华艺节 :: Tri Ka Tsai 《TRI家仔》

Of course I scanned the list for Hong Kong plays under Esplanade's Huayi Festival, but this year didn't have any. What they had, was a musical. Commissioned by Tai Kwun – Centre for Heritage and Arts (大館) and first premiered in 2019, this show is titled 'Tri Ka Tsai' 《TRI家仔》. The blurb explained, 'Tri-家仔' refers to a "trilingual Gen X or millennial living in post-colonial Hong Kong who speaks Cantonese, English and Putonghua (Mandarin)."

Billed as a "uniquely trilingual Hong Kong cabaret", the musicians sang and commented about this generation of Hong Kongers who have to be trilingual. 得懂兩文三語的香港人。Against this complicated political backdrop, colonial past and Chinese overlords, Hong Kongers now have to speak Cantonese, English and Mandarin/Putonghua, or what we also term as 'Chinglish' and 'Cantonghua'—Hong Kong-style Mandarin. Even writing is an issue. They'll have to be absolutely conversant in writing Chinese in simplified script and traditional script. Teeeeehehehe.

Ugh. A musical. But I liked the premise of it. I'll live. Even before watching it, I already loved this show for the content. I wisely chose to watch this show on my own and not ask anyone else to join me. LOL I only bought a ticket at the last minute. It was free seating at Esplanade's Recital Studio, so it was free seating, and I didn't mind sitting anywhere in the studio.

Seriously, as Singaporeans or one who spent years of childhood being educated in Singapore, aren't many of us effectively trilingual? I view Cantonese as a language, not a dialect. :P I dare you to write in Cantonese. My Hong Kong friends and I literally talk like this in casual conversations, in three or sometimes four languages. For some of us, we kinda randomly share work projects; so we hold work discussions like this too! We have no issues switching between English, Cantonese and Mandarin since we have full command of those languages both written and spoken. It's pretty much like Singlish, isn't it? Extremely hilarious, effective and being able to code-switch like this sometimes lends a sense of kinship. 

It was an absolute hoot. I thoroughly enjoyed myself because I totally identified with every line. I tolerated the singing bits and gritted my teeth through them because the words/lyrics were brilliant. There were so many gems. It's impossible to explain it singularly in English on-the-spot to non-Cantonese or Mandarin speakers because you really need to be trilingual to get the jokes and humor within a fast-paced song, and some of the sadness, 心酸 and 無奈 within. The unspoken topics hung in the air. Yup, I get you, Hong Kong Tri 家仔s. I laughed till my sides hurt, but I feel you too, in the political comments and opinions that must not be voiced aloud. 

The talented musicians who wrote their lyrics and directed the show are Yuri Ng, Anna Lo and Rick Lau (伍宇烈 X 卢宜均 X 刘荣丰).