A bold experiment that questions how we co-create performance through the deconstruction of process.

In newly devised work Fake Performance is (Real) Performance, directed by Hong Kong’s Melissa Leung Hiu Tuen, the graduating students of NAFA’s Diploma in Theatre (Mandarin) program join forces with Emergency Stairs in an industry project that boldly defies convention. The result is a daring, unpredictable Mandarin-language performance that unravels traditional narrative structures and challenges the very idea of performance itself, breaking convention and even the fourth wall.

The show opens in what seems to be familiar dramatic territory—a living room scene populated by a kaleidoscope of characters, all in costume, pulled from across time and text. It’s a theatrical multiverse where Chekhov mingles with Ibsen, Euripides bumps into Shakespeare and Cao Yu, and we get glimpses from their masterworks, ranging from A Doll’s House, The Cherry Orchard, Medea, The Seagull, Macbeth, and Thunderstorm, all existing in a single shared space. The opening nods to the act of theatre-making as both homage and collision: a meta-theatrical space where collisions are common, and they embrace the mess, particularly with the storyline from A Doll’s House and its focus on agency or lack thereof.

But just when they seem to be getting used to it, and we’re on the brink of a breakthrough, the stage fractures and the storyline comes undone. Not only is the performance disrupted, story-wise, but also in the actual structure of the show. As they move to clear the space, one actor breaks away, entering the audience space to pass us seemingly innocuous posters, and prompting a sharp, almost academic examination of how women are viewed and represented in media, particularly through the eyes of male audience members. It’s here the piece starts to interrogate legacy, power, and perspective, particularly with us as the audience and how much we determine the outcome with our gaze alone.

What follows is not a play in any traditional sense, but a process. Now on an empty stage, the ensemble returns in plain black tees and pants, rehearsal gear, as they initiate an improv-driven workshop live on stage. They invite audience members to participate in crafting a scene based on prompts from a box, merging spontaneity with collaboration. The borders between audience and actor dissolve, and what unfolds is chaotic, yet oddly honest, and very much alive. It’s not polished, and it’s not meant to be. It’s theatre as experiment, theatre as rehearsal, theatre as play.

This deconstruction of process continues on into the final act, where the ensemble performs a round of monologues, each actor shooting their shot as they “audition” for an unnamed production, for our entertainment. Speaking simultaneously as they pace around the set, it becomes hard to tell who really is the ‘best’, and as the audience votes on who gets to “perform” in the closing scene, we think about the industry they’re about to enter: competitive, subjective, and always just a little arbitrary. Even watching the two ‘best’ actors we’ve chosen, we are still left to wonder – who are we to decide what is ‘best’ and who is deserving of the spotlight?

Fake Performance is (Real) Performance is less about narrative and more about reconstruction—of form, of identity, of purpose. In a world which is already so full of noise, it seems to encourage us to step back to return to the process over the end product, where we question the kind of theatre scene and industry we want to build together, as both performer and audiences. It is fragmented and raw, but also truthful and real, as we leap into the unknown future together.

My Body is (Not) My Body played from 9th to 13th April 2025, and Fake Performance is (Real) Performance played from 17th to 20th April 2025, both at the NAFA Studio Theatre.

Production Credits:

Curator / Creative Producer Liu Xiaoyi Director Melissa Leung Hiu Tuen Production Manager Vivi Agustina Dramaturg Alysa Leung Video Designer Luo Hanwen Sound Designer Meng Jiaoyang Stage Manager Linfelide Assistant Production Manager Marilyn Chew Project Coordinators Chen Yitong, Tay Qing Xin Graphic Designer Huang Suhuai Sound Design Mentor Jing Ng Performers Chang Xiya, Chen Yuqing, Chen Zhiwei, Chong Jia Chee, Chua Yin Ling, Lin Jing, Liu Boer, Liu Yanqi, Low Kien Bing, Ma Xiaoyu, Rachel Teo Ning Xin. Sim Kian Hui, Sze Jia Rui (Xue Jiarui)