The story revolves around a woman in her early thirties in the city, starting from quitting her job, going abroad, unexpectedly encountering love, getting married and having children. Despite the seemingly smooth trajectory of her life, unsettling changes quietly emerge.
In a gender-stereotyped society, the wife becomes a career woman after marriage, while the husband becomes a double loser, and a huge crisis lurks in their relationship. A marriage with mismatched steps will eventually lead to disintegration, or even an irreparable tragedy…
“Girls and Boys” was written by the famous British playwright Dennis Kelly. It premiered in the UK in 2018 as a solo performance by a female actor, and has since been translated into different languages for performances in multiple countries. This time, the local theater group “One Old Rice Ball” has purchased the Cantonese version rights of the script, with Jen Lam as the lead actress, Edward Lam as the director, and Wong Wing Si as the translator, bringing this powerful work to Hong Kong!
This is the sixth solo performance by local stage actress Lam Chun Chun. As the only protagonist on stage, what challenges does she face in such a complex narrative structure this time? And facing the differences in language and cultural context in “translated plays,” how will director Lam Yik Wah and translator Wong Wing see bring us a down-to-earth, resonant performance for Hong Kong people?
Referring to the character setting in the script, Jen jokingly said that she is “unfortunately similar” to the female lead in terms of personality. In addition to both being in their thirties and having a son and a daughter, these subtle coincidences in background, the most unexpected thing for her is that she and the character both have a kind of “ambition.”
The protagonist in the play is not satisfied with the status quo, always hoping to achieve something to affirm themselves. Just like Jen’s decision to resign eight or nine years ago, start “a group of old rice”, and begin the journey of stage drama. After doing something for so many years, she admitted that she had felt “peaked” since last year. In the bottleneck of confusion and eager for change, she happened to come across the script of “GIRLS AND BOYS”, making her feel that she must do it.
Previous performances were mostly self-written, directed, and acted one-person shows. This time, the performance is focused on being an actor, which presents a different kind of challenge for her. One of them is to completely trust the script itself and fully immerse herself in the performance. She shared, “The dialogues in the script are very emotional and complex. As an actor, it’s difficult not to read them emotionally, but the result comes off as very fake.”
Edward suggested that I perform in the most natural state, even reciting lines while doing other things during rehearsals to show the female lead’s detachment. I have never tried this approach in so many years, and I felt magical at that moment. It turns out that a story can be presented in this way.” During the performance, Jen didn’t seem like she was acting, but rather being herself, yet this ease actually attracted the audience to listen to her story.
Jen described the aftermath of this play as very strong, its impact on her not just in the moment, but gradually seeping in point by point. This work made her reflect on her own personality flaws, see the blind spots in male-female relationships, and she hopes that the audience entering the scene can maintain a long-lasting relationship with the work, slowly feeling the lingering charm it leaves behind.
The refreshing trial performance by the actors on stage can be attributed to the behind-the-scenes efforts of the work’s contributors – director Lam Yik Wah and translator Wong Wing Sze. This is their fifth collaboration, with each person performing their respective roles, showing a significant level of trust and understanding between them. On the day of the pre-show sharing session, the director arranged a segment for the audience to read out the lines translated by Wong Wing Sze, providing everyone with a fresh perspective on the performance.
In order to stay true to the original work and the emotional expressions of the characters, the script is filled with a lot of Cantonese vulgar language, which resonates with the audience and makes them burst into laughter.
Wong Wing-sze shared with us: “The difficulty of translating this work lies in the fact that Dennis Kelly is a playwright who is very skilled with words. The original script is written very efficiently, without any ‘waste’. When we describe a script in this way, it means that there is nothing unnecessary in it. There may be some loss in the translation work, if I translate it into Cantonese and there is ‘waste’, it is my shortcoming, so this translation is a huge project.” Translating a script not only requires staying true to the original ideas, but also localizing the language, even swear words must be translated carefully, allowing the audience to immerse themselves in it, and this is also the highlight of the Cantonese version.
She describes writing scripts as paving the way, relying on creators to explore and lay out new paths. Working with Edward in the past was like the process of paving a road, full of unknowns ahead, and the chance to collide with different possibilities. However, this translation work is about capturing the essence and rewriting it in the context familiar to Hong Kong people, which is no less challenging than writing a whole new play.
Edward responded, “In fact, the director is the same. Maybe everyone thinks that translating a play director is easy, but the difficult part is that she (Wong Wing-sze) has to translate based on the original work, and I have to interpret it. This is a double skill.” Edward does not want to simply “cook the bowl” of the original work onto the Hong Kong stage, but wants to present this story in a unique, new mode different from the past.
Therefore, he does not want the actors to treat the audience as a “confidant,” as this would make the audience more inclined to sympathize with her experiences, thus narrowing their thinking space. He hopes that this version can present different aspects of the matter from multiple perspectives, allowing the audience to gather clues from the entire space and ponder whether what the female protagonist said is absolutely true…
“Girls and Boys” will be officially performed at the Shouson Theatre, Hong Kong Arts Centre from September 2 to 11. Don’t miss it!
Ticket link: “Girls and Boys”
