REFRAME THEATRE
Playreading
Reframed
10 - 12 . 10 . 2025
The Theatre, East Kowloon Cultural Centre, Hong Kong
In Cantonese
The performance unfolds in a rotating format, with each show featuring two plays, followed by an engaging dialogue between guest speakers and the creative team, unveiling the philosophy of “reconstruction” behind the texts.
"Nine Scenarios of Lost in Love"
Written and Directed by Yan Pat To
Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep
This train is bound for an unknown destination, perhaps pausing at the station of chance encounters or gliding past the platform of passionate love.
Please hold tight to your ticket—it is proof of your heartbeat.
Next stop: Love at First Sight. The doors on the left will open; prepare to plunge into the abyss of romance.
Mind the platform gap, for even the closest lovers harbor divides.
Next stop: Cooling-Off Period. Please allow unsuitable partners to disembark first.
This train has reached its final station: Happy Singlehood. All passengers, please take your memories and regrets with you as you alight.
A 21st-century echo of Roland Barthes’ A Lover’s Discourse, Nine Scenarios of Lost in Love by Pat To Yan delicately traces the myriad landscapes of urban love. Spanning the fervent passion of youth at 20 to the quiet reflection of old age at 70, nine stories of diverse ages, orientations, and emotional states intertwine, unveiling the multifaceted ecology of love—where ardor, struggle, vulnerability, and profundity coexist. Amid the city’s hum, each relationship whispers, articulating the collective subconscious that resonates with us all.
"When Chimpanzees Start Telling Stories"
Written by Catherine Tsui^ and directed by Chu Kai Hin
“Once upon a time”—Once upon a time, three little pigs decided to build their own homes.
“One day”—One day, Little Red Riding Hood’s mother sent her to visit her ailing grandmother.
“Suddenly”—The little pig built a sturdy brick house. Suddenly, a knock came at the door.
“Unexpectedly”—Little Red Riding Hood arrived at a cottage in the forest. Unexpectedly, there was no sight of her grandmother. So, she sought a hunter’s help.
“And they lived happily ever after”—The little pig offered the pair at the door to the Big Bad Wolf in exchange for lasting peace. And they lived happily ever after.
One cage, four chimpanzees, trained day after day in the art of storytelling.
Inspired by the revolutionary evolutionary biology experiment extending Kafka’s A Report to an Academy and its study of the ape Red Peter, this work may upend our understanding.
Humans once deemed themselves the supreme beings of the animal kingdom, only to discover a mere sliver of genetic difference from chimpanzees. Scientists tirelessly train these primates, seeking the breakthrough in evolution’s gap. Unexpectedly, the key lies in the ability to tell stories. Through imagination, humans weave shared narratives, giving rise to concepts like “money,” “religion,” and “nation.” As chimpanzees tirelessly practice and master this skill, they become more human than humans themselves, and from then on…
“Die Gewehre der Frau Carrar”
Curated by Mo Hiu Shan^,
Devised by Chan Ka Yan, Lau Ka Ying, Leung Kin Chung, Mo Hiu Shan^, Wong Ho Tin, Yip Shu Yan
(You will be compelled to join)
A mind-bending feast certified by 99.9% of locals—
Anchored in German playwright Bertolt Brecht’s classic play, this work plunges you into the turmoil of the Spanish Civil War. The story revolves around the fisherwoman Carrar and her family. Clinging to pacifism, she believes it will shield her two sons from the flames of Franco’s fascist coup, convinced that keeping them from the fight against Franco and fascism will protect them from the violence of the Spanish Civil War. Yet, a single event drives her to take up arms herself…
A bodhi leaf,
Three kilograms of flour,
A gust of sand from across the shore—
These sketch the eternal ritual of war’s desolation.
Where has humanity’s absolute free will gone?