City Stage: Hong Kong Playwriting in English

Looking for Stones

Looking for Stones Simon Wu Chi-kuen and Dino Mahoney Looking forStones relies essentially on dialogue, almost inevitably for a radio play, but some of the play's mos t poignant moment s ar e conveyed throug h it s monologues an d tempora l disjunctions, which signify the piecing together of a fragmented tale. Its high quality production and evocative sound effects deman d a hearing to complement a mere reading of the script, since as a piece it is very much the sum of its parts. Nevertheless, the script is lively an d reasonably authenti c — within certain convention s o f poetic licence. Ah Fai, the Cinema Paradiso-likc narrato r (based on Simon Wu himself, as an adolescent) re-explores his past. He recalls the formative experiences of his boyhood — winning a scholarship to the prestigious Queen's College, staying in the room of his domineering aunt, Ah Kin, in the Happy Valley home of her employers, the dysfunctional Le e family, and the difficulty o f understanding his aunt's obsessive behaviour. In particular, her attachment to a small stone, which goes missing in her room, perplexes the teenage boy. The narrative framework o f the play is in three parts. The prologue and epilogue of the play are set in the early 1990s , with the central body of the piece set in the mid-1970s, and the furthest flashback , initiate d by narration by Ah Fai's mother, evokes memories of Hong Kong under the Japanese occupation. The 1970s temporal references are reinforced by excerpts of the group Boney M, the Hong Kong singer Sam Hui and the Taiwanese singer Teresa Teng, while the traumatic events of the occupation are enhanced with the evocative sound effect s of war and privation. The poetic licence of drama is a wonderful thing. We have to bear in mind that the radio World-Play serie s is required to be broadcast in English, thus excusing the inauthenticity of some of the dialogue, as Japanese and Chinese characters all converse in English. Radio drama facilitates and , with good production, enhances interior monologue, and it is in this area that the play excels, ultimately providing depth in the characterization o f Ah Fai by introducin g his grown-up alter ego, reflecting o n his feelings following his aunt's funeral an d the events that brought hi m a closer understanding o f how an d why his aunt had suffere d unde r th e Japanese occupation. The significance of his aunt's preciously guarded 'worthles s old stone' becomes clearer to the adolescent Ah Fai, and after the funeral eventually to us, the listeners, eavesdropping o n his bittersweet recollections. In the end, then, the play moves us with its poignancy, rather than sentimentality , an d its illustration, neve r more effective tha n whe n shown in dramatic terms, that to understand all is to forgive all. Looking for Stones 3 9 Hong Kong : Th e 1940s : Th e Japanes e Invasio n SFX: Sounds of war; aerial bombardment; shooting echo effect Aunt: We'r e looking for stones ... onl y looking for stones. SFX: Sounds of warfare fade into sounds of traditional Taoist Chinese funeral: Cymbals, horns, chanting Hong Kong: The present Half fade Voice-over funeralsounds Ah Fai: Ther e were only a handful o f us at my Aunt's funeral . . . my mother and father . . . my brother . . . a distant cousin that none of us had ever met before, an d ol d Ah Ping who used to clean th e lift an d stairwel l i n th e apartment block that my Aunt worked in . .. But we were enough . .. m y Aunt wouldn't have wanted more ... M y Aunt... Ah Kin. I used to be terrified of her ... w e all were ... I remember the horror I felt the day I learned I had to go and live with her .. . I would have happily given back my scholarship if it would have got me out of staying with her .. . But fate is fate . . . suddenly your little world goes dark and there you are in the belly of some great fish wh o swims and swims to a far distan t shore before opening up his jaws and spitting you out again. SFX: Music: A song sung by Teresa Teng (A singer famousin Hong Kong in the 1970s) playing on the radio; Ah Fai is singing along with the song on...