25’S Cijin White Roses Chronicle – Montgomery Theatre, Sheffield

Concept: Hsin-I Chen

Co-Creators: Ng Chor Guan, Hsin-I Chen and Fu-Chin Cheng

Composer and Director: Ng Chor Guan

Festival season has well and truly landed in Sheffield and now it’s time for Migration Matters Festival, an annual celebration of sanctuary, cultural identity and migration in Sheffield.

On a very warm evening, the Neo-Classical Chamber Ensemble took to the stage of the Montgomery Theatre to perform 25’S Cijin White Roses Chronicle. This performance piece is inspired by the 1973 Cijin-Kaohsiung ferry disaster that claimed the lives of 25 young female workers. This an incredibly creative show, unlike anything your reviewer has seen before. Whilst it is certainly filled with innovation and showcases some strong talent, it’s unfortunately not perfect.

The concept developed by Hsin-I Chen and created by Ng Chor Guan, Chen and Fu-Chen Cheng is a fascinating one. Through music, movement and projections, the audience is taken on the journey the women on the ferry went on but in, on the whole, a very abstract way. Guan’s composition, mostly played live, does a remarkable job at creating an array of emotions and atmospheres. It builds tension well whilst also creating moments of more peaceful fantasy. Yu-Sheng Hsu’s sound design blends live sound and recorded sound perfectly. Choreographers Yi-Jun Chen and I-Lien Ho use a good variety of movement styles that compliment Guan’s varied musical styles.

Chien-Ming Chao’s stage design is fairly simple but used effectively to create the different locations for the different sections of the performance. Po-Chih Chang’s projection design works well to create the variety of atmospheres needed, with some added words to explain the basis of each sequence.

The small cast are clearly very talented. Huan-Wei Huang is a wonderful violinist and Han-Kung Chang makes music from a wide variety of objects which is fun to watch. Ya-Yuan Chang plays the sheng – this is an instrument rarely seen or heard in the UK and it adds some unique and wonderful sounds to the score.

Yi-Chun Chen and Ying-Chi Chen are the main ‘actors’ in the show. Both have incredible control of their bodies, with every movement performed with great emotion and thoughtfulness. They portray a fantastic array of emotions throughout the piece, from joy and friendship in the early sequences to pain and sorrow later on.

The biggest issue with the piece is we never fully understand who the characters are which means it is difficult to connect to them fully. Whilst the music and movement does a good job at conjuring emotions, the weight of the story doesn’t resonate as strongly as it could because we have very little insight into our main characters and their motivations.

Regardless, this one night only performance in Sheffield was still a delightful opportunity to see a piece of art full of creativity and talent, and something that is very different to things typically performed on Sheffield’s stages. Credit must go to the Migration Matters team for creating a safe for artists to present their work who otherwise wouldn’t get to in this country.

Reviewed on 24th June 2026