The Bucket | Can a smattering of art vanquish fate hung by a thread?

The Bucket
Can a smattering of art vanquish fate hung by a thread?

 
【HKRep】With tremendous acclaim since its premiere that won audiences’ laughter and tears, The Bucket has received numerous nominations and accolades. In the play’s 2025 edition, four sworn brothers embark on another journey with playwright Hui Jim and director Kingston Lo in an even more refined production where every word in the astute dialogue is prescient, ridiculing the very meaning of life. Through laughter, we question what it means to dream. Theatregoers who’ve missed earlier performances or are eager to relive these hilarious moments should seize this opportunity to ponder the meaning of dreaming and of art. From the Black Box to the Mainstage, The Bucket will also leave footprints in Foshan, Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou. Tickets for these upcoming touring performances are already on sale. The Bucket, written by Hui Jim and directed by Kingston Lo, features Poon Tai Ming, Ko Hon Man, Eddy Au Yeung and Trickle Choi. Performances in Hong Kong run from 13^th to 23^rd November at the Tuen Mun Town Hall Cultural Activities Hall. Because of strong advance sales, an extra show has been added on 13^th November at 8:15 p.m. Tickets are available now from URBTIX outlets.
 
The Bucket: During a “fake” renaissance era, four relatively accomplished “Westerners” become comrades. Though lost in their ways, they drift through life with a smattering of art. They then decide to emulate the ancients in swearing a blood oath: “We ask not the same year, month and day of birth; but wish to die on the same year, month and day.” When one of them dies on the spot, their oath becomes a curse… 
 
The 33^rd Hong Kong Drama Awards
※Best Original Script – Hui Jim
※Best Director (Comedy/Farce) – Kingston Lo
※Best Leading Actor (Comedy/Farce) – Poon Tai Ming (nominated)
  
The 15^th Hong Kong Theatre Libre
※Outstanding Performance
※Outstanding Playwright – Hui Jim
※Outstanding Director – Kingston Lo
※Outstanding Leading Actor – Eddy Au Yeung (nominated)
※Outstanding Set Design (nominated) 
  
IATC(HK) Critics Awards 2024
※Director of the Year – Kingston Lo
※Performance of the Year (nominated) 
※Script/Playwright of the Year: Hui Jim (nominated)
※Performer of the Year: Ko Hon Man (nominated) 
※Performer of the Year: Trickle Choi (nominated)]
※Scenography of the Year (nominated)
 
Playwright Hui Jim shares his thoughts: “Although we didn’t purposefully make revisions this time, while reviewing the text during rehearsals, we were able to relive the inspirations stemming from the very beginning of this project. This entire experience reminds me of what was on my mind then, instilling new ideas today. 
 
What is the spirit of The Bucket? It’s about protecting oneself—as in putting on a figurative helmet and experiencing that fine line between self-affirmation and self-denial. Under such circumstances, a person becomes fearless in revealing himself, even when facing the glaring criticism of others.”
 
Director Kingston Lo has the following to add: “This time, our production has gone through major changes. For me, this isn’t a re-run, but a new ‘revival’, veritably The Bucket 2.0. Returning to the rehearsal room, we had the chance to explore even more possibilities.
 
What is the spirit of The Bucket? The core idea in this play concerns knowing ‘when to give up’. But deciding the right time, and the extent of what to give up, is for the audience to gauge. I hope our public will find resonance.”
 
About Playwright  Hui Jim
 
A graduate majoring in acting from the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts, Hui Jim’s recent works include HKRep’s Vacant Possession and The Bucket, Chung Ying Theatre’s Marry Mummy in Daddy’s Shoes, Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts’ A Midsummer Night’s Drunk, and the workshop performance of Actors’ Family’s musical Pan Yu Lin.
 
Hui has won many awards in the Hong Kong theatre scene. The Bucket won Best Original Script (Comedy/Farce) at the 33^rd Hong Kong Drama Awards, Outstanding Playwright at the 15^th Hong Kong Theatre Libre, and was nominated by the IATC(HK) for Script/Playwright of the Year in 2024. Vacant Possession (HKRep) was nominated for Best Original Script (Comedy/Farce) at the 33^rd Hong Kong Drama Awards and Outstanding Playwright at the 16^th Hong Kong Theatre Libre and was also nominated by the IATC(HK) for Outstanding Playscript/Best Playwright of the Year in 2024. Hui Jim was the winner of IATC(HK)’s Best Actor in 2018 for his performance in Theatre Horizon’s The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui. He was also nominated as Outstanding Actor at the 9^th Hong Kong Theatre Libre for his performance in On and One Theatre Workshop’s Kassandra. At the 22^nd Hong Kong Drama Awards, he was nominated for Best Lyrics for the HKAPA’s production of The Scholar and the Executioner.
 
About Director  Kingston Lo
 
A freelance theatre professional working as playwright, director, theatre critic and librettist, Kingston Lo won Best Director at the 33^rd Hong Kong Drama Awards, Outstanding Director at the 15^th Hong Kong Theatre Libre and the IATC(HK) Director of the Year in 2024 for his work in HKRep’s The Bucket. 
 
In 2023, Theatre Formula’s Leave Him in the Dust, under his direction, was selected among the Outstanding Productions at the 32^nd Hong Kong Drama Awards. His script Century Egg and Pork Congee was selected among the outstanding scripts from Hong Kong as part of the Guangzhou-Hong Kong-Macao Theatre Exchange Script Writing Competition. In 2021, his A Ripple in Sound won Best Individual Performance (Director and Actor) at the 8^th Wuzhen Theatre Festival Emerging Theatre Artists’ Competition. 
 
Lo is currently a member of the On and On Theatre Workshop’s three-year “Table To-gather” residency. He was one of the co-founders of Theatre Formula, in which he focuses on directing.

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