Commissioned by WestK Performing Arts
HSBC Life presents
The Impossible Trial – a musical in Shanghai

How many brief encounters become eternal echoes
 
Fong Tong Geng, Guangdong’s most prominent advocate, is known for his greed and malice. But at the height of his career heaven deals him a blow and his reputation and wealth are lost overnight. Haunted by the bitter ghost of a childhood friend, Fong fights his way back to the magistrate to right his wrongs and redeem himself as the champion of the common man. 
 
Hong Kong’s original musical The Impossible Trial premiered in 2022 and re-ran the following year to tremendous critical acclaim, winning a total of 10 categories at the 31st Hong Kong Drama Awards, including Best Production, Best Director, Best Original Music (Musical), Best Lyrics, Best Actor, Actress and Supporting Actor (Tragedy/Drama). At the 2023 SHOWLIFE Musical Award in Shanghai, it was named Best Musical (Professional Theatre, Original Musical). At the inaugural Ouyang Yuqian Drama Awards, it won Best Play and Best Actor. It collected five awards at the 2024 Beijing Tianqiao Musical Annual Ceremony and six awards at the 2024 China Musical Association Annual Ceremony, as well as four awards at the 2025 Beijing Tianqiao Musical Annual Ceremony. It also won Beijing News – 2025 Most Artistic・Top 10 Performances of the Year, CPAA Theatres – 2025 Top 10 Most Influential Theatre Performance of the Year, and 2025 Southern Weekly Cultural Originality List (GBA) Annual Ceremony – Drama of the Year. 
 
The year 2026 welcomes the return of this popular production. The team’s years of hard work built a work totally imbued with Hong Kong characteristics, an unprecedented milestone for local musical theatre.