The news events of the past week - particularly pro-Beijingers' repeated statements that pro-democracy Hongkongers are not 'true patriots' - make pop star Karen Mok Man-wai's theatre debut even more courageous.

It is a brave step for a pop star and model to do live theatre. It is braver still for her to star in a highly political production at such a sensitive time.

In the first scene, Mok plays herself in modern-day Hong Kong. She's being mobbed by fans and people trying to offer her work. One woman hands Mok a script of a politically hard-hitting play, and Mok's slick Hong Kong agent tries to pull it away.

'Don't even think about doing a politically sensitive play,' she is told. 'Think about the China market. You want to sell CDs there, don't you? You want advertising and movie deals there, don't you?'

Nonetheless, Mok reads the script and becomes immersed in its story. It is about celebrated Chinese writer Eileen Chang, who fled from the communists in 1952.

This play asks the hypothetical question of what would have happened if Chang had stayed in Shanghai throughout the Cultural Revolution.

Film director Pan Ho-cheung proves he can excel at theatre, too. He took local writer Chip Tsao's original script and created a play with some great cinematic touches - for example, a 5-metre high screen showing footage of the Cultural Revolution, Mao shouting down a microphone, crowds waving the little red book and victims being tortured. This backdrop has a huge emotional impact, especially when accompanied by Peter Kam's soaring original score.

Recycled also benefits from clever staging, particularly a circular moving walkway that allows actors to look as if they are literally floating across the stage.

In one scene, Mok playing Chang stands alone at a podium, nervously giving a speech she doesn't mean.

On the rotating stage is an endless parade of black cardboard people - symbolising China's many yes-men - in a scene that causes a dizzying, almost nauseating effect.

Recycled is not a two-hour political lecture. There are moments of comic relief, for example when a government tribunal is dressed up like a cheesy TV game show, complete with bad music, a loud MC and showgirls with fake breasts.

There are also personal stories, like a failed romance, and Chang's touching friendship with fellow woman writer Su Qing (played by the up-and-coming Flora So).

Recycled is a political 'what if' story - a perfect analogy for where Hong Kong is right now.