The Unthinkable Drama Festival 2022

The play IN/OUT: 99% Understanding, scheduled to be performed on 12 August and 13 August, has been regretfully cancelled.  Another play Hemispherical Red and Black will be staged as scheduled. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused. 

"At any given time, we eagerly await our audience; whether we are speaking or silent, performing on stage or not, even if we are asleep, it is the same. And who is our audience? The best audience, actually, is oneself."

The Unthinkable Drama Festival 2022, conceptualised and produced by the School of Drama, will stage two works by the School's directing student and an alumnus respectively: IN/OUT: 99% Understanding is a local production written by Peng Jing, an alumna of the Master's degree majoring in playwriting, which explores the ambiguity in language and romance; Hemispherical Red and Black is the work of Peruvian-born Japanese playwright Yudai Kamisato, which deals with issues of self-reflection and self-identity in post-catastrophic times. Cast members are acting students and graduates of the School. Directors and actors are also taking part in stage design and production to enhance their knowledge of theatrical production.

The Festival's debut edition last year featured three alternating works. This year, two plays will be staged at every performance (IN/OUT: 99% Understanding will be performed before intermission; Hemispherical Red and Black will be performed after intermission). By showing two stylistically different works side by side, the School hopes to create a unique theatrical experience. Artistic Director of the Festival, Roy Szeto, says, 'Two plays – one soft and feminine, one virile. We hope the audience will achieve some sort of reconciliation after watching both performances in one sitting.'

Artistic Director / Scenographer: Roy Szeto
Dramaturg: Frank Lee 
Project Manager: Fong Ho-yin

IN/OUT: 99% Understanding

A story about love, communication, and language. 
About a man and a woman. 
A relationship not just between him and her, but also between you and me. 
If language is like clothes we put on to disguise ourselves, can it really convey our genuine thoughts to others?
When the other already understands 99%, would you pursue the remaining 1%?
What if the person in question is the one whom you love, would that make a difference?
And if the communication remains ineffective, are we headed only for dispute and separation?
Do you see other possibilities? 

Playwright: Peng Jing
Director: Chu Kai-hin
Cast: Li Hon-tin, Tse Wing-yan, Lui Cheuk-hei, Wong Hoi-man

Hemispherical Red and Black

A bloated belly, growling and rumbling. Pfffft.
In a post-apocalyptic world, how can one find new fodders needed for survival?
A pure-bred Japanese ox holding its breath, Pfffft, gets hacked into two by the blade of the era;
A foreign bull bulldozing and farting all over, Pfffft, then knocks up and produces a crossbred;
A hybrid calf, disdaining its ancestors' fart, glances left and right, Pfffft. Ironically, it too let out a fart.
In a new era filled with mystical fogs of farts, what are we going to do?
…Pffft. Nothing can beat the relief of farting.
Just one more fart to end them all. Pfffft.

Playwright: Yudai Kamisato
Director: Wong Long-yin
Cast: Tang Wing-hong, Siu Chun-pong, To Yim-shan, Cheung Chun-man

Drama in Cantonese. Productions contain coarse language, sensitive content, and violent scenes, suitable for audience aged 12 or above.