words andrea yu

“Without the past, we don’t have the present.”

A frank comment indeed, but knowing it comes from the mouth of David Yeung, it starts to come into context. David Yeung is not a philosopher or a historian - he is the lead actor in a play that is set entirely in the past. The play reminds us that throughout the times, our knowledge of the past exists only in the way it was passed down to us.

God Came to China is the latest production from established Hong Kong theatre company Zuni Icosahedron. It explores the involvement of God and Western influence on China, but it is by no means a textbook or a history lecture. Through songs, animations, voice-overs and radio dramas, the play presents events from China’s history in a way that encourages audience members to question their view of China’s past.

“We should let people know that some of the information they get is from TV series, from Wikipedia, from novels, that information may not be very accurate. Or it may be distorted. We should let people be reflective about how [we] should treat history, and we should have more perspective to looking at different historical events.”

The ambitious production spans the centuries from the Ming Dynasty to 1949, with most of its characters consisting of Western ministers, Chinese emperors and scholars. Impressively, the 20+ roles will be acted out by only three cast members, with Yeung as the lead and two supporting actors. Responsible for over ten of the roles, Yeung smartly makes use of a puppet to accomplish this task.

“The idea came from our director Mathias Woo. A puppet is something [that] needs to be played by someone else and manipulated by someone. Everyone is actually manipulating the historical information when they give [their] view or commentary,” he explains. “We’re not just saying the missionary is a puppet or a doll…We should not see history like this - as good or bad”.

Despite its setting and content, Yeung asserts that the play isn’t just for those with a strong historical or political background.

“I think we are reaching a wide range of audience and different levels. [It] is very informative for people that don’t know much about some of the historical events,” explains Yeung. “They can get some information from [it], like a short course of history lessons.”

“But because there are different kinds of performing forms, it should also be entertaining - kind of a fusion.” Yeung hopes that the play will “induce [the audience] to search for themselves, to find out more about the events in the history of their country”.

This isn’t the first time that Zuni Icosahedron has produced plays about the past - God Came to China is just the latest installment in the Zuni History Theatre series, which notably showed the play 1587, A Year of No Significance in the summer of 2006. Similarly, 1587 challenged audiences to decide whether that year is truly as uneventful as people had thought. So, why all the fuss making plays about the past?

“There are a lot of things about the present that are built from the past. For example, my name is David. Why am I called David? Because at that time when I was young, I [went] to a Catholic school and I [needed] an English name. Without the past, we don’t have the present.”

By offering an objective stance of China’s history, God Came to China asks us to reflect upon our past. History is assumed to be fixed- it is something in the past that cannot be redone. But is our view of the past flexible? Can we change the way we look at our past, and does that mean we can change our perspective of the present?

God Came to China runs from October 31 to November 2 at Hong Kong City Hall Theatre. Tickets are $180, $280 and $400, available from URBTIX or phone 2734 9009.