Arts Preview: Immoral Hungarian trilogy has relevance for local audiences

THE PROOF
The Nonsensemakers

Hungarian writer Ágota Kristóf's The Notebook trilogy is about twin brothers surviving the final days of the second world war, and the early years under communist rule.

On the surface, the story hardly seems relevant to contemporary Hong Kong. But stage director Rensen Chan Man-kong, a member of arts group The Nonsensemakers, thinks that its universal themes of love, conflict and destruction will pique the interest of audiences here. He also wants to introduce local theatregoers to Kristóf's writing style, which he admires for its stark contrasts.

The Nonsensemakers staged a Cantonese version of The Notebook, the first part of the trilogy, in 2012. This year's The Proof takes up the story, and shows the brothers going their separate ways. One stays in his war-torn hometown to help the underprivileged, while the other leaves the country.

"I am not trying to emphasise the physical distance between them," says Chan. "I want to create a feeling of time and space. That way, the audience will find the play relevant, even though they are viewing life through the eyes of somebody else.

"But it is that distance that allows them to reflect on the damage of war from different perspectives," Chan adds. "Hong Kong has been fortunate to have avoided war since the Japanese occupation. But the world is a global village, and wars affect us economically and emotionally.

"What's more, war and conflict are found everywhere in our society, our workplace and our family," he says.

The twins in the story are immoral, but they are also naive. The subject matter is mature, but Kristóf's use of language is almost childlike.

Chan says the use of masks helps solve the problem of having too few actors to play all the parts. The masks have been made into helmets which have realistic synthetic hair and finer details for the new shows.

Chan notes that the work is powerful, especially a scene in which one of the twins offers to help a girl kill her child. It highlights the brutality of war, and Chan says that is the message he wants to convey with the drama.

Chan plans to stage final part of the trilogy next year.

vanessa.yung@scmp.com

Yuen Long Theatre Auditorium, 9 Yuen Long Tai Yuk Road, New Territories. In Cantonese. August 30-31, 8pm; September 1, 3pm, HK$120-HK$200 Urbtix. Inquiries: 6859 9790