Mother's Day Conversation with James Mark: Hamlet's Mom Gertrude

I had a Barbara Walters moment today. Not sure if it was because it was Mother's Day, but 73-year-old theatre director James Mark (he's sort of the godfather of the Hong Kong theatre scene) got a bit teary-eyed as he talked about a mother's love as seen in Hamlet. I was interviewing Mark because he has just presented Sword of Vengeance, a Putonghua adaptation of Hamlet set in the Five Kingdoms era of Chinese history in Stratford-upon-Avon to celebrate Shakespeare's 445th birthday last month.

Mark mentioned that he had been a social worker with Caritas for 17 years. So for my last question, I asked him: "What does Hamlet, a play about revenge, have to say about love and compassion?"

Mark started beaming, as if I "got" him. "I don't emphasize revenge in Hamlet. I don't need to stress revenge, because love and passion create enough conflict as it is." Essentially, Mark's take on Hamlet is that the tragedy stems from Gertrude's conflicting love for her husband Claudius and her son Hamlet.

"It's Gertrude's love and passion, concern and consideration that is most moving. Imagine Gertrude is in a loveless marriage to Hamlet's father. And then there's Claudius, the brother-in-law, who has been nothing but kind, gentle, sympathetic and considerate towards her. So when Claudius kills Hamlet's father and becomes King, Gertrude has a choice. Does she give up her life as Queen and her son's future as King to begrudge a man who's been nothing but caring towards her or does he marry him and secure her son's future? But of course, Hamlet does not understand this and only sees his mother as betraying his father and therefore him. Gertrude loves both her husband Claudius and her son. In my production, I make sure Gertrude sees Claudius pouring the poison in the wine, because I want the audience to see that she drinks it to save her son. Hamlet is not about good or evil, right or wrong. It's about all the conflict that is created by love. Without love, there would be no feelings of regret, loss or pain. That's what makes it so tragic." And that's when Mark reached for a napkin to dab his eyes dry.

I didn't have time (I was already 45 minutes late to brunch!), but I would have argued that the conflict, rather than being created by love, was created by Hamlet's inability to have compassion for his mother. And I would have loved to ask Mark about his mother.

Cut & Paste Digital Design Tournment Tickets Giveaway!

Little Cream Life is giving away a PAIR of tickets to next Friday's Cut & Paste in Hong Kong! For a chance to win, simply email your dream list of the world's 26 coolest travel destinations from A-Z (one destination per alphabet) to editor@littlecreambook.com by NOON on Wednesday, 13 May 2009. We will notify the winner of the lucky draw by e-mail, so make sure you give us the correct e-mail address.

Cut & Paste, the international digital design tournament organized, is happening next Friday, 15 May 2009. The event is like a battle of the DJs, except instead of DJs, spectators get to watch a host of 2D, 3D and Motion designers duke it out live in a party atmosphere. This is the third year that Cut & Paste has been held in Hong Kong. Winners from each of the 16 competition cities around the world will fly to New York City for the Global Championship on 20 June 2009.

Cut&Paste Digital Design Tournament 2007 from Cut&Paste on Vimeo.

When: Friday, 15 May 2009, 7-11pm with afterparty following competition
Where: Hong Kong Exhibition Centre, China Resources Building, 26 Harbour Road, Wan Chai
If you don't win, you can still go: $80 for students, $100 in advance from HK Ticketing (T: 31 288 288) or $120 at the door.

Pigeon Feast at Shatin's Lung Wah Hotel

In the four years I lived in Tai Po, I had never visited Lung Wah Hotel; I hadn't even heard of it. I was disappointed when Yucca de Lac was torn down. But the food and service at Yucca de Lac was never worth the visit. Rather, it was the poorly-maintained grounds, it's refusal to change, that gave Yucca de Lac its al fresco dining charm. That and imagining what it must have been like in its glory days when my parents and grandparents frequented the place.


So when I arrived at the Lung Wah Hotel and saw its dated premises and old-school, chaotic service, I was delighted by the kitchiness of the whole place. According to the website, it really used to be a hotel. It would be a dream project to restore the place to its former glory. I think it would make a great boutique retreat, both for locals as well as visitors looking to experience a different side of Hong Kong. The place has so much character that you take the shouting, screaming waiters who don't care that your food still hasn't arrived an hour after you've placed your order as part of the Lung Wah's charm. It was as though the waiters were arguing with each other and guests just to put on a show, like the noodle-making performances at Peking Garden. And then there's the peacock (would be nicer if it were free to wander the grounds as opposed to being locked up in a cage). Where else in Hong Kong can one find a peacock?


The pigeon really is the house specialty; it's the only dish that arrives within 15 minutes of placing the order. Everything else arrives at the kitchen and wait staff's leisure, and the portions are more on the small side (though we were a group of 10). It's places like Lung Wah that distinguish Hong Kong's dining scene, not the safe choices of our Michelin-starred restaurants. There should be more places like this, and not just in the New Territories.