“East Wing West Wing” is a liberal education theatre series in the form of comedy or burlesque, with the aim to raise the public’s awareness of politics and different policies, so as to make Hong Kong politics more rational and diverse. “East Wing West Wing 14: When There Is No Police” evolves around the theme of the police and the disciplinary force. It enables one to get to know the various aspects of the police and the disciplinary force in a comic manner. What is the police force? In what way are the police trained? What are the responsibilities of the police? What do they need to learn? How about the history of the police force? How many kinds of police are there? What is a disciplinary force? What is the relationship between discipline and the rule of law? What are the differences between the disciplinary forces and other civil servants? What makes a good cop, and a bad cop? Why do the police worship Lord Guan Yu? What do they do: PC, CID, B Department (Organised Crime and Triad Bureau), and SDU (Special Duties Unit, also known as Flying Tigers)? What are the requirements for joining the police force? How do the rule of law and law enforcement work together? What’d happen to our society when there is no police?

Enlightening Theatre Unveils the World Created by the Mind
“As if having ice cream in the seething summer heat, the tranquility is beyond words.”－ Professor Ou Fan Leo Lee, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
“The show reveals a state of compatible ease between the mind and the world.”
– Performance Arts Review (Taiwan)
Light is symbolic of the Sakyamuni Buddha’s ultimate enlightenment. It was described as emanating from his entire body and shining in all directions. Upon enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree, the Buddha gave his first teachings which were recorded in the Hua-Yen Sūtra (the Avatamsaka Sūtra). In this Zuni performance, light is the key creative element, coming from multiple sources in real-time interaction with multimedia installation and live music. Based on the chapter “Practice of Purification” of the Sūtra, this performance focuses on daily practices for wisdom seekers to carry out mindfully in their daily lives at all times.
Original Text by Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh. Extracted from the book Cultivating the Mind of Love

“One cannot make architecture without studying the condition of life in the city.” Aldo Rossi

“One can say that the city itself is the collective memory of its people and like memory it is associated with objects and places. The city is the locus of this collective memory.”

Inspired by Italian architect Aldo Rossi’s book The Architecture of the City,
this performance revisits the seminal architecture theory from the 20th century
unearths the cultural locus of the urban city
and examines urban science.
Through images, music and the stage,
it poses a contrast with the present Hong Kong
exploring the experience of an alternative space.

“How does it feel to wander around cities? We walk, live, sit and sleep in the city as we see and listen. How do we interpret the city that we are living in?” The Architecture of the City is a seminal book on urban planning and design written by an Italian architect and architectural theorist Aldo Rossi in the 1960s. He argued that architecture itself is an interpretation of the city: architecture is the carrier of people’s life, history and the cultural trajectory of a city; the city is a manifestation of “collective memory”. Rossi also investigated the history of European cities’ development. When we understand this period of history, we can understand how Hong Kong, as a westernised city, has changed as well as will change. This play is based on the theories of Rossi’s The Architecture of the City. The brand new drama is created with elements of drama, music and imaging to pursue the “collective memory” of city and us.

Chanting can bring relief to anxiety, fear and worry, allowing oneself to calm and purify the mind; develop equanimity; and learn and practice the art of letting go. The Pentatonic Buddhist Chant, a Pure Land Buddhist practice, is done in five parts of different vocals and tempos, conveying the tranquility and sincerity of the chanters. Based on a text more than 1,200 years old passed down by Master Fazhao of the Tang Dynasty, the performance features chants rearranged by Master Kuan Pen of the 20th Century in his book Chamber of Scent and Light. Integrating the art of contemporary theatre and traditional Buddhist rituals, Buddhist Chants in Scent and Light explores the heritage and innovation of the art of Buddhist vocal practices.

Showing Lord Guan Yu from man to god, with the classic basic skills of Peking opera: singing, talking, acting and fighting, and traditional rituals interspersed with new media technology. Battle, killing, sacrifice, compassion, becoming a god, subduing evil spirits… Begins with the loyal and heroic act of Guan Yu crossing five passes and slaying six generals. With the crossing of five passes, the cleansing of the stage is achieved by getting rid of the ominous evil spirits. Hence, he becomes a demon slayer, warding off evil and keeping the world in peace.

“Two Kunqu actors, one on drum, one on gong, an empty stage – and that created all the sadness and melancholy of an era going towards the end…This is an alternative architecture drama.” — Liu Wai Tong (Hong Kong Writer)

“Kunqu’s professional demands merged with the beauty of Zuni’s stage art. It can be as perfect as that!” — Opera Preview

A Tale of the Forbidden City is an original Kunqu performance commissioned by Zuni in 2009 and was invited to “The 5th Chinese Kunqu Opera Art Festival” in Suzhou three years later. In 2017, the show returns to the stage for the fifth time.

Chongzhen Emperor, the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, meets the spirit of Kuai Xiang, the architect who designed the Forbidden City Palace more than 200 years ago. They sang as they strolled along the north-south central axis upon which the Forbidden City was built. They passed through the Meridian Gate, headed north and got out of the Forbidden City. The emperor climbed up Meishan (Coal Hill) and came to the last part of his life’s journey. That was also the end of the Ming Dynasty which lasted 300 years. Under the guide of the architect, Chongzhen reviewed the intention of building the world’s largest wooden-structure palace city. He sighed upon the fleeting changes between the material palace and the spiritual concept of home and country. The emperor eventually completed the last rites of his departure from home, from country, from his ancestors and gave offering to and bade farewell to the palace.

BAUHAUS Magic Flute is adapted from the opera by Mozart, The Magic Flute. Infusing elements of kids songs into the Mozart’s melody, adapted with Chinese and English lyrics and with animations, the new show introduces Bauhaus aesthetic while audience singing along with puppets. Starting from the basic geometric shapes and primary colours, then exploring the sense of scale and space, as well as feeling different moods brought by different textures, adults and kids together will learn architecture bit by bit. Adventure into Bauhaus world of art and stimulate children’s visual and auditory senses.