THE UNBEARABLE TWAIN (in Cantonese), Cultural Centre Studio Theatre, July 5 When Theatre Ensemble bounded on stage 21/2 years ago, they were already being hailed as one of the most innovative drama groups in the territory for their eclectic mixture of situational comedy and improvisation, as well as their dramatic elements.
With The Unbearable Twain, the group have outdone themselves in a tale about widespread corruption of the new world.
The first act opens with two hooded figures in the foreground and a disembodied voice castigating a couple of cockroaches for fouling up the place and laying eggs everywhere.
In a few minutes, we find out it is 'Detective Virtuous' (Lo Man-kit), who is scared to death of cockroaches, filth and the dark.
He has been on a 7,000-year quest to capture two renegades Dai-leung (Jim Chim) and Siu-leung (Olivia Yan). The names mean Big Virtue and Small Virtue respectively but put them together and they become chaos and corruption, a witty play on words.
The duo slip out of the detective's grip again and again as the chase takes them from Stone Age to modern day, where they have become a couple leading a cult which preaches the 'virtues' of greed, corruption and selfishness.