This year has seen a resurgence of all things 80s, from shoulder pads on the catwalk, synth pop in the charts and TV show remakes on the big screen. In Hong Kong, the revival has even reached one theatre group's annual pantomime.
Pantomime is a form of musical comedy traditionally performed at Christmas or New Year. Established in Britain, this mix of song, dance, girls-dressed-as-boys, slapstick and audience participation is performed all over the world.
Local theatre group Hong Kong Players is currently staging its annual panto, which this year is the classic tale Aladdin. Although the English-language performance tends to attract mainly native-speaking audiences, this year local schools got in on the action, too. The troupe worked with Young Post, running a competition to find a design for the front cover of the programme.
The winning design was drawn by 10-year-old Kelly Tsang from Fresh Fish Traders School in Tai Kok Tsui. While many of the entries were based on existing versions of the story, Kelly's picture is wholly original. It features the title character dreaming of his princess, and rubbing the magic lamp which summons a genie to make his wishes come true.
Kelly, who appears with her artwork on the front cover, won two pairs of tickets to see her first panto, and her design will be seen by the hundreds of audience members watching the show.
Hong Kong Players has been staging a traditional panto since 1961. This year, the group has given the classic storyline a fashionable 80s twist, with everything from costumes, hairstyles, jokes and songs pulled from that decade.
'The show contains my favourite 80s jukebox moments,' says director and co-writer Stephen Bolton, who has previously directed three of the group's festive performances and counts this as his seventh panto co-writing credit. 'It brings back some of my best high school memories.'
