What is mo lei tau comedy? The theatre group keeping Hong Kong’s acute brand of slapstick humour alive
- Stephen Chow pioneered Hong Kong’s distinctive flavour of slapstick cinema, while contemporaries Jim Chim and Tang Shu-wing brought the jokes to the stage
- Windmill Grass Theatre keeps this school of comedy alive – catch its latest production Black Comedy Di-Dar at Kwai Tsing Theatre or Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts
Today, the tradition is kept alive on the stage by Windmill Grass Theatre’s latest production, Black Comedy Di-Dar, which is back for a new season this month.
Set in a cash-strapped Hong Kong secondary school on the brink of closure, this uproarious Cantonese comedy follows the desperate attempts of a school principal to save the institution from financial ruin. In a last-ditch effort, the principal decides to promote Chinese culture and music, hoping to attract much-needed funding.
But as with any good farce, things spiral out of control. With students showing little interest in the initiative, the principal resorts to some creative problem-solving. The solution? Allow students to swap demerits for participation in the orchestra. It’s a plan so far-fetched it just might work – and work it does, as students flock to sign up.
As if a school full of reluctant musicians were not chaotic enough, rumours begin to circulate that it is haunted. Students claim to have seen spirits roaming the halls, adding a supernatural twist to the already zany plot.
In true Hong Kong style, the principal’s solution to this ghostly problem is to call in a musician-master to perform an exorcism. What follows is a hilarious ceremony where the loud playing of a dida wind instrument not only attempts to banish spirits but also awakens the dormant performer in everyone’s heart.
