The Dagger Society

The Dagger Society (part of the China Arts Festival) The Shanghai Opera Theatre Society and the Shanghai Song & Dance Ensemble Grand Theatre, Cultural Centre, June 29 On the 10th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1959, the dance drama Xiaodaohui, or The Dagger Society, was premiered by the Shanghai Opera House.

It went on to become one of the most popular of the nation's many patriotic theatre pieces.

Staging it in Hong Kong on the first anniversary of the departure of the British and the return of sovereignty to the motherland is certainly not a subtle gesture. Based on a historical incident, the dance drama tells the story of a small group of rebels called the Dagger Society, an offshoot of the famous Taiping Rebellion in the mid-19th century.

They capture Shanghai, but come under siege by the combined forces of the Qing and British armies (the latter on the scene as a result of the first Opium War a decade earlier).

As the good guys valiantly face their tragic end, a red sun rises to light the sky amid heavenly voices: their eventual victory a century later is thus foretold.

If one can peer through the thick political coating, the show is in fact quite interesting and deserves some notice.