Legal Tales | From Yerma to the law of surrogacy in Hong Kong
Hongkongers have been entertained by the recent staging of a 1930s Spanish play that raises questions about a very modern topic – surrogacy
Theatre enthusiasts in Hong Kong like me will know that the city’s cultural scene has recently been abuzz.
While the West End’s Life of Pi had its eagerly anticipated debut shows at the Xiqu Centre last month, another show that has attracted much media attention is Yerma, which was staged at the Shouson Theatre in the Hong Kong Arts Centre, with the past weekend marking its closing performance.
Yerma is a play that was originally written by Spanish dramatist Federico Garcia Lorca in 1934 and was brought to stage in the same year. The story was then adapted by Australian playwright Simon Stone and brought sold-out performances to the stages of London and New York in the last decade, where it captivated audiences and received critical acclaim.
Eventually, the production was broadcast to international cinemas, and finally made an appearance on Hong Kong’s silver screen in 2018.
The latest Hong Kong staging is an adaptation of the original play by local playwright Annie Cheung Ngar-lai, and directed by theatre veteran Olivia Yan. It attempts to transpose Lorca’s tragedy into a modern local context.
Natalie Tong Sze-wing leads the ensemble as a young woman who has a desperate desire to bear a child, but finds no success and is ultimately driven to a very tragic end. Opposite Tong is a very experienced local thespian, Chu Pak-him, who plays the protagonist’s husband, a central figure in the woman’s many family conflicts.