Review: Chinese Lesson highlights dilemmas faced by teens today
This classroom drama about a substitute language teacher and his six remedial final year students is an unrestrained portrayal of youth and their take on the future of our city, cultural confrontations and authority
An original local play that delves into the psyche of this city’s millennial generation is particularly timely and relevant in post-Occupy Hong Kong.
Written and directed by Tang Chi-kin, Chinese Lesson explores the issues and dilemmas faced by our youth today and tries to resolve some of them through interpretations and the understanding of The Analects, a collection of sayings and ideas attributed primarily to Confucius.
On the eve of their Diploma of Secondary Education Examination, six secondary school students are brought together by either bad grades or slack attitude or, in one case, strong determination to score top marks. They all attend the same remedial class for Chinese language and history taught by a substitute standing in for another teacher recently dismissed for allegedly sexually harassing a female student.
The play opens with Yin (played by Lai Lok-hang) collecting signatures for a petition that calls for the reinstatement of the accused teacher. It soon becomes apparent that each student is trying to come to terms with his or her own circumstances: the idealistic Yin acting on his frustration over what he perceives as social injustice - and get arrested; Sau (Law Ka-yan) accepting her doomed lesbian relationship; Ling (Wong Ching-man) letting go of her unrequited love for Yin; and Hau (Poon Chun-ho), a migrant student struggling to integrate into society.
Through the guidance of Mr Chu (Chu Pak-him), they ponder what the ancient sages would have done when confronted with challenges and adversities in life.