1HAGAY DREAMING
Theatre edition V.01
Selected scenes as work in progress 2023
Script by Dondon Hounwu
Adapted for theatre by Shu Lea Cheang
Draft 3 – 24/04/2023
ACT 0 RED THREAD
Stage in darkness.
As the audience enter and seated, we find Dondon standing at center stage.
A pool of light beams down, surrounding him.
Dondon’s body is tied up with red LED light tubes.
As the audience all seated, Dondon switches on the red LED lights on his body.
Three tribal youngsters cheerfully dance their way onto the stage.
They ignore Dondon at first, but soon find Dondon a target they can tease and attack.
They proceed to move around Dondon. With knifes, they remove the red LED lights fromDondon’s body. The lights, still red and bright, fall on the stage, scattered.
The three youngsters move away from Dondon.
(V.O) Teasing laughters sound.
The three youngsters, showing no emotions, look at Dondon from certain distance
BLACK OUT STAGE.
ACT 1 BOY
The three tribal youngsters stand at the center of the stage.
As they imagine themselves in the party space, they move their bodies sensually.
Each of them brings out a red lipstick and a mobilephone.
One hand holds up mobilephone as mirror, the other hand start putting on red lipstick, firstgently, then violently, with red lipstick color goes outside lips.
Their mobilephones are each connected to a projector, the images of their putting on
lipsticks are projected onto 3 hung screens,[V.O] sound of a father angrily scolding a son in tribal language is mixed in with
DONDON’s voice over.
DONDON (V.O):
In Junior high school, the boy proudly put on earrnings. It was his grandfather
who pierced his ears when he was little. His father scolded him and violently
drew on his face with his mother’s red lipstick.
Telling him, “ You want to be a girl, go ahead dress like a girl and put on pretty
make up.”

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BLACK OUT STAGE.
ACT 2 WELCOME THE SPIRITThe spot light turns onto The MESSENGER from the Spirit World who is on the far end of
aisle amidst the seated audience. The MESSENGER, carrying with her a bunch of
Miscanthus decorated with bells and tribal objects, sings her way through the central aisle,
walking towards the stage.
Dondon, dressed in a futuristic Shaman costume, appears on stage.
Carrying a large bunch of Miscanthus, Dondon arrives at the center stage.
Dondon unleashes the tied up Miscanthu. He places one by one on the stage, forming a bordered circle, only leaving one side to the audience walkway open.
Inside this Miscanthus bordered area, Dondon, on one knee, starts a prayer.
The MESSENGER arrives inside the circle.
As Dondon stands up to meet the MESSENGER. Laser light beams through the watchingeye totem that was hung high on top of the stage.
The three youngsters arrive, playing hunting head flutes, join the singing of Welcome theSpirit Being with Dondon and the MESSENGER.
The totem laser light projecting onto 5 of them, spreading out to cover the Miscanthus
bordered area.
A peaceful moment of GAYA harmony beams through the tribal totem light.
BLACK OUT STAGE.
ACT 3

HUNTER’s DREAM

Hung high on the center of the stage are projectors which makes 360 degree turn around,showing the light and shadow of forests.
The all-embracing projected forests continues throughout act 3 and 4.
A woman hunter enters the forest, conducting a solo dance, hunting in the forest.
WOMAN HUNTER (V.O)
My name is Heydi Mijung. I grew up in the mountains.
Since I was a child, I watched my father making hunting traps
which fascinated me.
I secretly followed my father to the mountain where he placed
the traps. After my marriage, I told my husband that I longed for the mountain,
I wanted to go to the forest.
He asked, can you? I replied, I can.

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I went into the mountain to place the trap and brought back a large
animal caught in the trap. An elder in the tribe, seeing me carrying
the big game down the mountain, said to me, “You woman, you can.”Suddenly a downpour of rain, manifested in laser light.
The hunter searches for a hideout. Out of nowhere, a waterdrop formatted virtual cave
appears, dropping from above the stage. The hunter enters the cave to seek
shelter. The cave in its evershifting shape embraces the hunter.
The hunter falls asleep.
The laser rain continues falling.
The smoke arrives, bringing in gorgeously dressed Hagay beings, both manly andwomanly, showing a peculiar quality beyond gender binary.
They appear in hunter’s dream.
The hunter awakes, walks out of the cave, meets Hagay beings.
The cave has evaporated.
The laser rain stops.
The Hagay beings in dancing steps transmit the knowledge of weaving and dailyliving skills to the hunter.
The laser light reconstituted into colorful tribal weaving patterns, filling up the stage.
The weaving patterns, threads entangled, constantly re-knitted, remixed.
DONDON (V.O):
My name is Pilaw. I like to weave.
Through the interwoven threads on the loom, I sense my tribal people.
My body is repeating the tasks my people have been working on,
As the threads entangled, I am sorting out my own gender identity.
Gently, I hold on to myself. Watching the knitted patterns, I attempt toprove that I exist. I am creating my imprints in the world I live in.
White smoke blows onto the stage, chasing away the knitting patterns.
As the smoke clears up, the hagay beings have rolled up their dresses into shorts,
covering the lower part of their body, showing their bare chests.
The hagay beings lead a hunting act with the hunter.
Through the dance steps, the hagay beings transmit the knowledge of ancienthunting to the hunter.
Amidst the the light and shadow of a moving forest, the laser light beams out likearrows shooting out.
MUSIC UPThe song I AM A REALWOMAN is sung in 2 versions.

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1st version with two woman singers in traditional tribal tune.
2nd version is accompanied by composed, orchestrated music and chorus.
wa u wa ku Tawsay wa
enkey saw ku wasil pada wa
em wa u wa ku wa na limuy wa
uka ku wa makeylan wa
wa u wa ku wa Nabuun wa
em balay ku saw ma ima wa
I am a woman from Tawsay
I am as strong as the rope that catches the muntjac
I am a beautiful woman
I just can’t stop myself from dancing
I come from an ancient tribe
Who else has such capacity as me
The hagay beings lead the woman hunter in hunting dance steps.
The laser light beaming out like arrows fills up the stage.
BLACK OUT STAGE.
ACT 4EXCHANGE

The waterdrop formatted virtual cave descends from above the stage.
The woman hunter deep sleep inside the cave is waking up.
The rain has stopped.
The cave disappears.
HAGAY arrives. The woman hunter awakes to meet HAGAY.
HAGAY leads the woman hunter into dancing.
The two switch the lead and being led role in their duet - intense, intimate, repressive,conflicting, sensual.
HAGAY’s floating semi-transparent costume is unwrapped into a layer of membrane.
Through motion capture and software processing of their body movements, their dancing
bodies are projected onto the layer of membrane.
The projected bodies are multiplied, overlapping each other, creating the illusion ofmultiple gender non-binary bodies.
Finally the layer of membrane wrapped tightly the two entangled bodies, bodies falling
down…..
BLACK OUT STAGE.
ACT 5 THE PATH IN LIGHT
FADE IN the stage.

5Dondon in elegant Hagay costume walks in from the far end of stage as he tells a story.
The three Hagay beings, playing traditional instruments, follow him.
DONDON:One day, his uncle told him that a hunter, hiding from the rain, seeked shelterin a tree hole and fell asleep. He dreamt of a group of beautiful people. The
hunter asked them, Manu ka Numa? Who are you? They said, they are Hagay.
The tribal people say that “Hagay” is a person’s name—the name of the first
Truku who bravely proclaimed that he, an effeminate man. When people meet
him, people are happy .
Dondon arrives at the center stage.
With a ball of red threads in his hand, Dondon makes a throwing move.
As the red threads break loose from the red ball, the red laser beams showing the path tothe spritual world are projected onto the stage and extended to the far end of the aisle
amidst the audience seating area.
The whole theatre space is lit up only by the red laser light.
From the far end of red laser path, the MESSENGER appears, singing a spiritual song as
she walks towards the stage.
Dondon makes an exit to the back of the stage.
Playing traditional instruments, the three Hagay beings, following the path of the red laserlight, walk towards the MESSENGER.
Before the MESSENGER and the three Hagay beings meet up in the middle of intense redlaser path, the laser light disappears, the whole room in darkness.
THE END.
TO BE CONTINUED.
ALL performers appear on stage to take a bow.
They sing a Meeting Together tribal song.
STAGE light fades out as they continue singing and walking to the backstage.