The director and stars of Dear Victoria talk to Ben Sin about the good old days.
 

The official motto of Trinity Theatre, according to their website, is: “to bring stories and ideas that touch the thoughts and senses of Hongkongers.” According to longtime stage veteran Ma Chi-ho they just try to tell stories that bring back memories of old Hong Kong. Their studio in the industrial area of To Kwa Wan certainly reflects this. Vintage Hong Kong photos and film posters adorn the walls near the entrance, an old school TV and radio are stacked in one corner and rusty bicycles are parked in another. Everything feels classic Hong Kong, except for one giant David Bowie poster. “That isn’t mine,” says Ma, who founded the theatre group in 1995 and writes and directs every play. “A musician friend who stays here put that on the wall. I’m more of a Cantopop kind of guy.”

Indeed, Trinity Theatre’s most successful play to date is Singalong, which tells the tale of a group of twenty-something Cantopop lovers. It starred Charlene Choi and Kary Ng (of Cantopop groups Twins and Cookies respectively), and ran for multiple sold out performances last year.

For his 2010 production Dear Victoria, Ma is working with yet another (former) Cantopop star, Miki Yeung. “Well, I don’t find pop stars to act in my plays for the sake of finding a pop star, they have to be able to act as well,” says Ma. “Miki is an experienced actress and fits the story.”

Dear Victoria is a story of contrast. “The play centres on a boy and girl who meet as children and carry out an on-and-off relationship throughout their life into their 40s,” Ma explains. “But it is not a love story, it’s a story of Hong Kong.”

Yeung, who first broke into the local entertainment industry as part of Cookies, agrees. “Yes, my character likes the boy in the story but we never could love,” she says. “Changes in Hong Kong keep us apart.”

Ma uses the Victoria Harbour as a symbol that divides the characters, albeit in an ironic way. “One person lives on Hong Kong island and the other lives in Kowloon, although the harbour becomes smaller and smaller over the years due to land reclamation, their distance grows further and further,” he says.

Acting opposite Yeung in the male lead is German Cheung, a veteran stage performer who studied at the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts and has worked with Trinity Theatre on numerous occasions. For him, Dear Victoria is a story tackling social issues that will hit home with all Hongkongers. “Throughout the play, the turning points in the relationship between our characters coincide with real life Hong Kong events,” he says. “For example, when my character marries someone else in the story, it’s set during the peak of SARS.”

Another key point in the play takes place during the destruction of the old Star Ferry in 2006. “Bad things happen to the characters during that time,” says Ma with a look of dread, probably because the director himself abhorred the demolition. “I put my feelings into my stories all the time,” Ma says matter-of-factly. “I understand that the government wants to make progress and build our economy, but not at the expense of tearing down everything else. I believe that there are many memories and sentiments to old buildings and sites that should be left intact. We need some character in Hong Kong.” As Ma continues, his voice grows more concerned. “Hong Kong is so property and consumer-driven,” he says. “What about art, heritage, and culture?”

Ma concedes that the younger generation may not find as much relevance in the story, which spans from the 1970s to the present day. “The current generation of teenagers and twenty-somethings may not have the same sentiment toward the harbour and the ferry that we older generations do,” says Ma, who is in his mid-40s.

But the young starlet of the play says Dear Victoria made her more interested in the old harbour, even though she was not born then. “The harbour back then seemed so wide and open,” says 25-year-old Yeung. “It gets smaller and smaller today, it’s sad.”

Yeung says acting on stage, something almost entirely new to her (she had a bit part in a stage play back in 2002), helped her absorb the story in ways that acting on the big or small screen couldn’t. “To me, acting for movies or television is a one-way experience. I act, then later on people watch,” she explains. “Whereas on stage, I feel that it becomes a two-way experience because the audience is right there and I can sense their mood.” It’s a sad story, she says. “Two people clearly like each other but due to life and other obstacles, they can’t be together. I’ve experienced something similar before, so this is a story that touches me.”

So will the boy and girl end up together in the end? The director is keeping mum. “You’ve got to check out the play and see,” he says with a smirk.

Dear Victoria is performed in Cantonese, at Sha Tin Town Hall on Sat 8, Sun 9 & May 15; tickets: 2734 9009, www.urbtix.hk.