“From Stage to Street”: Alice Theatre Laboratory’s Kafkaesque Aesthetics and Experiments in Democratizing the Creative Process

Inspired by Kafka’s works, the Alice Theatre Laboratory, a renowned theatre company in Hong Kong, premiered "Seven Boxes Possessed of Kafka" in 2008. The production fuses the Kafkaesque physicality with the essence of Japanese Butoh, resulting in a distinctive aesthetic style that reflects the company's perceptions of Hong Kong and its theatre. This paper selects and discusses key productions of the company that are influenced or informed by Kafka, both thematically and stylistically. Examples include "Fear & Misery of the Third Reich" (2008), "The Hong Kong Three Sisters" (2017), "The Visit" (2022), in addition to the aforementioned "Seven Boxes Possessed of Kafka" (2008).

By chronicling the company’s essential works in the past 15 years, we showcase how this experimental theatre company presents its unique view on contemporary Hong Kong society’s alienation, absurdity, and fantasy all at once, which stands out among its peers. In addition, our paper tries to answer how Mr. Andrew Chan, the director, organically collaborates with his creative team made up of devising performers, scenographers, and composers, to recreate the world of Kafkaesque tragic-comedy in a very local context.