Macau | Capitol Theatre to hold first show since renewal this weekend

Macau (MNA) – Local theatre group Dream Theatre Association to hold theatre play at Capitol Theatre, the first production to be held in the refurbished historical theatre at Rua Pedro Nolasco da Silva, shuttered since 1997.

The play – named The Perfect Time and with dialogues only in Cantonese – was created to celebrate the association’s 10th anniversary and will be held between September 21 and 23 at 8:00 pm, having already been held this Friday and continuing for the weekend.

Ticket price range between MOP160 (US$20) and MOP180 and can be purchased online, with special indications on how to get to the theatre on the group’s Facebook page.

The story focuses on two main characters with a passion for theatre and the obstacles they face while trying to fulfil their artistic dreams.

The play was funded by the Macao Foundation and the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC).

Dream Theatre was also the association responsible for four historical performance walking tours through the Coloane and Lai Chi Wun villages, with the same group of actors to take part in the show at Capitol.

 

One of the first cinemas to have opened in Macau, Capitol opened for business on April 13 of 1931 with a premiere of German director Ernst Lubitsch movie The Love Parade.

In 1987 the interior of the theatre building was rebuilt into a shopping centre but with the space closing again in 1997.

Local property investor and developer of Capitol Theatre, William Kuan Vai Lam, decided to refurbish the property’s theatre and cinema with the opening having been delayed several times since 2017, when it was first slated to re-open.

The delays were mainly caused by a dispute between Empresa Desenvolvimento CC Teatro Capitol – the company responsible for the former cinema renewal project – and food vendors occupying the ground floor of the premises, which dragged on for years.

The property has a 380-seat cinema on the fourth and highest floor, and around 100-plus shop spaces in the property, of which most are currently vacant.

The  expenses for renovating the facilities were previously said to have reached some MOP10 million, with the businessman having indicated they could reach as high as MOP30 million

Kuan also announced that he had plans to covert the facilities into a local performance arts space and a venue for local cultural creative businesses and young entrepreneurs.