Tri Ka Tsai – Distinctively Hong Kong
We saw the final show of Tri Ka Tsai at the Lau Bak Livehouse at Freespace, West Kowloon this past weekend. While the show is distinctively Hong Kong in its theme, as a cabaret production it clothes native contents in a cultural form with western origins. And it works.
Tai Kwun commissioned the performance of Tri Ka Tsai in 2019. It has been two years in the running and every show was a full house. That is no small accomplishment, and there are certainly features of the show that enable its success.
Tri Ka Tsai being the name of the show is worthy of some explanation. “Tri” refers to the expectation of tri-lingualism in present-day Hong Kong, as opposed to the demand of bilingualism during the colonial times. The wordplay is such that, as opposed to the now “Tri-ka,” “Bi-ka” of the older days plays a pun: it means someone (tsai, meaning a boy) who “thoroughly fails all expectations” in Cantonese. This joke sets the stage for the show. What follow are wordplays and cultural critiques, with original music and lyrics that give structure and substance to the performance.
Leading the performance are Rick Lau and Anna Lo. Rick begins with introducing himself as a post-70s Gen X-er. He grew up in colonial Hong Kong in a bilingual environment. He developed trilingual abilities in order to succeed, by meeting new sets of social expectations, just like everyone else here in post-colonial times. I think this strikes immediate rapport with the audience, as it seemed to me that the people of this full house event all had some silver hair. They must have been in their 40s and 50s. I am certainly one myself.
The 1.5-hour show begins with some pretty good jests about Cantonese culture. There are familiar jokes. For example, the Cantonese names that would have read normally but when pronounced they are a pun. Or the English names that Hong Kong people give themselves that are hilarious to English speakers. Another joke was about the old and new street names in Hong Kong. The cultural critiques continue throughout the show. They do trigger the back-and-forth between Cantonese, English and Mandarin in order to get the jokes.
Yet at some point the jesting tamed, and the show seems to have progressed onto a note of poignancy. There is a light touch on the events in Hong Kong in recent years, with enough left unsaid.
This is also when the originality of the music takes the center stage. Anna composed the music, and the band certainly delivers – some rock, some pop. The song On the Same Street (my translation) is particularly moving. We heard a few songs with beautiful melodies. Anna’s sing-along performance on the piano, along with the band and the lyrics by Yuri Ng, certainly showcases the creativity of which Hong Kong’s Gen-X talents are capable.
The show brings into sharp focus Hong Kong people’s mannerisms. Perhaps there is also some effort to show the underlying notions that gjve rise to these linguistic and cultural expressions. This show is meant to be funny and thus there are plenty of ridicules, but the love for Hong Kong shows amply through.
Toward the end of the show the poignancy lingers. The performance captures the culture of Hong Kong up to this moment in time. However, we do know that Hong Kong’s future remains precarious, or worse yet, in deep waters. At some point the performers seems to suggest that the adaptability and resilience for which Hong Kong people are known is the source of hope. Truly so?
Finally, I thought that the Lau Bak Livehouse at the Freespace was a great venue for this final show of Tri Ka Tsai. It was free seating and the ticket included a free drink either before or after the show. The hip and lighthearted bar atmosphere suited the nature of the show.
This was the first cabaret that I have seen and it left quite an impression.