The Hong Kong Youth Arts Foundation (YAF) has been a darling of corporate sponsors since it was formed 20 years ago. It has staged productions of popular musicals such as Bugsy Malone, Fame and Footloose. But this year's main stage show hasn't attracted a single sponsor, and it's not too difficult to see why.
Spring Awakening, a controversial play about the tumult of teenage sexuality by German playwright Frank Wedekind, was banned when it was first staged in 1892. Its themes of sexual abuse, abortion, homosexuality, suicide and masturbation didn't sit well with audiences well into the 20th century.
It has since been reinvented as an alternative rock musical and is being staged this month by the YAF even though some of the subjects are still taboo in Hong Kong more than 100 years after it was written.
So why has the foundation, which relies on corporate sponsors to fund programmes involving 800,000 children in art, drama, workshops and other events throughout the year, made such a controversial choice for its annual flagship musical?
'Over the past three years, we feel we've matured,' says YAF founder and director Lindsey McAlister. 'So two years ago, we did Sweeney Todd, and last year we did Rent. We didn't want to go back to anything too 'tweeny'. Schools wouldn't touch Spring Awakening with a barge pole, and that was one reason we felt it would be a good thing to do.'
Some may find it depressing. It includes scenes of teenage pregnancy, abortion and a boy who shoots himself because of the cruelty of his father and teachers. But it's a musical that many teenagers will identify with.