[category]
[title]
The Three Musketeers might be one of the most famous stories ever told, but you’ve certainly never seen it quite like this. A new Franco-Hong Kong collaboration is about to take a 105-year-old cinematic masterpiece out of the archives and throw it onto a live stage, complete with a Chinese-style storyteller, a feminist second act, and a score played by students of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA).
The production, titled Alexandre Dumas’ Three Musketeers: When East Meets West, is a stage revival of the 1921 silent film Les Trois Mousquetaires directed by Henri Diamant-Berger. Reimagining the original 12-episode cinematic serial, the show shakes the dust off the French classic for a modern audience with a heavy dose of Eastern philosophy.
For those who might be unfamiliar, the original story is the ultimate 17th-century bromance, following the hot-headed D’Artagnan as he joins forces with the legendary musketeers Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. Together, they navigate a web of royal intrigue, powerful enemies, romance, and backstabbing to protect the honour of the French crown. The upcoming production also has its own powerhouse trio behind the scenes, with local director Stephen Tang Shu Wing, acclaimed French composer Béatrice Thiriet, and filmmaker Jérôme Diamant-Berger – the grandson of the original 1921 director – teaming up for this cross-cultural project.
Tailored specifically for Hong Kong, the play brings in a traditional Chinese-style storyteller to draw direct parallels between the musketeers’ famous “One for all, all for one” mantra and the brotherhood found in the Chinese classic Water Margin. This 2026 version also adds a contemporary edge to the stage, where the second act breaks away from the boys’ club to give the floor to the women of the story, lending a voice to their struggles for autonomy through a modern feminist lens with monologues from Madame Bonacieux, Queen Anne, and Milady de Winter.
The show is also a showcase for the next generation of talents, as students from the HKAPA schools of music, drama, and film and television work alongside the production team to blend European heritage with contemporary Eastern stage practices through performance, music, filmmaking, and stagecraft.
You can catch Alexandre Dumas’ Three Musketeers: When East Meets West for two nights only on May 2 at 8pm and May 3 at 3pm at the Hong Kong Jockey Club Amphitheatre. Tickets are priced at $180, $280, and $380, and are available now via Cityline.
Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out Hong Kong newsletter for the best of the city, straight to your inbox