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Satire's timely return

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The Cantonese satire 1841 has taken on special meaning in 1997.

It will be staged next week - only the second time since it was written - at the Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts (APA).

Playwright Anthony Chan Kam-kuen explained that 1841 was the year the British first declared their ownership of Hong Kong and hence 1997 - the year the territory returns to Chinese rule - is the perfect time to perform the play again.

1841 was first staged by the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre in 1985, a year after the Sino- British Joint Declaration which paved the way for the handover.

'It has been a dream of mine to put the play on the stage again and I can't think of a better time to do that than 1997,' Chan said.

The play chronicles the trials and tribulations of a Chinese merchant and his wily neighbour during what is a turbulent era.

The writer has altered the original script to reflect the changes that have taken place since 1985.

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