“What if we dig out the rotten seeds, does that mean we can stop the flowering of evil?” Tsoi asks, referring to one of the themes she explored while adapting the script to the Chinese stage.

Tsoi also delves into the rigid and submissive culture of Japan and the effect it has on its people.

Tsoi says her version – presented by local theatre group Haverland – will be very different from the novel and its 2010 film adaptation, Into the White Night, which was directed by Yoshihiro Fukagawa, because the play focuses less on characterisation and more on the circumstances (such as the children’s upbringing) that shape them.

Tsoi plays the suspect’s daughter, Yuhiko, alongside stage veteran Lee Chun-chow (Detective Sasagaki) and Anson Lam Pui-lim (Ryoji, the pawnbroker’s son).

Actor Lam, who has lived in Japan for almost a decade, understands how the Japanese are influenced by their culture.

“The Japanese word ‘wa’ means solidarity and that is of paramount importance in their culture,” he says.

“People stick rigidly to the principle of hierarchy. There is no room for individualism but only obedience.”

However, Lam notes, there is a fine line between rigid social mores and suppression.

If people feel too suffocated by such strictures, violent feelings may boil over and the consequences could be devastating, as demonstrated in White Night.

HK Cultural Centre Studio Theatre, TST. May 31and June 2, 8pm; June 1, 3pm; HK$120- HK$180. Tel: 2734 9009