Hong Kong opera pits Trump against Zelenskyy
US President Donald Trump gets into an all-out brawl with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Trump’s twin brother stops a bullet like Neo in “The Matrix” (1999), only to be killed by another one. Trump later brings him back to life with a pill that turns out to be “Made in China.”
These absurd plot lines are the latest additions to “Trump, the Twins President,” a Cantonese opera aimed at drawing new and younger audiences. Hong Kong playwright Li Kui-ming hopes the production will help revive the 500-year-old dying art form.
Sold-out crowds
The three-and-a-half-hour theatrical production parodies recent political events and global figures, including former US President Richard Nixon, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and the late Chinese leader Mao Zedong and his fourth wife, Jiang Qing.
First staged in 2019, the opera returned to the Xiqu Centre, a performing arts venue designated for Cantonese opera and traditional Chinese performing arts, with sold-out crowds. Zelenskyy is a new addition to the production, now in its third version.
The four-day run began on June 5, the same day the real Trump held a highly anticipated call with Chinese President Xi Jinping—the two leaders’ first known direct contact since Trump’s return to the White House in January.
The opera begins with Ivanka Trump having a dream about her father’s long-lost twin brother in China. His name is Chuan Pu, which is a transliteration of Trump’s name in Mandarin Chinese.
Disillusioned by the Chinese Cultural Revolution, Chuan moves to the United States to reunite with Trump. Ivanka has Chuan pretend to be her father at a Pennsylvania rally because Trump has been abducted by aliens on Mars.
In contrast to last summer’s events where Trump narrowly escaped with his life after an assassination attempt at a campaign rally, Chuan catches the first bullet in his hand but dies from the second shot to his chest.
Trump returns from Mars and revives Chuan with a pill that he claims he brought from Mars but that is actually made in China.
Other references to Trump include his proposal that Canada become the 51st American state, his love-hate relationship with tech billionaire Elon Musk, and his feud with Harvard University.
Intangible heritage
Cantonese opera, rooted in modern-day Guangdong and Guangxi provinces in southern China, was registered as an “intangible cultural heritage of humanity” by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 2009. It dates back five centuries to the Ming Dynasty.
However, some say the art form has become outdated because of its traditional costumes and heavy references to ancient Chinese classics and can only be appreciated by older generations.
The March closure of the 53-year-old Sunbeam Theatre, the only Hong Kong landmark showcasing Cantonese opera, disappointed local playgoers.
Li, 70, said he wanted to change things up after producing 36 plays the traditional way. He chose Trump as the protagonist because of the US president’s “influence on people’s daily lives.”
Ultimately, the show’s message is about peace, not a geopolitical statement about China and Hong Kong, Li said.
“Chuan Pu yearns for love, peace and resolving conflicts peacefully,” said Li, a feng shui practitioner by trade.
‘Creative freedom’
Due to the continual crackdown on dissent under the national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020, many shows satirizing current political affairs have been canceled in Hong Kong.
Just days before the debut of Li’s play, Sunny Lam, a popular local singer-songwriter, canceled a concert following a “careful assessment.” Lam rose to fame on YouTube with his derisive lyrics against the Hong Kong government’s policies.
Li maintained that his work was a “representation of Hong Kong’s creative freedom,” particularly in his depiction of the Cultural Revolution. Launched by Mao in 1966, the 10-year upheaval aimed to purge capitalist and traditional elements from Chinese society and reassert Mao’s authority.
Discussion of the movement is largely considered taboo within mainland China’s official narratives.
“I fully experience the benefits of ‘one country, two systems,’” Li said, referring to the principle adopted in the former British colony. “But if you have a political motive, of course, people will not allow you to perform.”
University student Rachel Yiu, 26, noticed the absence of the current Chinese leadership in the satirical play.
“If it’s going to be performed safely, there’s an expectation of which side it will take,” she said. “We all know the circumstances Hong Kong is in. This is the reality.”
