Two children come across a strange man living a feral existence in the hills above their village. His discovery brings into focus generational secrets and leads to questions about an atrocity in the war and the paternity of the main protagonist.
Character DrivenComing of AgeHistoricalPeriodPsychologicalRural
Time Period: 20th CenturyStory Location: AsiaA Holy Man is a story of two secrets; one held by adults and the other guarded by two children. It's set in a rural village in the New Territories in Hong Kong in 1943, during the Japanese occupation, and in 1953.
Through events in time, we begin to share the two secrets; to understand the connection between an atrocity at the village well in the war, and the discovery of a strange man living in the hills above, ten years later.
The protagonist – Ling, a girl aged 10 – holds a life in her hands at the end.
A Holy Man is part reflective, part suspenseful and touches on still-lingering tensions that date back 70 years.
A Holy Man, as a radio script, was a finalist in the
BBC Radio Playwriting Competition 2012
