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A touring drama aims to show students that true love, aside from the strong emotions, also involves a responsibilities.

Chung Ying Theatre's one-hour production, Love!?, will tour 26 secondary schools beginning next month,  with four young actors presenting  four different opinions on love.

The plot may not be very dramatic, but the topic is familiar to teenagers.

Dan and Annie are lovers who have  different views  about love. They sell their own artworks in a studio together with close friend Elaine.

Problems arise when a  customer, a charming young man named Chris, falls in love with Annie.

Faced with a dilemma, she has to come to terms with her beliefs about love.

The drama does not provide a judgment of what is right or wrong, but allows the audience room for imagination.

'We are not trying to convey a strict guideline of what is 'correct' love,' explains  Edmond Lo Chi-sun, a director of the play.

'But we want to tell the audience  what will happen when love involves only affection without any commitment and responsibilities.'

Lo laments that love is a momentary thing to many teenagers, which makes them break up easily.

'Of course, there is no perfect answer to what love should be, but some young people simply do not give their relationships enough thought,' Lo says.

'They just want to enjoy themselves  for the moment without long-term commitment.'

Shirley Tsoi Wan-wa, who plays Annie,  points out that her character  puts a lot of emphasis on feelings so she changes her mind easily.

'She seeks romance  but does not realise that responsibilities come with a relationship,' Tsoi says.

'She fails to consider the feelings of her boyfriend; she only focuses on her own feelings. This can hurt a relationship.'

Co-director Estella Wong Yuen-ping says many schools lack a proper love education programme.

Teachers are embarrassed to talk about love  with their students, leaving them helpless in handling the ups and downs of relationships, Wong says.

Some teachers  even asked to read the script beforehand to check for 'inappropriate' scenes.

'We are not encouraging students to date, but we all know that it is common among them,' she says.

'It does not help to prevent or stop them from dating. What we can do is to help them understand the true meaning of dating and the responsibilities involved.'

After the show, the directors and actors will hold a 30-minute discussion with the audience.

The students will be asked how they would respond to  a similar situation in real life.

Love!? is targeted at students in Form Three or above. Schools have to pay $1,200 for each show. For details, visit www.chungying.com/chi-html/season/love.php



True love