Reviewed: May 26

This Hong Kong Repertory Theatre season opener consisted of excerpts from three pieces by Chinese playwright Cao Yu. According to the programme notes, it gave artistic director Fredric Mao Chun-fai a chance to put a new spin on classics Wilderness, a fusion of western theatrical and Chinese operatic traditions, Peking Man, performed in English, and Sunrise, set in 1970s Hong Kong.

How Mao chose to interpret Cao's works (at least in form) was daring, but not as interesting as the way he portrayed the female characters, all trapped in situations from which they wanted to escape but couldn't (or wouldn't).

The excerpt from Wilderness was rich, with the manipulative mother-in-law Jiao (Qin Kefan) persuading Hua Jinzi (Pang Hang-ying), whom she and her dead husband wronged, to leave town for fear of revenge. Each woman tries to outwit the other as their survival depends on the demise of their rival. Qin was excellent, but could have injected her character with more venom.

The least compelling of the three was Peking Man, in which Xie Ruizhen (Rosa Maria Velasco), who has just divorced her young husband and is about to abort their child, urges her aunt, Sufan (Lynn Yau), to abandon her duties and pursue freedom and happiness. Like her character, Yau's delivery was old-fashioned and her acting contrived.

Sunrise was the longest and most complete of the pieces, guest starring Amy Wu (Mao's wife) as singer-actress Lulu Chan Pak-lu. Her character is torn between spiritual peace and material desires, but Wu failed to give the role the emotional depth it requires. It's a serious piece but was further spoiled by Sun Wai-keung, who played his role as a professor too much for laughs.