Papergang theatre are presenting their stories on the Hong Kong Protests in 2019 through an interactive, high-energy piece in which the audience are listening upon different retellings of loss, courage and hope for better future. Still to this day, members of the community live in fear of being caught out, aware that someone may always be listening. It is a form of protest that this group decided to put on this piece and share it with an audience who mostly have moved on from this event, who much like myself had no idea the devastating affects it had on the community.
Upon arrival they ask you to participate with the piece using the app Telegram which is incorporated into the piece as it was a vital form of communication during the protests. Once in a group chat, you can decide how active you may be throughout with questionnaires related to the current action and throws in a nice humorous aspect amid the terror. There was great use of multi-media as well as a fascinating use of set which was incredibly entertaining to watch that I haven’t seen before. The company is obviously very tight knit as their connection on stage was very intimate and caring which you could see past the moments of action.
The company themselves handled this piece with a major sense of care as it streams past the eyes of a UK audience but is a space for speech that many people weren’t able to have. This being said, the story did have a lack of structure that sometimes made it quite difficult to follow as I wasn’t sure about location or time. As well as this, the main action felt a little lost when different characters came forward as I wasn’t sure on their connection to each other and the action.
This is a great source of education for a topic that like many things get buried under the evermore news breaking everyday. I really felt the weight of the piece but hoped to have a chance to understand more as I felt a little behind, trying to catch up with the action as well as the many characters stories being told.
Playing until June 11th, https://www.omnibus-clapham.org/dreamers/
Reviewer: Alice Rose
Reviewed 8th June 2022
North West End UK Rating: ★★