This Is Not A Show About Hong Kong @ Underbelly Cowgate
This Is Not A Show About Hong Kong lays bare the disturbing realities of life in a surveillance state – a vital and groundbreaking piece of work
The context for Max Percy + Friends' This Is Not A Show About Hong Kong begins early when we are told in the queue that photography and recording are strictly prohibited to protect the safety of the performers. The performance space is sparsely decorated – the main features are the sound of a ticking clock and a projected image. The projection screen occasionally shows information about Hong Kong and the National Security Bill, but one of this production's real innovations is in the use of the screen for varied storytelling functions, from shadow puppetry to animation.
Using an arresting combination of movement, sound, and physical theatre, the company strings together a series of connected sketches about living – or trying to live – in Hong Kong. The vignettes are surreal, tense, and abstract, and it is up to the audience to piece together the significance of each story. As the show progresses, it focuses more clearly on the after-effects of British imperialism in Hong Kong. At one point, one of the cast members seductively spoons Marmite into her mouth with her fingers while trying to hide her growing disgust.
One of the recurring elements across the vignettes is a high level of perceived risk – clattering plates, smashed wine glasses, and bare-footed actors coexist at the show's most frenetic points. These moments of heightened tension unsettle the viewer and give the show a raw edge. It makes the situation feel real – or, rather, it drives home the point that, for millions, it is real.
This Is Not A Show About Hong Kong lays bare the disturbing realities – emotional and physical, as well as political – of living in a surveillance state. It is a vital and groundbreaking piece of work, and it raises the question of how the global North is to engage in the aftermath of its own crimes. This Is Not A Show About Hong Kong asks us to consider safety as a critical tenet of freedom – it holds a mirror up to imperialism, framing it not as a crime of the past, but as a feature of our present.
This Is Not A Show About Hong Kong, Underbelly Cowgate (Big Belly), until 28 Aug (not 15), 2pm, £11-13