A Hong Kong musical about soccer conveys patriotism

A soccer-themed musical was recently staged at the Tianqiao Performing Arts Center in Beijing.

The musical,tells the story of how Hong Kong's King of Soccer; Lee Wai-yong, led the first Chinese soccer team that competed at the Olympic Games.

A soccer-themed musical 'Field of Dreams' was held on April 9, 2017 the Tianqiao Performing Arts Center in Beijing. [photo provided to China Plus]

Anthony Chan, the artistic director of the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre, wrote the story based on a little-known piece of sports history.

"Local Hong Kong people were excited when China won so many gold medals during the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008. This inspired me to write a story related to the Olympics, showing how Chinese participation in the Olympics echoed our own sense of patriotism."

In 1936, Lee Wai-yong, an outstanding soccer player from Hong Kong, and other soccer players from a local small fishing village, made history by becoming the first Chinese soccer team to compete at the Olympic Games.

Lacking a travel budget, the team had to fund themselves by joining a friendship tournament in South East Asia.

The team played exceptionally well, winning 24 games and drawing three times during the 27-game tournament.

That being said, turning a story about soccer into a musical is not easy.

Composer Leon Ko thinks it's particularly difficult for a non-soccer fan like him.

"There are few musicals about soccer. I like to look at it like a challenge. I know nothing about the sport, but for creating accurate tunes for the play, I went to see matches. I found that the players' movements reminded me of the rhythms of drums. I thought a lot about this when composing the melodies for the songs."

Sport and musicals seem like an odd combination, but lyricist Chris Shum reckons writing for this musical is a great way of expressing himself.

"There are a lot of interesting dialects in the Cantonese language especially in the older generations in my family. I have decided to put all these funny elements into the play."

Chan's musical was on show at the Tianqiao Performing Arts Center in Beijing for the first time this weekend, winning applause from audience members. Some even recorded parts of the show and shared it on Wechat moments.

Premiering in Hong Kong back in 2008, the award-winning musical is also part of the Performing Arts Center's celebration of the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong's handover to China.