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This Huayi Festival, the Esplanade welcomes Hong Kong’s Edward Lam Dance Theatre to Singapore as they present a truly unique theatrical show that reflects on modern relationships, inspired, oddly enough, by the classic Chinese collection Liaozhai Zhiyi.
Directed by award-winning director Edward Lam himself and written by the acclaimed playwright-actress Wong Wing Sze, Why We Chat? follows an aspiring writer (popular Taiwanese-Hong Kong singer/actor David Wang) as he shafts his dreams for practicality and develops a new app named “Zhailiao”, inventing beautiful women for lonely singles to chat to. But as he becomes increasingly obsessed with one of these digital ladies Ms Hu (veteran Taiwanese actress Sylvia Chang), the writer begins to question the increasingly blurred lines between fiction and reality, and wonders if Ms Hu really did exist at some point.
Taking place in a busy hotel, watch as the mystery unfolds and the events play out in a surreal lyrical and romantic discourse. Eventually, the audience looks inward as they consider modern romance and the constant struggle of emotional needs versus physical realities, and finally ask themselves: are we becoming more and more like ghosts?
Why We Chat? plays at the Esplanade Theatre as part of Huayi 2018 from 1st – 4th March. Tickets available from the Esplanade
