Heart of Coral

Hong Kong Arts Festival New Play Selection 2013
香港藝術節新劇本選 2013

Xiao Hong (1911–1942) was a contemporary of Eileen Chang and perhaps the most celebrated Chinese woman writer of the 1930s. She lived her short life with love, with freedom, and the land and its people always in her heart. Based on her life story, Heart of Coral is a reflection on Xiao’s tumultuous life, from her early life in Harbin to her solitary death in Hong Kong, where she completed her most renowned novel, Tales of Hulan River.

With librettist Yan Yu’s poetic verse, Helen Lai’s staging, and Chan Hing-yan’s original score, Heart of Coral, a lyrical testament to Xiao’s unfailing aspiration to love and liberty, is commissioned and produced by the Hong Kong Arts Festival.

蕭紅（1911–1942），二十多歲就以《生死場》揚名，被魯迅譽為具「女性的細緻」和「越軌的筆致」。蕭紅的小說剛柔並致、悲天憫人，而她的生命卻如越軌的火車，狂飆而過。從冰雪極北的哈爾濱離家出走，最後輾轉走到南方的香港，遺憾而終。她的一生是對女性自由、對愛情、對生命的無盡搏鬥，是一首戛然而止的未完成交響曲。

香港藝術節委約著名作曲家陳慶恩、編劇意珩及導演黎海寧創作室內歌劇《蕭紅》，以音樂譜出這位文壇才女的傳奇一生。