Review | Hong Kong’s education system satirised in hilarious new musical Black Comedy Di-Dar
- Black Comedy Di-Dar centres on a secondary school that bribes students to help fulfil its requirement to promote traditional Chinese culture
Cantopop aficionados will recall a 1995 song by Faye Wong called “Di-Dar” in which the Beijing-born singer, who rose to fame in Hong Kong, sang the titular chorus with a distinctly Irish accent.
Why Wong chose to vocalise the “r” sounds in such a way may be inexplicable to some, but it is perfectly natural to those familiar with Cantopop’s habit of soaking up foreign influences like blotting paper.
After all, the song was recorded shortly after Wong released a cover of The Cranberries’ “Dreams”, titled “Dream Lover”, during a time when the Irish rock band were topping charts around the world.
“Di-dar” is the song that accompanies the audience as they file into the auditorium at the Kwai Tsing Theatre in Kwai Chung for Black Comedy Di-Dar, Windmill Grass Theatre’s new Cantonese music theatre work. Like Wong’s song title, the “Di-Dar” here is also displayed in English.
