By Michelle Chan

Imagine you were forced to undergo cosmetic surgery to become the perfect standard of beauty. This is the idea explored in the recent RCHK performing arts production of The Beauty Manifesto. 

The programme notes explain the scenario: “The play is set in a near dystopian future, it prospects the immense pressure of societal regulations and beauty expectations in our modern-day society, which questions our contemporary perception of idealistic beauty. The age of sixteen is the age of transformation, people are coerced to undergo cosmetic transformations. The story explores how society and the sixteen-year-olds comprehend the strong societal notions and stigmas.” 

The play was written by British writer Nell Leyshon. This RCHK performance was directed by a Year 11 student, Cara Chum, as part of their Personal Project. 

Jasmine (played by Michelle Tsao) and her sister Chloe (played by Yonah Chan) are the ambassadors for the beauty manifesto, their father is the chief cosmetic surgeon. It is Silas’ sixteenth birthday and the time has come for his transformation. Silas (played by Kentaro Kawada) believes the manifesto is designed to make teenagers so unhappy about their bodies that they accept that they need to be changed in order to be validated in society. The performance communicates ideas of society’s obsession with physical appearance over anything else. 

Those involved in The Beauty Manifesto expressed their enthusiasm for the event.

Year 10 student, Lianne Lee (who played Ella) reflects: “My favorite moment was when our casts and the director will [sic] make jokes with each other, and just having fun during the rehearsals. I enjoyed working with new people and learning new skills from the seniors who were more experienced with theatre. I’m very grateful that I got the opportunity to perform The Beauty Manifesto! Thanks to Cara (our director)!” 

Year 10 student, Scarlet Tai (who played Sam) also appreciated the experience: “My biggest takeaway was how to work with a team and also I got to know how a play is built. It’s not only the actors that matter, the director, but the arrangement of the set are also all very important and I got to know how to arrange these elements in a play.” 

“My favorite moment is hard to choose, I loved spending time and getting to know my cast members. I also enjoyed performing our play since we all felt very proud of it. I felt a big wave of happiness and relief, but also sadness because we finished our journey together, after the showcase,” says Year 10 student, Annabelle Kng (who played Paloma).

Chum herself reflected on the positive results of their hard work: “I didn't anticipate the final performance to be picture-perfect, but I was really proud and happy with the final outcome! All the hard work, time, and effort both me and the cast exerted throughout the process of rehearsing had definitely paid off. It was also a great honor to see the cast grow as both actors and people throughout the rehearsal process.”

 She also commented on the challenges: “ Over the course of a few months, I have been working on directing this play for my personal project so I was rather disappointed I couldn't see the final outcome of the play from the perspective of an audience member. As an alternative, I subbed in and played the character, but had to read from the script, which seemed somewhat unprofessional to me. Moreover, it diminished my visualization and artistic intention of the play, which was to create a suspenseful, ominous, and ‘dystopian-like’ dynamic. One of the main challenges I faced throughout rehearsal was having full attendance. This made it really challenging for actors to get familiar with scenes, get comfortable with each other, blocking the scenes, but generally, the flow of rehearsing gradually gets disrupted and feels somewhat incomplete. Nonetheless, the show still went on, and despite the unforeseen circumstances, I believe everyone did their best and put on a great show for our audience…”

 The production of The Beauty Manifesto was featured as part of the 2021 RCHK Theatre Festival. The Festival was a week-long celebration of all things performance organized by the RCHK Performing Arts department, featuring numerous students’ proud theatre pieces, as well as musical and dance performances. 

The dramatic performances involved cast sizes of fifteen or less and a time limit of thirty minutes per performance. There were many different ways to be involved in the Festival: roles included actor, choreographer crew (backstage), designer (set, costume, props), director, musician, promotion and marketing,  and techie (sound, lighting, media). 

Performance rehearsals began in late September. There were many performances that were scripted, devised, dance-based, street art, etc. 

Although performances were not open to the public, they were open to the RCHK community during break time, lunchtimes, and after school. They were performed indoors, outdoors, on rooftops, or in playgrounds! 

The Festival aimed to create a diverse range of theatre experiences for the RCHK community to enjoy. Over the last year, the EDB has restricted large audience gatherings at schools due to COVID-19. Which is why the aim of this year’s Festival was to get RCHK students back onto the stage. As Theatre Festival coordinator, Lou Houghton said of the Festival’s aim: “To get as many people performing as we can, in as many different small performances as we can!”