4 Show, Theatre No! McAulay Studio, Hong Kong Arts Centre January 25 At a time when most theatre performances are drenched with ironic statements, tedious melodrama or thoughtless cacophony - and sometimes all of those - it is soothing to find a collective who manage to see through the superficiality and get back to simplicity. Theatre No! are on a mission to rediscover the beauty of austerity.
However, the stark minimalism of 4 Show may leave mainstream theatre-goers - those who feed upon tear-jerking musicals with laugh-a-minute gags and overtly saccharine endings - gasping with disbelief.
Never mind a plot, there was not even dialogue. It was an hour made up of only symbolic movements and objects being moved around.
Dismiss this as self-indulgence at your peril. Obvious emotions and understandable gestures are not the point - what Theatre No! want to deliver are powerful images.
Casting aside messages and stories, the antics left room for the audience to unleash their imagination.
These were surreal actions - a man setting fire to a book, another man force-feeding himself before throwing up, a projection of a face braving a rain of mahjong pieces.
