Renowned for his achievements in breaking conventional boundaries, playwright Paul Poon crossed the historical border again in another adaptation, this time based on the Qing history. Following the success of Mr. Wu, My Dear and The Sword Man, Poon walks the audience through the imperial struggle between historical characters such as An Dehai, Cixi, Tongzhi and Ding Baozhen within the framework of realistic story-telling and a writing style that urges you to look beyond the face value. Joining forces for the first time with resident director Roy Szeto, whose recent works include Le Dieu du carnage and Shed Skin, they are striking up an inquisitive dialogue about the paradoxical nature of power, lust and the absurd irony of history.

The story revolves around a theatre director and his new production. On a bare stage, the director is casting for chorus roles in a new play. For this chance of a lifetime, a group of dancers perform what they have worked on for the chorus line. It is the one opportunity to do what they have always dreamed of. In the last round of the audition, the 17 dancers are told to tell stories of the sweetness and sorrow in their lives.

This content is only available in Chinese

The story starts in an elegant home. Nora seems to live in a perfect world with beautiful children and her adoring husband. But hidden beneath the surface is a life of self-deception, lies and delusion, and when Nora is forced to face the truth she is shocked to discover how radically her life has to change.

In classical Chinese literature, characters only find a way to redress injustice in the afterlife. Why should this be so? In this absorbing tale of a secular city shifting between tradition and modern life, memory and actuality, a resurrected Monkey King encounters seven incarnations of the innocent Lee Wai-leung. Together, they lodge an appeal to Heaven.

O You Heavenly Creatures! is a parable that brings together the Monkey King of Journey to the West fame, Lee Wai-leung the tragic heroine from a story in Chinese opera, and her seven modern-day incarnations–female workers who jumped from the building of Foxconn–and explores times past and present, lives as the characters lived within their timeframes, and the ethical and cultural conundrums behind them all. The social outcry of modern experimental theatre is merged with Chinese traditional theatre aesthetics. Like all parables, the quotable quote is “For every one of us, there is a Foxconn, a factory in which we live. The difference is whether you are aware of the character you play.”

A boys’ school, founded in 1862 as the first government school during the colonial days, pioneered secular education in Hong Kong merging Chinese and Western cultures. It shaped modern Chinese history when its graduates led the 1911 Revolution; and it witnessed the past 150 years of Hong Kong history. Now it faces a threat of being swallowed by the developers.

It is the Queen’s College in Causeway Bay. A Q.C. boy, reflecting on his school’s past unlocks a secret, learns a valuable lesson, and finds the way forward for Hongkongers.

“1587, A Year of No Significance” adapted from the book by Ray Huang. Rerun for eight times across the strait gaining widespread critical acclaim:

“This is a dramatic work with a simple structure and sophisticated content.” – Performing Arts Reviews (Taiwan)

“A rich cautionary experimental theatre.” – Tsui Hark

“Accomplishment in all acting, script and directing.” – Tsim Tak Lung, Hong Kong Economic Journal

It is an adaptation from the novel of the same title by Ray Huang. The script is the closest to the original novel one may find. Six Solos from six characters of the Ming Court, revealing the history of the years under Wanli. Newly arranged Kunqu opera with wusheng excerpts, interspersed with classic excerpts from The Peony Pavillion revealing macro-historical perspective through narrative of small anecdotes. A look at the rise and fall of China of several hundred years through a bland year of no significance in Ming Dynasty.

This content is only available in Chinese

The Divine Comedy of Capitalism is a theatre burlesque inspired by Dante’s epic poem, The Divine Comedy in a framework of liberal studies. Halfway along the journey of her life, lost in a dark wood and unable to find the right way, our heroine iRon Lady, an icon in our free market economy, chanced upon the gate of hell ideologically. Fortunately, she was rescued by Save Jobs, the wizard of cool gadgets and technology in the realm of consumerism. Under the guidance of the master, the iRon Lady upgraded her gizmo to iRon Nano, iRon 4S, and finally became the New iRon Lady, as they took their course from Capitalism to Communism. The scenery and colours along the way changed from gold in shiny glitters to green of the dollar bill, and eventually into blood and vermillion red. Is Master Save Jobs leading iRon Lady from hell to heaven, or casting her into the inferno abyss from heaven? Or, the worst is yet to come? Is there another hell beyond this one?

“…It was only a matter of some years. And the many things that happened in those years made them felt as if they have passaged through the cycle of life experiencing all the pain and bliss.” – Eileen Chang

Shanghai in the 1930’s.

Eighteen Springs is a tragedy of an ill-fated romance. Shijun and Shuhui, are good friends. Shijun works in a factory where he meets Manjing, an innocent young woman, and they fall in love. However, Shijun’s parents had planned for him to marry wealthy Cuizhi, who instead becomes romantically attracted to Shuhui.

Minjing’s elder sister Manlu lost her fiancé Yujin, the only man she had ever loved due to his mother’s opposition. Later, she became a nightclub hostess to support her family, and met a rich client Hongcai whom she married.

Millions of people cross paths every day, and in the vast ocean of time these seven men and women encountered each other and met their fate. Seven relationships entangled in a span of fourteen years…For young lovers, a few years might seem a lifetime, unlike middle aged people, to whom a decade felt like only a moment.

As transient as images of a magic lantern, as fleeting as a shooting star is our existence on earth. Yet, we cross paths at this very spot and at this very moment in our journey of life, and our eyes meet. I gently ask, “You are here as well?”