Hong Kong arts hub cancels gay-themed play hours before tickets go on sale

Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District cancelled a gay-themed play set to be staged at its Xiqu Centre less than two hours before tickets went on sale at 11am on Saturday, citing complaints the work promoted confrontation and defamed the city.

The author of We Are Gay, Candace Chong Mui-ngam, was also attacked in a 1,000-word opinion piece in the pro-Beijing Wen Wei Po Chinese-language newspaper for “building her happiness on Hongkongers’ pain”.

“It is with regret that we announce the cancellation of the play We Are Gay … the team received a written notification from [the managing authority of the district] that the performances have been cancelled,” the organiser said in a Facebook post. “The notification did not specify the reasons for the cancellation.”

The organiser said rehearsals would continue and it would seek other possibilities to stage the play. It thanked those who had already bought tickets to the play, which was scheduled to run from November 28 to December 4, and pledged to arrange refunds.

In a reply to the Post, the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority said it had received a large number of complaints claiming the play “promotes confrontation and defames Hong Kong”.

“To be prudent, the authority considers it inappropriate to stage the programme at [the district’s] venues. Following consultation with the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau of the [government] and with their support and consent, the authority has decided to cancel the venue booking for this programme,” a spokesman said.