The Tamed and the Tempted

A beguiling variation on Shakespeare’s classic lands in Shek Tong Tsui
Portraying both the tamer and the tamed in an erstwhile red-light district
 
Shek Tong Tsui in the 20th century was a place festooned with colourful decorations, a place to satisfy carnal desires. Men and women test each other, each doing the utmost to “tame” the other. But who’s the customer and who provides a service? Are these people satisfying sexual cravings or seeking love? Is money the only motivation to curry favour? When customers enjoy themselves in brothels, are they finding physical pleasure or satisfaction of subjugating the other?

 

The Taming of the Shrew is Shakespeare’s renowned comedy addressing such topics as love and money, how people tame each other, and how desire has the power to tame. Poon Wai Sum reimagines this story about the sexes in a brothel, examining the characters therein. He invites veteran theatre professional Lee Chun Chow as director to dissect that unique place where sex is the trade. Following The Diary of Song and Moscow Express, Poon and Lee collaborate once again, investigating human weakness and greed in Hong Kong’s one-time “red-light district”.