The Naked Eyes Hong Kong Repertory Theatre City Hall Theatre March 4 The ingredients for a bombastic theatrical epic were all there. The length - slightly less than three hours - and an imposing set - a quasi-surrealist, semi-Gothic interpretation of a crumbling rural mansion. It was all that was needed for the warfare that was offered in a piece about one of the most provocative issues in traditional Chinese society: the heirarchy of the family and its disintegration.
If The Naked Eyes had been done by most mainstream directors - including many of those within the Repertory itself - it would have been a straightforward play delivering an emotional roller coaster with grandiloquence.
Having Ho Ying-fung on board, however, meant none of the populism that has plagued Repertory productions for the past few years.
Instead, there were Ho's trademark aesthetics - the surrealist, non-literal gothic gloom he worked on with his own Theatre Fanatico.
The Naked Eyes became a relatively subtle look at how the human race has slowly lost the ability to communicate, even within families.
The story revolves around a day in the Wang family house. The tribe has gathered to celebrate the birthday of ailing patriarch Wang Wuxi, who reacts by vanishing for the day.