BY AKI SHEN, BENITA ZHANG, CHRISTINA LI, KATHY ZHANG
After Italy and Australia, Nicole Garbellini has been acting in Hong Kong for 10 years. She built her own company, Aurora Theatre, in 2011, engaging in promoting English shows in Hong Kong.
“Acting in Hong Kong is not seen as a full-time job, not seen as a lifestyle. It seems as a hobby,” Garbellini said.
Garbellini fell in love with drama when she was 15. “It was a hobby, but then I realized how much I learnt, so I just continued,” Garbellini said.
By chance, she received professional training in Teatro Delle Albe, a theater company in Italy, by playing Helena in Midsummer Night’s Dream, back in 2001. “This was my first professional show performed all around Italy,” she added.
She named her company as Aurora, because she likes the princess Aurora from the movie Sleeping Beauty. “That used to be my name when I was in university, I love the name Aurora,” she said.
By now, Aurora Theatre has played 12 shows. Figaro is one of them. By localizing it in Hong Kong with modern times setting, it was welcomed by both foreigners and locals, according to Garbellini.
“Figaro was particularly successful, because it got really good views,” she said, “And we want to make our circles bigger and bigger.”
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Benita Zhang 