The all-male, all-incredible contemporary dance company 2Faced Dance has gone global. Their latest show What The Moon Saw has been turning heads on its recent run around the UK, and the booking agents in Hong Kong thought ‘yep, we’ll have a bit of that’.
It’s not the first time the Hereford-based company has added a chunk to its air miles. 2Faced have ran projects in India, performed at festivals in South America and, more frequently, at venues across Europe. But this is the first time the company they were taking a stage show to a country where they couldn’t at least guess at what they were ordering off the menu.
It’s a big deal as well. While Hong Kong has a thriving theatre scene, they were showcasing their talents at the heart of a continent which is currently emerging as a destination increasingly hungry for artistic and cultural performances – the timing could not be better.
Now they’re back on Herefordshire soil, we caught up with one the dancers - and the company’s rehearsal director - Louis Parker-Evans about life on tour, Asian audiences, and how you go about getting a theatre set 6,000 miles around the world.
To find out when you can see Moon this side of the world, and get info on their other shows, workshops, showcases and classes, check out 2Faced’s website here, and Facebook page here.
How are the Eastern audiences different to UK crowds?
LPE: Audience reaction was one of the bigger things that we were in the dark about until the actual performances.
Questions about how they'd engage with the show, would they be more or less reserved than Western audiences and would the humour/story translate through language and culture.
For the most part, we needn't have worried, it seems that wherever in the world you are, an adult pulling silly faces and falling over will always make children laugh out loud. Similar our performances here in the UK, each of our three audiences differed slightly. The first audience seemed to find every little aspect of Sam's portrayal of 7-year-old Jack hilarious and were in hysterics throughout, the second audience engaged much more vocally, calling out instructions and warnings along with the progression of the story and the third audience seemed on the edge of their seats, slightly quieter in terms of volume than the first but equally energised and reactive to the story arc of the show.
Best food spot you stopped at?
Exploring food culture is always one of the biggest highlights of international touring and Hong Kong was no exception, from hole-in-the-wall egg custard tarts to upmarket restaurants atop the famous Peak. HK did not disappoint.
I would have to say that my favourite place we ate was the night after our first performance, as always with touring, finding somewhere decent open past 11 pm was a struggle but after a while wandering around the amazing city we found a spot and ordered a feast.
The food was banging and we all tucked in, all except for one dish which was essentially a huge pile of fried chillis, with the occasional piece of chicken....that one got left.
How did you get that massive set across to Hong Kong?
We had our huge set re-built in Asia. We've had sets built abroad before and encountered numerous problems and so the lack of photographic updates of the set had our technicians panicking all the way up until first laying eyes on it. But the Hong Kong team did a fantastic job of rebuilding the set - it was exactly as per the plan and even after arriving and wanting to make some adjustments to the original plan they were incredibly accommodating and any job, big or small, was taken care of instantly.
If you’ve never seen Moon – what is the show?
What The Moon Saw is an incredible show aimed at children 3 - 7 and their families, telling the adventurous tale of a young boy on a number of magical adventures guided by the moon one night after he can't sleep. The show incorporates dance, circus and aerial hoop to wow and inspire whilst telling a heart-warming story. The theatre is transformed into Jack's bedroom and the audience are encouraged to come in pyjamas and get tucked up in the auditorium under blankets. What the Moon Saw will be performed in Hereford later in the year.
How does the show translate to non-English speakers?
The dialogue in What The Moon Saw is used circumstantially to reinforce some narrative points, however, the storytelling is first and foremost told through dance and this enables the show to be enjoyed by all no matter what language they speak.
I don't believe that there are any children in the world who can't relate to not wanting to go to bed when told to by their caregivers, or who can't empathise with the fear of what might be in their wardrobe or lurking under their beds at night!
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What’s the best thing about Hong Kong that people over here don’t know about?
I'd have to say that the best thing about HK that people don't know about is how easy it is to be so far away from the UK but to feel so comfortable.
There are plenty of places in Asia where I have felt like a fish out of water, not only not being able to speak a local language but also the customs and systems of a city can be really alienating. Hong Kong is one of the first truly multi-cultural cities I have visited, in a very different way to say London or San Francisco which are often described as multi-cultural.
Hong Kong really comes across as a melting pot of different corners of the world, each culture feeds in something unique to a collective way of living, so instead of having a Chinatown next to a Jewish neighbourhood that's beside a Muslim district as in a lot of cities, you have all of them living side by side contributing to a single way of life that feels very unique and also very exciting.
Not once did I feel disadvantaged by being a stranger in the city (admittedly because the majority of signage and population speak English), HK was a very exciting place to explore.
Where does HK rank in your list of places you’ve toured?
At least top 1.
Can you use Facebook over there?
YES! Hong Kong is not China, you can use Facebook, Whatsapp, Instagram as you can in the UK. I'm not an expert on the politics of Hong Kong and China, I had some very interesting conversations about how the two places are at the same time very different and also very connected. But handily you can use Facebook!
What’s the arts scene like in China?
Hong Kong is a very affluent place, there is a hell of a lot of money in that city and so the arts and performance work is well supported and funded. The theatres were incredible and the industry people over there seemed very invested in pushing the arts forward out to their audiences and to bringing companies in to showcase.
And how did the afterparty go down after your last show?
I'd have loved to say that there was a huge afterparty after the final performance, however after three solid days of shows and exploration, it was all a bit of a whirlwind.
The set was dropped and shipped out in record time, we packed our gear, had some beers on stage with the crew and hustled back to the hotel ready for our pick up the next morning, I did hear some rumours of some of the boys sneaking out to Macau, the Vegas of the East though........you'll have to ask them for the lowdown on that one!
