Must I Cry comes to Pleasance Theatre London in July

Must I Cry is a theatre production from Hong Kong coming to Pleasance Theatre, London from 31^st July to 2^nd August, weaving together themes of memory, the fading legacy of British rule, and the story of a rhino named Sudan. Taking inspiration from the works of acclaimed Hong Kong writer Xi Xi, this piece unfolds across three strands: a striking portrayal of a city in flux, leaving behind its colonial past; a daughter's emotional journey through the loss of her father; and the poignant tale of Sudan, the last male northern white rhinoceros, whose passing signified the extinction of his kind. Blending poetic storytelling, live music, and visual projections, the performance delves into the fragility of memory and the inevitability of change in a restless urban landscape.

The production is helmed by esteemed director and performer Bonni Chan, who answered our questions about the show.

Must I Cry brings together three different narratives, what can you tell us about them and how are they intertwined?

The three narratives meet in one timeless world where the past is the present, fragments contain the whole. Memory keeps a deceased father, an extinct rhino and an ever transiting city’s history alive. They are different but very much connected

The piece touches on colonial history and a city in transformation. How do you approach exploring political change through such a poetic form?

Through XiXi’s text which describes a floating city built on the shell of a sea tortoise… its fantastical rendering of the city in disappearance heightens the readers’ sense of nostalgia and a sense of loss. The awareness of its history and the attitude of how one deals with it can bring about a significant personal transformation.

Your work explores memory as something both fragile and powerful. Why is memory such an important theme for you right now?

The notion of forgetting always fascinates me. I think we walk in circles a lot in many aspects because of it. It seems to be an inevitable passage. So watching a character who fights to keep her father alive by pure memories is such a redeeming journey.

What first drew you to Xi Xi’s writing, and how did her reflections on Hong Kong shape the emotional landscape of Must I Cry?

It was her novel the flying carpet which portrays stories and characters within a city which in many aspects echo an earlier Hong Kong. Impermanent, yet blossoming with life and emotions, was a great inspiration in the making of Must I Cry.

You combine movement, text, music and visuals in your direction. What do these different elements allow you to express that words alone can’t?

These non verbal elements / media are both visceral and universal . To incorporate them into telling our story hopefully can evoke a more collective and sensational experience for the audience.

What kind of emotional journey do you hope audiences go on during the show — and what would you like them to carry with them afterwards?

To experience an emotion landscape of human bonding through various kinds of loss, a father, a species, a city’s past . At the end, after meeting the nighttime sky, a sense of triumph.

Must I Cry is presented by Theatre du Pif www.thtdupif.com/the-company. It comes to Pleasance Theatre, London 31^st July – 2^nd August  www.pleasance.co.uk