From century-old silent classic to modern stage: China and France reimagine Three Musketeers on May 2

Hong Kong

2026.04.20 19:15

The stage play The Three Musketeers will be performed on May 2 and 3. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)

Alliance Française de Hong Kong, in collaboration with The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, has announced the presentation of Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers: When East Meets West, a groundbreaking stage adaptation of the 1921 silent film masterpiece The Three Musketeers. Two public performances will take place on May 2 and 3, 2026, at the Hong Kong Jockey Club Amphitheatre at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.

Originally a 12-episode television series directed by French filmmaker Henri Diamant-Berger, the work has now been adapted by the legendary Hong Kong director, Tang Shu-wing, former Head of the school of drama at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, has collaborated with French avant-garde artists—including renowned French composer Béatrice Thiriet, who composed the original score, and film producer Jérôme Diamant-Berger, the grandson of the original 1921 director—to reimagine this classic, transforming the century-old masterpiece into a breathtaking live stage experience.

The Three Musketeers, 1921. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)

A still from The Three Musketeers (1921). (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)

Designed specifically for Hong Kong audiences, this production skillfully blends Western Chivalry with Eastern Heroism. The production innovatively incorporates the style of traditional Chinese storytellers, developing a dual narrative that parallels the Three Musketeers' motto of "all for one, one for all" with the brotherly bonds depicted in the classic Chinese novel Water Margin. Through this cross-cultural interpretation, the work delves deeply into the universal pursuit of justice, contrasting Western Romanticized Individualistic heroism with Eastern Collective Loyalty.

Additionally, this series reinterprets historical figures from a modern Feminist perspective, reimagining their stories and redefining them as the protagonists of their own narratives.