What is the value of “truth”? Is there a universal truth? A medical incident triggers contentions between medical ethics and religious faith. Heated debates on gender, race, class and identity sparked; maelstroms of difficult emotions harboured – will it all come out in the wash? 

The play dissects the furtive surface of our murky world, throwing down the gauntlet in search of truth for both cast and audience alike. The Doctor is a breakthrough contemporary drama that Robert Icke adapted from Viennese playwright Arthur Schnitzler’s Professor Bernhardi of 1912, and was nominated as Best New Play at the Olivier Awards in 2020. 

Playing Ruth the doctor is former Assistant Artistic Director Fung Wai Hang, joined by outstanding HKRep company members as they delve into the “post-truth” era. With the online information blitz under attack by media pundits, opinions outflank facts and algorithms dictate the winds of change, rocking the very foundation of science, religion and civilisation. 

A teenager is at death’s door after her botched abortion, and a priest hopes to perform the last rites. Yet Ruth, the doctor in charge, refuses this request out of medical concerns. The incident goes viral and becomes a hot topic on social media, with many clamouring for the hospital to make an official response. Shouldering the weight of her own career as well as the future of the hospital, Ruth is under attack. At the same time, she faces tremendous pressure that is in her private life.

Co-director and lead actress Fung Wai Hang reveals: “A distinguishing feature of this play is that the cast have to keep distance with the role they take – it could be dissimilitude on gender, race or religion. Two pairs of cast members will be interpreting two roles, in hopes of opening a creative inquiry on “identity” for the audience.”

“Personally, the playwright mercilessly brought forward certain present-day social issues that we’re compelled to ponder: Should the neutrality of medical science and ethics supersede all other considerations? Are the high-powered entitled to manipulate the matter of life and death? What kind of life do we lead in the deranging digital age? What befalls if religion and faith crumbled? Is the human race signing its own death warrant? I haven’t got a clue for those questions, nor do I believe the playwright does; let’s pin our hope on the smart audience!”

The Doctor plays from 16th March to 1st April 2024 at Hong Kong Arts Centre Shouson Theatre. Tickets available here