Review: NOT A SHOW ABOUT HONG KONG at New Diorama Theatre 21-22 July 2022 Ed Fringe preview

 ‘From the poignant to the bizarre to the somewhat baffling’ ★★★

The press release for “Not a show about Hong Kong” describes it as a “visually stunning and richly symbolic dance-theatre spectacular”. Quite a claim.

It started well enough. As the show began, the standard instructions you hear at a theatre like “no photography permitted” morphed into increasingly authoritarian directives leaving the audience in no doubt we were entering a world where every aspect of public and private life is controlled by an oppressive regime.

The hyperbole of the press release was matched by the energy of the performers who took us backwards in time from modern day Hong Kong, through the transfer of the territory from British Rule to China in the 1990s, back to the seizure of Hong Kong by the British in the 19^th century after the Opium Wars. The tale was told through a mixture of mime, movement, dance, speech and the obligatory screaming that seems de rigueur in experimental theatre.

What followed was a series of vignettes which ranged from the poignant – the dance of a gay couple drawn to each other but pulled apart by the strictures of the state - through to the bizarre – a woman coquettishly eating a jar of marmite as performers jerked and twitched in the throes of opium addiction – through to the somewhat baffling – a woman with her head covered by a belly dancing shimmy belt being teased by the other performers in a game of “polo” (which appeared to be a version of blind man’s buff) while a cord was wound round the space in ever decreasing circles – presumably to depict the people of Hong Kong blindly going about their lives while the state placed more and restrictions on them.

On the 25^th anniversary of the transfer of Hong Kong back to China, “Not a show about Hong Kong” had the makings of an important piece. The political situation meant that even the artists’ names given in this review are pseudonyms, which the company made clear was to protect their identity.  

As someone who only has a superficial knowledge of the history of Hong Kong, I understood that the point of the show was not facts but the feelings that history engendered in the people of Hong Kong. However, the show delivered a series of impressions that, for all the screaming, left me cold.

I wondered whether I felt this way because I am not of Hong Kong heritage, but the muted applause at the end of the show coupled with a quick scan of the faces of the mostly East Asian audience told me I was not the only one who was bemused.

While not “visually stunning” it was certainly visually interesting and kudos to the sound designer who created an intriguing soundscape. The performers were alive with energy, which kept the audience’s attention through the more bizarre moments.

If this show was for the benefit of the artists, who were all visibly moved by the end, then it was a success. If the point was to deepen the understanding of the audience, sadly it proved a missed opportunity.

NOT A SHOW ABOUT HONG KONG

New Diorama Theatre 21-22 July 2022

Ed Fringe 4-28 August 2022

https://underbellyedinburgh.co.uk/events/event/this-is-not-a-show-about-hong-kong

Performers: La La Leung, Jo Jo Lin, Ma Ma Ta, and Gu Gu Sun

Director: Max Percy

Producer: Natalie Chan

Costume design: Rimu

Sound design: Shar

Reviewer: Srabani Sen

Srabani is a theatre actress and playwright. As an actress she has performed at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse (The Globe), the Arcola, Southwark Playhouse, The Pleasance and numerous fringe theatres, in a range of roles from Shakespeare to plays by new and emerging writers. She has written several short and full length plays. Her play Vijaya was shortlisted for the Sultan Padamsee Playwrights Award in Mumbai.