊天經), Susan Tse (謝雪心) and Michael Tse (謝天華) revealed their costumes for the drama.

Steven said that this was the first time he had put on his full costume and found it rather strange. With the opening night looming, he said that he is very nervous and he has been watching the recordings of his rehearsals every night and not sleeping until 5am. Asked if he is worried about looking rough after not getting enough sleep, he smiled that he can cover it with his make-up. He also revealed that there is a chance of the show going on tour in China next year, so he hopes that he can have a part in that project too.

To accentuate his features, Steven has had to have extra eye make-up applied and a shadow added to make his nose look taller. He added that his former school will be bringing 200 students and staff to support him.

In preparation for a new TVB series, Steven will be having his hair shaved tomorrow. This will be the third time that he has lost his hair for a series, but he is not worried about this thinning his hair. In fact, he said that he feels his hair seems to grow back more densely after having it shaved off.

Sonija said that her stage make-up is very thick and her costume is very heavy. She said that working on rehearsals in the theatre and also for the TVB anniversary show has been hard work of late and she is feeling quite tired. However, she is very happy that her fans are buying tickets for this production and to see her performance. It has been two years since she took part in an ancient costume drama production, so she said it has been hard adapting to the classical language in the lines. She added that the director had complained at first about her gestures being too unladylike, so she had to learn to take small steps and make lotus hand gestures. Sonija laughed that after changing back into modern day clothes, she had to think hard not to continue with the classical hand movements.

The Chinese Hamlet opens at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre on 22 November and runs until 25 November

Credit: Batgwa, asianfanatics.net