An award-winning solo performance about women over three generations will call to audiences to join a journey of healing, forgiveness and reconciliation at Adelaide Fringe

Exploring the awakening of the feminine within through monologues, dance, chanting, and live music, Voices of a Siren promises to liberate a past bondage which leads to spiritual metamorphosis.

Playing at Tandanya, the show is sponsored by Hong Kong Arts Development Council Cultural Exchange Project Grants and the Tour Ready Award by Adelaide Fringe.

“This is an original theatre piece based on my own life,” says performer Soraya Chau. “We created original music for the Adelaide Fringe. Our team is very excited to be able to travel to Adelaide after Covid (since Hong Kong just released its covid regulations). This is our team’s first time participating in the Adelaide Fringe. We look forward to watching some fascinating shows and getting to know some interesting people. We hope our show can reach more international audiences in the future.”

Receiving rave reviews overseas, Voices of a Siren is a powerful piece of theatre directed by renowned Hong Kong theatre veteran Brenda Chan, with creative contribution by award-winning playwright Ada Chan joins and multimedia producer and musician Maggie Tan, and visual artist Meevi Choi.

“We explore Chinese women’s marriage and relationships through four generations in our show,” Soraya says. “This is a true story about my great-grandmother, my grandmother, my mother, and me. The women in my family have been witnesses to times changing. My great-grandmother was the last batch of women to practise foot binding. My grandmother lived through the culture revolution, and my mother was smuggled to Hong Kong during the touch-based policy. They have such a different view of marriage than we do, but somehow it has been passed on to younger generations.”

Combining Japanese Buton dancing and movement, the original music is created by Soraya and Maggie, and features different instruments, storytelling and music, designed to make you think.

“We’re raising women’s awareness and consciousness,” Soraya says. “We find it so ridiculous that Chinese women have practised foot binding for more than a thousand years. Women still change their bodies to please men, even in modern times. When we look for a husband in Chinese culture, we tend to look for someone rich instead of someone we love.

“We’re told to marry someone with a stable financial situation by our older generation. Something so essential ends up being so unimportant – his personality, his authority, his communication, and similar goals and values. I don’t think it’s about money – that doesn’t mean you have to marry someone poor to prove you love them – but rather someone who has a kind personality, communicates well, or shares your values.”

Catch Voices of a Siren at Tandanya from March 9 by grabbing your tickets HERE.

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