It’s a drama that solves two mysteries: a murder and someone’s unclear identity in a colonial period.
Nine Dragons is set in 1920s Kowloon (Nine Dragons), colonial Hong Kong, and explores a series of murders investigated by detective Tommy Lam. The prime suspect, Victor Fun, is the son of a wealthy and powerful Chinese family.
“The whole play is a cat and mouse game between the detective and the primary suspect,” said Jovanni Sy, playwright and artistic director of Gateway Theatre.
“It’s a murder mystery, so we are trying to keep people one step ahead of our detective who is trying to figure out who’s done it, hopefully surprising the audience along the way.”
Sy has long been captivated by stories featuring detectives, and he finds the city of Hong Kong, where he has spent a lot of time acting and directing over the past 10 years, equally absorbing.
For him, Hong Kong is his “second artistic home,” and a former metropole unrivaled in culture, history, art and music.
He hopes the audience will not only be captivated by the story, but will also get an idea of what life was like 100 years ago, through the lens of an accomplished but underrated Chinese detective.
“At that time, even though Chinese people were the majority there, because the British were in charge, the Chinese were like second-class citizens in their own home,” said Sy.
“I wanted to set the story up in colonial Hong Kong because I thought it would be great to see the kind of detective that we don’t see very often, a Chinese detective who is very much in charge and very capable, and who solves the crime.”
He said the kernel of Nine Dragons is how the detective tries to solve the “mystery within a mystery” about his own identity.
“Tommy is very brilliant and probably better at this job than anybody else, but he was not given all the credit he deserved, because of the colonial administration that was in place,” said Sy.
“I say mystery in the sense of what is it like to be a Chinese man in a Chinese society that’s ruled by the British; how did he succeed as somebody who is on the margins.”
The drama is directed by Craig Hall and stars actor John Ng, best known for his role as Mr. Chin in Kim’s Convenience.
The performance will run from Thursday, April 12 until Saturday, April 21. There will be a showing with traditional Chinese subtitles on Sunday, April 15 at 2 p.m.
For more information, check GatewayTheatre.com.
