When the curtain went up, a 'mouse' scurried across the stage and nibbled on some discarded bread. Then it found its way to a dirty beach littered with empty plastic bags, bits of wood and all sorts of other trash.
This offensive sight was made worse by actors moving the rubbish around to spoil the scene even more.
Welcome to Hong Kong everybody.
This was how the 14 members of the Fringe Mime Lab inaugurated the 1996 Keep Hong Kong Clean Campaign.
The campaign has tried everything to coax Hong Kongers to keep the territory clean for 24 years. This year, it will try to spread the message through drama.
Director Owen Lee Yin-kwai, 32, said the play - Hong Kong Bakery - helped to dramatise the territory's image as a dirty place and also give instructions on how to keep the environment free of smelly garbage.
'What we have in the mime-drama is what is happening in Hong Kong: restaurant owners not keeping their places hygienic, people dumping trash in alleys, and litter everywhere.' 'We hope drama will help the audience understand the importance of keeping our environment clean,' said Joseph Chan Yuek-sut, chairman of the Keep Hong Kong Clean Steering Campaign.