Comical And Minimally Subversive

Next day, Margaret calls Gaius.

Tonight's show has been cancelled, says Margaret. Would you tell Ageless I'm sorry.

You may tell him yourself, says Gaius. He'll be disappointed. He's busy arranging his scarf.

Ageless scrapes his way to the landline, successfully avoiding his tassels.

Whaa? Clik... rrr. No! Something else then? Clik.... Two Dogs? In Mandarin? I'll ask my beloved. O yes, she is coming....was coming.... unless....hold the line will you, grk.

Ageless calls to his beloved, without moving: Kobo my crumb! Change of plan! Not the Shakespeare. No. Two Dogs! In Mandarin language. Will you go?

Kobo: Of course dear. I speak fluent....

Ageless (to Margaret): She will go. She speaks fluent.

Margaret: I only have two tickets.

Ageless: Kobo will sit in your.... shh....handbag.

Kobo: I HEARD THAT! A handbag won't do.

.....

Later, at Her Majesty's Theatre.

Margaret has seats in the front row.

Beside her, Ageless shares a seat with Kobo, who has refused to get into the handbag.

Ageless takes his scarf off, because it is warm.

The young woman on Ageless's left realises she is next to a lobster, and is nonplussed for a moment.

Aiye!

But then, this is an absurdist comedy, from mainland China, and this is the front row. It is only what you might expect. Ying relaxes, and takes her phone out of her handbag.

The show starts with a loud electronic twanging.

The Two Dogs come on, to tell their comical and minimally subversive story.

They dream of blue sky, green earth, they dream of a better life in the city .....they improvise.

There are no subtitles during the improvisation.

The improvisation is long.

Ageless can tell it is funny because Kobo is laughing.

He nudges Kobo. Too hard. She rolls forward and falls into a handbag.

Ageless is stricken. His beloved has fallen into a handbag.

And now what is this? The Two Dogs are coming down from the stage and collecting the handbags.

The audience laughs. Margaret's handbag, and Ying's handbag, are taken, and placed on the stage.

There is a long row of handbags.

The Two Dogs become security guards, and start singing.

Later, one Dog pretends to kill himself. Ka-choong! Ahh!

One of the handbags moves, ever so slightly.

Ageless cringes.

When Two Dogs is over, there will be hell to pay.

......

That was nice, says Margaret. I enjoyed watching that with all the Chinese people laughing, even when I couldn't understand what the actors were saying. How did you like it, Ageless?

Grrr... says Ageless. I feared for my Kobo when she fell into a handbag.

My lord! Did she? says Margaret. Was it my handbag? Is she still there?

Margaret opens her handbag, which was returned at the end of the show.

She looks inside it, but she doesn't see Kobo.

Wouldn't it be funny if Kobo had fallen into Ying's handbag.

That could have happened.

It's a comedy. You never know.