Theatre

A love story that spans time and space, told through a magical blend of theatre and cinema.

Central to the story is an enigmatic hunping, or ‘soul urn’, which is a type of pottery in Chinese artifacts used as a funerary vessel and often found in the ancient tombs in southern China. It is believed to hold the soul of the deceased when it returns after death to reside there, and is therefore said to have magic powers. Now just imagine if, one day, the soul is released from the urn, what would happen next?

Pak Ka-ying is a young woman living in Hong Kong. She links up with Huang Guozhong, a member of an archaeological team responsible for excavations in China, on the internet through a shared interest – celadon pottery shards they each hold. The two believe that the shards might have come from the same ‘soul urn’, so together they go on a hunt. They come upon a notebook belonging to a British army surgeon. It opens up a world in the past where he is engaged in a love-torn relationship with a courtesan in Shanghai. Questions arise for the two: is Huang the courtesan? Is Pak the lieutenant? And who is that mysterious figure that keeps on appearing and disappearing, sometimes as a man and sometimes as a woman?

The Twin Spirit, an original play by Cinematic Theatre, is a story made up of two love stories that transcend time and space. The staggered plot juxtaposes a touching romance that took place many years ago in Shanghai and the development of a relationship that changes the views of the protagonists about love in present-day Hong Kong.