Cheers! Series: Plastic Island

EVENT DESCRIPTION

Plastic Island is one of Hong Kong’s rare theatre works built entirely on full masks. The four character masks, designed by the creative team, amplify every mistake — stubbornness, impulsiveness, hesitation — turning them into emotional clues that resonate with the audience.

A mask does not conceal; it reveals. Every imbalance, pause, mis-reaction and moment of doubt becomes the most realistic and truthful part of the characters. Through humour and disorder, the performance creates a rhythm that invites audiences to face the fragile warmth the characters cannot hide.

Over the past decade, Sheena Cheung and David Bensimhon from Free to Play Theatre have been exploring mask and clown-based physical expression. In recent years, they have developed a pedagogy specifically for Asian performers — Clown in Absurd — positioning clumsiness, mistakes and vulnerability as the core of truthful performance. This methodology has been shared and practised across Hong Kong, Macau, France and Belgium.

In 2025, the team travelled to Lille, France to study under master Hacid, learning the le choeur physical and mask ensemble technique developed by French master Mario Gonzalez.

Director and music designer David Bensimhon constructs a unique sonic landscape for the work, using a foot-powered music machine and layered rhythmic cues to amplify the strange atmosphere of the plastic island.
David’s jazz sensibility intertwines with Sheena Cheung’s mastery of mask and physical structure, forming a cross-cultural theatrical energy — drawing from European mask tradition while rooted in the physical sensitivity of Asian performers.

The fusion of jazz rhythm and mask-based movement creates a performance language unique to the production.

Synopsis
In the year 2075, a family finds themselves stranded on the Great Pacific Plastic Island—a wild and chaotic paradise woven from the remnants of consumerism. Their boat now marooned on this surreal, dreamlike shore, they not only survive but thrive. They transform discarded plastic into ingenious inventions: a pedal-powered music machine, bizarre contraptions, whimsical household items…
Using laughter and creativity, they battle the monotony of their island existence. Yet, they seem to be searching for something—though no one remembers exactly what it is. Their journey of discovery is both absurd and touching, much like how, in life, we sometimes forget why we started out, only to find the magic that sweetens time along the way.

Details
30 January – 1 February 2026 (Fri–Sun)｜7:30pm
31 January – 1 February 2026 (Sat–Sun)｜2:30pm
Duration: 75 minutes, no intermission
Recommended for ages 4 and above
Part of the LCSD Cheers! Series 2025/26