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list price: $19.95 USD
edition:eBook
also available: Paperback
category: Drama
published: Mar 2022
ISBN:9781772014112
publisher: Talonbooks

Nine Dragons

by Jovanni Sy

tagged: hard-boiled, canadian
Description

Set in 1920s Hong Kong, Nine Dragons is a hard-boiled detective fiction with a twist: an inquisition into colonialism, racism, assimilation, and the clash of cultures. It’s the classic mystery/detective genre overlaid with the topical issue of identity – a struggle that any person of colour faces in any society that privileges whiteness.
It starts with murder: a wealthy, white woman is found dead. Nigel Dunston-Smith runs the cop shop in Kowloon, and he needs a detective with clout – a fellow white guy, that is – to oversee this high-profile case; his finest detective, Tommy Lam, just won’t do. So he partners newbie Sean Heaney with Lam and sends them to Nine Dragons, the most popular nightclub in town, to get some answers from the Fung family. Though they own and frequent the inner-city club, the Fungs live in the wealthiest neighbourhood around – the Peak – where most of the affluent residents are European or British. At first, Lam takes all the guff he gets from the colonials around him. But it doesn’t last: caught between his sense of justice and his experience within an unjust system, Lam rages and turns the tables in the second act by joining forces with the Fungs. The final unravelling is, in the words of one theatre critic, “suitably serpentine.”
True to noir, someone’s hiding something, everyone’s a double-crosser, the light is always dim and shadowy, and it’s always a good time for a few fingers of Scotch. Roaring Kowloon is the perfect setting for this cross-cultural thriller: it’s the Hong Kong district that was, at that time, considered dangerously exotic with its dark narrow streets, opium dens, seedy bars, and sex workers. And Nine Dragons is enhanced with video projection, fight scenes, and a dramatic musical score, all to cinematic effect.
Cast of [TK].

About the Author
Jovanni Sy is a playwright, director, actor, and the artistic director of Gateway Theatre in Richmond, British Columbia. In 2010, Sy wrote and performed A Taste of Empire which was nominated for two Dora Mavor Moore Awards including Outstanding New Play. It was subsequently remounted by Vancouver’s Boca del Lupo Theatre. A Cantonese version of A Taste of Empire was translated and performed by Derek Chan (with Sy directing) in 2016. Other writing credits include The Five Vengeances, a comic kung-fu adapation of The Revenger’s Tragedy and the libretti to the chamber operas Haiku Moments and The Cellar Door. Sy is currently developing the play Nine Dragons, a detective story set in 1920s colonial Hong Kong. Sy’s directing credits include God of Carnage, Antigone, and Blackbird (Theatre du Pif in Hong Kong), and Closer Than Ever, Valley Song, and Harvest (Gateway Theatre). In June 2015, he directed Clifford Cardinal’s award-winning play Stitch for Native Earth Performance Arts. As an actor, Jovanni has performed with theatre companies across Canada and overseas.
Contributor Notes

Jovanni Sy is a playwright, director, actor, and the artistic director of Gateway Theatre in Richmond, British Columbia. His latest play, Nine Dragons, had its premiere at Vertigo Theatre in September 2017, at Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre in October 2017, and at Gateway Theatre in April 2018. His previous play, A Taste of Empire (published by Talonbooks in 2017), was nominated for two Dora Mavor Moore Awards including Outstanding New Play. A Cantonese version of A Taste of Empire was translated and performed by Derek Chan (with Sy directing) in 2016. Other writing credits include The Five Vengeances, a comic kung-fu adapation of The Revenger’s Tragedy and the libretti to the chamber operas Haiku Moments and The Cellar Door. Sy is currently an Associate at Playwrights Theatre Centre where he is developing the play Salesman in China with co-writer Leanna Brodie.

Sy’s directing credits include God of Carnage, Antigone, Blackbird (Theatre du Pif in Hong Kong), Closer Than Ever, Valley Song, and Harvest (Gateway Theatre). In June 2015, he directed Clifford Cardinal’s award-winning play Stitch for Native Earth Performance Arts. As an actor, Jovanni has performed with theatre companies across Canada and overseas.

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