3 things to do before I die…

Pichead: “I will invite all my friends and the people I care for to a dinner I will cook. I will hug them one by one and tell them ‘I love you, you are beautiful.’ Also I will settle my mum’s living arrangements. And I’ll make a trip to the Maldives because I feel so happy and peaceful at heart when I see a sea as clear as crystal. I’ve been doing the first two by treasuring all my friends and taking care of my mum well, but the Maldives… it’s just too expensive at the moment!” (laughs)

Tony: “A trip to the Greek islands, Prague and Edinburgh with my loved one, a dinner with all my friends and I will buy a nice flat for my mum. And I will set up my own foundation like what King Sir (local veteran dramatist Chung King Fai) has done to help theatre development or children in need. Also I’d like to do a great performance with Pichead.” (“We’ve been doing that already!” Pichead butts in, laughing.)

words rachel mok

Cicadas, the bugs that make that annoying zinging while we try to sleep through mid-summer nights, have insignificant tragic lives. Females lay their eggs on trees, the eggs hatch and become nymphs which drop to the ground where they hang around for three to five years – up to 17 years for some species – before they moult and transform into the creature that bothers us on a summer’s night. Then while male cicadas are busy disturbing our sleep, females will be continuing the cycle. Perhaps they know they are born to die – cicadas have an average life of two weeks in the world.

And why are we suddenly talking about insects? Because a simple question posed about cicadas inspired actors Pichead and Tony Wong to create one of the segments of their ‘life and death’ theatrical collage 2 Come to Pass. They wondered what they would do if they could choose between staying a nymph forever or moulting for a two-week glimpse of the wonders of the world? And so the actors became a pair of nymphs eagerly awaiting their transformation, who start talking and become friends. But then as the time approaches and they realize what moulting means, anticipation changes to dread and neither wishes to go through with the rebirth any longer – why would they when death follows on so closely?

The actors are staging a re-run of the show after a successful season last September. At first they were uncertain how audiences would respond to the insect playlet but Pichead says people identified well with the nymphs and the dialogue set them thinking about the meaning of their lives. “Some said they wouldn’t come out to the world, as they would have found the most important thing in life already – a friend,” he says.

Of course it’s hypothetical – we don’t have a choice about birth and death – but Pichead says the playlet, rather than trying to give any life lessons (which the duo don’t feel is their job anyway), asks about the whys and wherefores of existence – and shares some of the actors’ views. Pichead was ominously given a new understanding of life and death during rehearsals for the first run: “A friend of mine just passed out and went into a state of shock during a rehearsal. I think his heart had stopped and I used all the methods I shouldn’t have known at all like artificial respiration and CPR to save him,” he recalls. “It really reminded me there is only a thin line between life and death.”

Pichead and Tony’s most recent success was the show Two of Us which spurred them to create something new for the upcoming 2 Come to Pass – a monologue for each actor. They chose their own subjects – Tony has based a tell-and-dance performance on an exploration of suicide.
“I will hurt myself by being lifted on the end of a rope but feel good about it,” jokes the actor, who now also teaches at HKAPA, but then goes on: “Some people choose to kill themselves because they are escaping from something. Others escape by shopping or sleeping. It all comes down to one thing: what do you want in life?”

Meanwhile, Pichead has chosen something more personal to talk about – fat. While the media and blossoming slimming industry portray being fat as a sin in Hong Kong, Pichead questions, “What if I am fat but healthy? Why am I living happily but still criticised by others?” The monologue is really about how one looks and that age-old question: what is beauty?

But the show isn’t all seriousness and no fun. As in Two of Us, clowns will make an appearance, and cartoonist Big Soil has created two characters for 2 Come to Pass which will add a different dimension to understanding the performers. And a skit on world history takes the form of a rap and dance session, so everyone can expect something entertaining. Or inspiring. But then you can’t avoid that in a show exploring matters of life and death, can you?

2 Come to Pass will be performed at HK Arts Centre Shouson Theatre from May 31 to June 3 at 8pm and June 2 and 3 at 3pm. Tickets are $180 and $140 from URBTIX, 2734 9009. In Cantonese with English surtitles.