Programmes

Ontroerend Goed—Handle with Care

Belgian avant-garde theatre group Ontroerend Goed returns to Hong Kong with a unique production. This time, there are no actors—just a stage and a mysterious box.

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Sebastian Kaiser X HKAPA—The Drunkard

German theatre director and dramaturge Sebastian Kaiser will present his radical take on this classic of Hong Kong literature, also a major influence on Wong Kar-wai’s film 2046. This bold adaptation reinterprets 1960s Hong Kong through a stream-of-consciousness lens, telling the story of a writer adrift in a neon-lit city of indulgence. Embracing a “superpoor” concept, the production is both eco-conscious and visually inventive, stretching the audience’s expectations of the theatre.

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Ontroerend Goed—Handle with Care

Belgian avant-garde theatre group Ontroerend Goed returns to Hong Kong with a unique production. This time, there are no actors—just a stage and a mysterious box.

More Details

Sebastian Kaiser X HKAPA—The Drunkard

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The 54th HK Arts Festival ．Feature

2026.01.02

Sustainable Theatre Breaking Geographical and Physical Boundaries

Text / Elma Tang , Eugene Chan

Belgian theatre group Ontroerend Goed's latest production, Handle with Care, is scheduled to tour more than 15 countries, and it's showing how sustainable theatre shows can travel the globe using minimal resources. In this theatre experience, audience members take the place of performers by following instructions contained in a mysterious box—without the need for actors or technicians to be physically present.

The group is renowned for its groundbreaking content and innovative productions, and many of its immersive experiences involve high levels of audience participation. Samir Veen, who is responsible for the concept and creation of Handle with Care, believes that theatre is an impactful medium, though its reach is often limited to the audience present at each performance. Handle with Care can reach a wide audience with a "relatively small footprint, both financially and ecologically", and by putting audience members on stage instead of performers, Ontroerend Goed enables participants to co-create a shared theatrical experience that feels uniquely their own. "I think that with Handle with Care we explore the limits of what the theatre can be. The fact that no performers, directors or dramaturge. It emphasises the need for the audience, which is one of the themes of the show."

Meanwhile, German director Sebastian Kaiser takes a different approach, pursuing a sustainable form of theatre. He has been commissioned by the Hong Kong Arts Festival to adapt Hong Kong writer Liu Yichang's stream-of-consciousness novel The Drunkard into a play of the same name. Unlike the glamorous sets seen at many theatre shows, Kaiser's initial concept envisions an empty stage with the set gradually taking shape throughout the performance. His plan calls for recycled materials to be used to create the sets, props and costumes, and film projections will also be explored as a visual element on stage. He also emphasised the mobility of this form, which allows the play to be performed anywhere, breaking the boundaries of the theatre.

Ontroerend Goed—Handle with Care

Date: 27 Feb- 29 Mar, 2026

Venue: The Jockey Club Studio Theatre, Fringe Club

Details: Ontroerend-Goed-Handle-with-Care

Sebastian Kaiser X HKAPA—The Drunkard

Date: 28 Feb- 8 Mar, 2026

Venue: Studio Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre

Details: https://www.hk.artsfestival.org/en/programme/Sebastian-Kaiser-X-HKAPA-The-Drunkard