Re-imaginings - or how imagination can be taken further afield
Chow Fan-fu
Art and imagination are inextricably intertwined: appreciators of art need imagination as much as their creators. It has even been suggested that the key to the dominance of humankind among living creatures is because we have the power of imagination, or the faculty to fantasize. The evolution of the 21st Century into an Age of Information Technology is one irrefutable example of how humankind can turn imagination and fantasy into reality. No wonder why some people maintain that the more we come into contact with art, the more our imaginative faculty can be stimulated, and we are on the way to a successful life.
Chinese mythology, including folktales such as The Eight Immortals’ Adventures, is an example of imagination per se. Two years ago, when the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra adapted the popular folklore into a musical theatre, it was the culmination of the creative powers of many artists in Hong Kong, a collective effort in re-imagining what is already imagined. In this forthcoming production of The Eight Immortals’ Adventures Prequel, it is an exercise to delve even further into the prowess of human imagination.
It is indeed an astute decision to follow on with a prequel rather than a sequel - not that a sequel generally does not do as well as the original or existing work, but because a prequel accords much more capacity for imaginative freedom and development. Furthermore, Prequel is designed as a programme for family entertainment, suitable for all ages, and this circumvents being in direct comparison or competition with the highly successful 2010 Adventures. However, for the creative and production talents, Prequel poses an even bigger challenge than before.
Apart from the mainstay performers in the HKCO itself, almost the entire creative team of Prequel is made up of new members. The only returnee from Adventures is composer Alfred Wong, who not only has to coordinate afresh with new colleagues, but also has to extract from the previous production the musical elements that are suitable for adaptation in the new performance to create a carnival atmosphere of festivities and enjoyment for the whole family. The task seems to call for more than just imagination. At the same time, the Prequel musical also includes vocal features, for which the experience and talent of Cantonese lyricist Chris Shum has been enlisted. This presents an additional demand on Alfred Wong to demonstrate his virtuosity in writing Cantonese songs. Prequel thus gives the HKCO musicians added latitude to underscore their extra-musical talents, and further extends the frontiers of their imagination.
The stories recounting the younger days of the Eight Immortals before they took their famous voyage across the East Sea are expected to be poignant, appropriate for the entire family and at the same time not to come across as didactic. These may seem like restrictive, but many artistic creations are subject to similar constraints - they all conform to a fundamental fabric of some description, necessitating re-imaginings of an earlier imaginative output. While this may seem like restrictive for the creative team, yet to many creative artists, this is also the motivating force that invigorates their artistic ingenuity. For the audience watching the show, their previous experience with The Eight Immortals’ Adventures becomes the frame of reference for The Eight Immortals’ Adventures Prequel, guiding and directing their imagination. One has to bear in mind though that while a structure may be circumscribed, imagination is boundless. Regardless of whether one is the creator or appreciator of art, one possesses the imaginative powers to break through any structure or framework. And this is precisely where the attraction of art itself lies. With this coming production, which arises from re-imaginings, the audience can look forward once again to being captivated by and treated to surprises beyond their imagination! 
