If Romeo and Juliet had lived in the time of social media

It's not news that much of modern communication now takes place digitally — especially for tech-savvy, hormone-ridden teenagers. But how does one present such screen-based drama on the stage? That was the question Hong Kong Youth Arts Foundation (HKYAF) founder Lindsey McAlister grappled with while writing the group's latest musical, Likes & Lies, playing this weekend.

In essence, it's a classic Romeo and Juliet-style romance set in present-day Hong Kong. The two young lovers are from different social classes — Savannah (Farah Kim-Naghdy)is from an affluent expat family, and Chun (Andrew Chan) is a working-class boy. Their story plays out against classic Hong Kong backdrops like Causeway Bay and Ocean Park, and is set to an original score penned by Amuer Calderon.

The twist is that they only meet in person once — on the MTR, no less — while the rest of their narrative unfolds on social media, where their respective friend groups sow dissent and division.

"The girl's friends don't like the idea that she could see a 'local' lad.They have assumptions — very, very naive, and not very nice, assumptions about him — and his friends are having similar assumptions about her," explains McAlister. In her updated Romeo and Juliet plot, instead of launching into a sword fight, the opposite camps "get their phones out and have a battle online".

Thankfully, unlike in the Shakespeare play about star-crossed lovers, there is no death — although McAlister hints that the end may not be a walk into the sunset either. The takeaway? We all need to be tolerant of and less prejudiced against others who call this cosmopolitan city home.

Hong Kong as a melting pot is also reflected in the play's cast. It comprises 57 amateur actors, aged 9 to 19 — selected from more than 600 who auditioned, many with no previous acting experience. Drawn from different backgrounds, most of the youngsters had never met before, but were united over the past three months to realize the production.

"The most exciting thing for me is that we're creating a family," adds McAlister. "They come from a real mishmash of different backgrounds.In school, they might be a bit of an outcast. … When they come to HKYAF, they find their tribe and then they really, really thrive."

Young minds at play

HKYAF has been presenting impressive youth-theater productions since 1998, having staged many classic musicals — including Grease and West Side Story. But Likes & Lies belongs to a new run of annual musicals McAlister pens herself, with a view to tackling social issues relevant to today's youth. Gen Last, which imagines climate-change survivors trying to protect what's left of a post-apocalyptic world, was nominated for the United Nations Culture for Impact List 2024.

Likes & Lies has a predecessor in 2020's #Hashtag, a dark musical about catfishing on social media.Crucially, the new works employ modern pop songs rather than aged West End themes.

"After #Hashtag, we had a lot of kids come up and say, 'Wow, the music is so much more contemporary,'" McAlister says. "They said, 'We want to see more of this on stage.'That meant I could write more."

The process of developing original productions gives McAlister the chance to find out how teenagers talk, and the issues that trouble them — from eating disorders and bullying to anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder. "I'm a 65-year-old woman writing in the voice of a 16-year-old," she admits.The generation gap frequently provokes a welcome hilarity during the first read through — young actors smirking at lines that weren't intended as particularly funny, for instance.

When that happens, McAlister usually turns to the amused cast member for input to help her come up with a more authentic version of teenage lingo: "It makes me look like I know what I'm talking about."