THE sky's the limit when it comes to dreams - that seems to be the message behind a new Cantonese production, The Rise and Rise of Daniel Rocket.
The Rise is about a boy who dreams about flying and his strong determination to turn his fantasy into a reality despite opposition from friends and teachers.
Defiant Daniel Rocket's determination is strengthened by the belief that Alice, the girl he fancies, loves him. He designs a pair of wings and flies off one night to fetch a star for his beloved.
He succeeds and becomes famous. Twenty years later, he returns home a celebrity envied by his counterparts, but only to find that Alice has already been married to somebody else.
Daniel Rocket is more than a story of childhood dreams and puppy love, according to director and academy lecturer-in-charge (directing) Anthony Chan Kam-kuen, who adapted the drama from Peter Parnell's work.
'It is a moving tale about the joys and pains of a dream pursued. The story is one of courage and the price one has to pay for it,' said Chan, a prolific playwright whose work, Nuwa Mends the Sky , was awarded the Outstanding Original Script prize by the Council for the Performing Arts in 1992. Chan was honoured as the Playwright of the Year by the Hong Kong Artists' Guild in 1991.