As the audience enters the auditorium of the Kwai Tsing Theatre, they are immediately confronted by a stark message displayed on wall-mounted screens: “These premises are under CCTV surveillance for your personal safety and security.” This unsettling warning sets the tone for Mr Blank 2.0, the latest production by Hong Kong’s City Contemporary Dance Company (CCDC). When the curtain rises, the same message reappears, now projected across the back wall of the stage, reinforcing the work’s core themes of control and observation.
Choreographed by Sang Jijia, who took the helm as CCDC’s artistic director in early 2025, Mr Blank 2.0 marks his first major creation in this role. The piece is a powerful reimagining of a concept he first explored in 2018, restaged in 2020, and later adapted into a film in 2021. With this new iteration, Jijia pushes the boundaries of dance and multimedia integration, crafting a performance that is as visually stunning as it is emotionally jarring.
The production fuses intense, physical choreography with intricate video projections that layer across performers and the stage, creating a surreal and often disorienting environment. The effect is a fractured, digital dystopia where human connection appears to have been lost to surveillance, bureaucracy, and systemic control. Dancers move with urgency and precision, conveying themes of alienation, submission, and the erasure of individuality.
While the piece is undeniably arresting in its visual and performative impact, it leaves little room for light or hope. The atmosphere is oppressive, and the narrative—if it can be called that—is one of decline rather than redemption. Humanity is portrayed not as something worth reclaiming, but as something already extinguished. This bleakness imbues Mr Blank 2.0 with the tone of a psychological horror, more than that of a cautionary or moral tale.
Despite its darkness, the work succeeds in leaving a lasting impression, thanks to its bold artistic choices and unflinching portrayal of a world spiraling into emotional and social void. With Mr Blank 2.0, Sang Jijia not only reasserts his creative vision but also challenges audiences to confront the consequences of a society governed by surveillance, stripped of empathy and meaning.
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