Shay Mace
Grad Leung Wai Kit is the choreographer and performer of The Hollowed Man series, a mixed media dance-performance anthology that has been touring Asia and finds its way to debut in Europe at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe next month. Born in the 2019 Hong Kong protests and re-formed through collaboration with a Bangladeshi dance artist, the piece uses the originally Japanese dance theatre form Butoh in synthesis with projections from artist Akane Hiraoka. With such a fascinating creative process and pan-Asian involvement in the devising, we wanted to catch up with Grad Leung for a pixelated pint to find out more.
You can catch The Hollowed Man 5.0 at Studio at theSpace @ Niddry St on August 7th – 15th from 19:25 (40mins). Tickets are available through theSpaceUK Online Box Office.
Shay: Hi team, your upcoming EdFringe show The Hollowed Man 5.0 blends together avant-garde dance theatre ‘Butoh’ and digital projection to tell a story about ‘social depletion’ – tell us about what inspired you to create the show.
Grad Leung: It stems from all forms of injustice. I once asked a homeless person: ‘If you could go back and find that pivotal turning point in your life, could your destiny be changed?’ The answer was no. The truth is, we are often entirely powerless against the countless invisible ‘hands’ that actively hollow us out—stripping us of our finances, our physical space, our voice, our autonomy, our freedom, and ultimately, our right to exist. What does it mean to survive in such a hollowed-out state? How do we carry ourselves through it? And can it ever be changed?
Must we burn the world to the ground and start anew just to have a chance at changing our fate?
Shay: How has the creative process been of putting the show together? Give us an idea of the journey you’ve been on with it so far.
Grad Leung: The journey began by reflecting on the existential survival of the homeless, which then pushed me to confront the broader systemic injustices within society and search for the courage to face the roots of exploitation. This investigation eventually expanded from ‘humanity’ to ‘divinity’—questioning what it truly means when even God is emptied out. Even as the production has evolved into its current fifth iteration, I still haven’t found a definitively positive ending. I deeply hope that the ‘Hollowed Man’ can eventually step out of his survivial fortress and confront the oppression head-on. Yet, at the back of my mind, I have this lingering intuition that only through total destruction do we stand a chance at true change. That is the fundamental helplessness of the powerless.
Shay: What will be the first thing the audience sees, feels, and hears as they enter the space?
Grad Leung: Audiences will step into a world they are very familiar with—a meticulously sanitised, media-curated reality where ‘everything is perfect,’ much like a beautiful gingerbread house. They will be greeted by vibrant, colorful digital projections, elegant lighting, and upbeat, lighthearted music. However, all the systemic oppression, injustice, and deprivation are merely hiding, lurking just beneath the shadows of this facade.
Shay: What are you hoping the audience might take away from the experience, if anything?
Grad: Leung I hope they gain a deeper understanding of the plight faced by the oppressed. Injustice is something those in power try their absolute hardest to conceal. I want the audience to walk away with a heightened awareness of the inequalities buried in the dark, marginalized corners of our world, and to use their voices. The more people who see injustice and stand against it, the greater the chance we could correct it.
Shay: What journey has the show been on to find itself at EdFringe 2026?
Grad Leung: The show has directly mirrored global unrest. Its first edition was birthed in 2019 amidst the Hong Kong protests. In 2024, it evolved during the July Uprising in Bangladesh, where I co-created a version with Bangladeshi dancer Annesha Biswas Agni. By 2025, the piece received its first invitation to an international theatre festival, and now in 2026, we are leaping beyond Asia to make our debut in Edinburgh.
Shay: With EdFringe now just around the corner, what are you most excited for?
Grad Leung: We are highly anticipating connecting with international presenters and programmers who might offer us opportunities to continue touring the work. Exchanging ideas with the festival audience will be fascinating, and I am incredibly excited to see how European audiences perceive and digest the visual language of this Asian cultural contemporary work.
Shay: Given the themes of Binge Fringe, if your show was a beverage of any kind (alcoholic, non-alcoholic – be as creative as you like!), what would it be and why?
Grad Leung: It would undoubtedly be ‘廿四味’ (Twenty-Four Flavors)—a traditional, deeply bitter Chinese herbal tea. Visually, it is unappealing, dark, and murky, and it tastes incredibly bitter before leaving a subtle, sweet aftertaste. None of its individual herbal ingredients are expensive on their own, yet its medicinal power to balance and detoxify the body is profound. It’s a drink that people appreciate more as they grow older—gaining the maturity to embrace the profound depth of its bitter-to-sweet resonance.
You can catch The Hollowed Man 5.0 at Studio at theSpace @ Niddry St on August 7th – 15th from 19:25 (40mins). Tickets are available through theSpaceUK Online Box Office.
