The meaning of home and the memories within explored in Hong Kong writer Chan Kwan-yee’s new play
- ‘This house is home to a lot of shared memories between my mother and I,’ says Chan Kwan-yee, 36, of the flat where she lived with her family for over 30 years
- Her attachment to that home in Wan Chai, Hong Kong, and to her mother and grandmother, are at the core of her latest play, being staged at Tai Kwun
Think about all the homes that you have grown up in. How many were there?
If you were raised in Hong Kong it is likely that you and your family moved home at least once, and as many as four times.
Yet, in a city where sky-high rents often force people to relocate, Chan Kwan-yee is an exception; the 36-year-old still spends time in the home in the district of Wan Chai on Hong Kong Island she first entered as a newborn and where spent more than 30 years of her life.
“I didn’t realise that some people move house without a care, especially Hong Kong people,” says Chan. “My home isn’t some romantic tenement building or village house, it’s just one of the flats in a building. But it has its history.”
Naturally, I thought about the house that I grew up in
Her attachment to her Wan Chai home – and the memories and relationships that are inevitably embedded within it – is the basis of her latest play, I will die in my home.