I ME SHE HIM

Wit Incorporated, a vibrant inclusive theatre community from Footscray, who strive to connect and unite people with culturally rich stories and performances, have joined with Ren Ruidi in her directorial debut in an intriguing and challenging theatrical experience.

I ME SHE HIM provides an insightful exploration between two people during Hong Kong’s changeover, set between the 1980s and ‘90s, written by Stan Lai, an American born Taiwanese playwright/theatre director and pioneer of a new era in Chinese Theatre.

A dramatic comedy set between two prominent points in Hong Kong’s political history, it begins in 1998, after the British handover to China, governed by a Shanghai born former shipping tycoon. Jing (Lansy Feng) is a slick Taiwanese executive from a family-run corporation, making an important business deal with a CEO, More (Enoch Li) who has worked hard to climb the corporate ladder, and is now a walking time bomb, overweight and highly stressed with a nagging wife and family.

With two intersecting timelines, the two main characters have doppelgangers, Other Man (Berlin Lu) and Other Woman (Angel Xiao), who represent both their previous selves when they were once bright-young-things, at a time when Hong Kong was still riding on its reputation as the “Asian Tiger” and a fast-growing economic industrial region. The pro- democracy demonstrations that led to Tiananmen Square massacre in June 1989, implemented democratic safeguards in Hong Kong. These events are used dramatically to raise tension and emotion, and as a vehicle to tease out the traumas that reside between Jing and More.

Rudi’s directorial prowess lies with the choreographed actions between the main characters and their doppelgangers, involving complex blocking techniques. She also juggles a colourful cast of comical sidekicks that include Junior (William Wu), Jing’s young upstart cousin, and Miss Sun (Rebecca Lin) as More’s lascivious private secretary.

The many set changes are fun and entertaining, include the double hotel rooms, playfully orchestrated by the clever set design (Riley Tapp). The lighting (Oliver Ross) is colourful and moody, and the sound design (Jarman Oakley) is lively and at times sombre. Both provide wonderful contrast and add more scintillating texture to this amazing show.

Flora Georgiou

Photographer: Sarah Clarke Photography